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Admission Policy

Admission is selective and all applicants who meet the requirements of the Graduate College will be considered by a graduate admissions committee. The achievement of the university's minimum requirements should not be considered an assurance of admission to the Mass Communication M.A. program. In addition to university requirements for admission to graduate study, school requirements for unconditional admission are as follows:

• A score of 600 or more on the paper-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or 250 or more on the computer-based TOEFL or an overall score of at least 6.5 or higher on IELTS (International English Language Testing System) for international students.

• A combined score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test, with a score of 500 or more on the verbal section and a level of 5 on the analytical writing section.
• An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale) in the last 60 credit hours of work leading to the bachelor's degree.

  
  

The following must be submitted directly to the Graduate Adviser for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication:


• A 500-word statement of purpose for pursuing graduate studies in mass communication at Texas State University. The statement should include the applicant’s academic and professional goals.
•  Two letters of recommendation from individuals competent to assess the applicant's capacity to pursue graduate education in mass communication. In case the applicant is changing the major area, at least one of the two letters must be from a professor in the student's previous major. If the applicant is transferring from another institution, at least one of the two letters must be from a professor in the student's previous institution.

• A current resume with information on educational background, work experience and extra curricular activities.

Students who do not have acceptable GRE or GPA scores may be admitted conditionally and must take leveling courses as assigned by the graduate admissions committee and make a grade of ‘B’ or better, or retake the GRE and attain the scores mentioned above. Those who do not have acceptable TOEFL scores may take only leveling courses until a satisfactory score is achieved.
 
Students who do not have a journalism or mass communication major in their undergraduate studies may be admitted conditionally and must complete nine to12 hours of leveling courses to be assigned by the graduate committee and make a grade of ‘B’ or better in these courses.