Types of Admission
Admission into the MBA and MPA programs is comparative and competitive. The relative strengths and weaknesses of each prospective student’s complete application package are carefully considered and weighed against other applications. Students may be admitted on a regular basis, a conditional basis, or may be denied admission into the program.
Regular Admission Status is granted to applicants who submit a satisfactory application package by the published deadline, have a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or above (calculated on a 4.0 scale) for the last two years of undergraduate study, and a grade point average of at least 3.0 on undergraduate courses (pre-requisites for non-business majors) in the field of proposed study.
Conditional Admission Status is granted to applicants who submit a satisfactory application package by the published deadline, but have a GPA of 2.5 – 2.749 (calculated on a 4.0 scale) for the last two years of undergraduate study. Graduate students who are admitted to the graduate program on a conditional basis must earn a grade of B or better on the first 9 hours of graduate level coursework in order to remain in the program.
Denial of Admission. Applicants who submit an unsatisfactory application package, who do not meet the application deadline, or do not have the minimum 2.50 GPA for conditional admission to the University Graduate School are denied admission.
Non-degree Status. Students who wish to take MBA courses for purposes other than the attainment of a graduate degree, or who meet admission requirements for the Southern Miss Graduate School and would like to begin taking courses before completing their graduate application, may take up to 6 hours of MBA classes under Non-degree Status. Students seeking non-degree hours must meet all course prerequisites and maintain a GPA of 3.0. Students who eventually apply and are admitted into the MBA program may transfer these hours to the required program coursework.
