Admission Requirements

Admission to the Ph.D. program in Biological and Agricultural Engineering requires a degree of Master of Science in agricultural engineering, biological systems engineering or related engineering disciplines and meeting all requirements for admission to the Graduate School. Strongly qualified students with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering, biological systems engineering or related engineering disciplines may be admitted directly to the Ph.D. program without a Master of Science degree. Graduates from other engineering curricula or a strong physical/biological science curriculum may be admitted provisionally with undergraduate course deficiencies specified.

An application for admission should be made six months prior to the start of the term in which enrollment is desired. Additional information on graduate programs and on application for admission to the Graduate School of Kansas State University may be obtained by writing the department.

A TOEFL score of 550 or higher is required of those students whose native language is not English. The TOEFL score must reflect results of a TOEFL test that was taken within two years prior to the application. Students meeting all requirements for admission except for the TOEFL score may be admitted to the Graduate School on a provisional status. They may enroll upon scoring 550 or higher on a subsequent TOEFL or after successfully completing the English Language Program at Kansas State University.

Course Requirements

The requirements for a Ph.D. degree are 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor degree, including a Ph.D. dissertation of at least 30 semester hours based upon major, original research. A master’s degree is a requirement for admission and represents 30 credits toward the 90 credits required for the doctorate. Students who hold an M.S. degree may request transfer of up to 30 credit hours of that degree toward a Ph.D. degree. Award of a doctorate requires successful completion of the equivalent of at least three full years of full-time study beyond the baccalaureate.