Requirements for Admission
Four-year Campuses
Traditional Students
A traditional student is defined as one who enters college within three years of high school graduation or within three years from the date when they would have graduated college.
In order to be fully admitted to a 4-year university in the MUS, entering high school graduates are required to meet the following standards:
Achieve one of the following:
- Earn at least a 2.5 high school GPA; or
- Rank in the top half of the school’s graduating class; or
- Earn an ACT composite score of 22 or higher, or SAT total score of 1120 or higher (exception: MSU‐Northern: ACT score of 20, SAT score of 1050).
Complete either the Regents’ College Preparatory Program or the Rigorous Core College Preparatory Program
Complete the Regents’ College Preparatory program: mathematics (3 years), English (4 years), science (2 years), social studies (3 years), and electives (2 years) – includes languages, computer science, visual/performing arts, speech, or vocational education.
Complete the Rigorous Core College Preparatory Program: mathematics (4 years), English (4 years), lab science (3 years), social studies (3 years), college prep electives (3 years), which include world language, computer science, visual and performing arts, and career/technical education units that meet the office of public instruction guidelines. The Rigorous Core is an advanced alternative to the Minimum Core for math proficiency standards.
High school students who successfully complete the Rigorous Core are eligible for the MUS Honor Scholarship.
Demonstrate Mathematics Proficiency via one of the following methods:
Earn an ACT math score of 22, SAT math test score of 27.5, or complete the Rigorous
Core.
Demonstrate Writing Proficiency via one of the following methods
Earn an ACT ELA score of 18 (average of the English, reading, and writing scores)
or score 7 on the ACT essay; or earn an SAT writing and language test score of 25
or higher.
Provisional Admission
Students who do not demonstrate the ability to meet the mathematics and/or writing proficiency standards may be admitted provisionally to a four-year degree program on any campus of the MUS and without condition to a two-year degree program.
Students who are provisionally admitted can gain full admittance by:
- earning a “C” or better in developmental course work (must be done within the first three semesters); or
- earning the required score on one or more of the math or writing assessment tests, including the ACT or SAT, required for admissions; or
- completing an associate of arts or associate of science degree; or
- submitting a letter to the admissions office documenting a disability that prevented the student from adequately demonstrating proficiency in a test setting if no accommodation was provided at the time of the test.
Non-traditional Students
A non-traditional student is defined as one who does not enter college for a period of at least three years following high school graduation.
In order to be admitted to a four‐year university in the MUS, non-traditional students are required to meet the following standards:
- Provide one of the following: an official high school transcript listing graduation date, an official high school equivalence completion assessment designated by the Board of Public Education (formerly the GED and currently the HiSET*), or a Compass proficiency test result
- Applicants who have graduated three of more years prior to the semester in which they intend to enroll are not required to submit ACT/SAT test results
Transfer Students
For purposes of admissions, a transfer student is one who has completed 12 or more GPA or pass credits in college-level courses at another college or university, who is entering a new institution for the first time, and whose credits at the previous institution have been accepted by the receiving institution.
Transfer applicants must present at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average (i.e. equivalent to a “C” on a 4.0 scale), based on transferable credits carried from all colleges or universities previously attended to be eligible for full admission to a four-year campus.
International Students
Campuses shall require applicants from non-English speaking countries to present evidence of proficiency in the use of the English language. Campuses may impose additional requirements on applicants from foreign countries.
Special or Non-degree Students
Campuses may establish the category of special or non-degree student for students who do not intend to pursue a degree program. This category will allow admission for the purpose of taking a limited number of credits without the complete documentation required in a regular application for admission.
Exemptions
Entrance requirements do NOT apply to the following groups:
- Non-traditional students (those who do not enter college for a period of at least three years following high school graduation);
- Summer-only students; and
- Part-time students taking seven or fewer credits per semester.
In addition, institutions may exempt up to 15% of first-time, full-time undergraduates from the entrance requirements listed above. This exemption is reserved for students with special talents, minorities, and others who demonstrate special needs.
Two-year Campuses
Two-year campuses in the MUS abide by a non-competitive open enrollment policy that does not require applicants meet the Regents’ four-year admissions criteria. The only requirement is that applicants must have obtained a high school degree or successfully completed an official high school equivalence completion assessment designated by the Board of Public Education (formerly the GED and currently the HiSET*).
Students who have not yet demonstrated the ability to meet the mathematics or writing proficiency standards may be admitted without condition to a two-year college; however, certain programs within the college, such as Nursing, may have higher admission standards.
Two-year Programs
Students whose mathematics scores are below 18 on the ACT or 440 on the SAT may be fully admitted to a two-year degree program of the MUS, but may not be admitted to a four-year degree program of the MUS.
* If a student has completed the GED in its entirety, that GED score can be used in lieu of the new HiSET test. If a student has completed part of the GED, he or she may take the HiSET test to complete the remaining test areas (e.g. math) and the final GED and HiSET scores will be combined. Note that this option is only available through December of 2014. After that date, if a student needs to test on areas previously not completed with the GED, he or she will have to take the new HiSET test in its entirety. The student will not be able to combine the GED and the HiSET tests.