Chapter 4: Admission to Degree Programs

4.1 Bachelor of Science Degrees

(Approved February 16, 1993) (Amended January 25, 2012) (Amended May 15, 2013)

A student holding a high school degree or equivalent may enroll in a Bachelor's degree program.

A student who is enrolled in a program leading to a graduate degree in a specialty which is different from his/her Bachelor's degree may petition the Council for a Bachelor's degree Certificate of Equivalence. The student must have completed all the requirements for a Bachelor's degree and apply via the provisions outlined in section 5.1 of this Manual. Students who have completed graduate programs, or who have failed to complete a graduate program, also enjoy this privilege.

The Naval Postgraduate School is not currently admitting students for or awarding Bachelor's degrees.

4.2 Master's Degrees

(Approved February 16, 1993) (Amended January 25, 2012) (Amended January 27, 2021)

An individual applying for admission to a master's degree program must possess a baccalaureate degree from an institutionally accredited educational institution—or in the case of foreign students, a recognized institution—with a minimum grade point average of 2.2 on a 4.0 system, of which 75 graded semester-hours or 112 graded quarter-hours must have been taken.

If the candidate does not possess an undergraduate degree the following are standards for admission to a program leading to a graduate degree:

  1. A minimum of 100 semester-hours or 150 quarter-hours of undergraduate work must have been completed at a regionally accredited institution with an average grade of ''B''. Courses in which grades lower than ''C'' were earned will not be counted in the total. Courses which have been duplicated on various transcripts should be counted only once in arriving at the total number of hours to be credited.
  2. The general education requirements prescribed for the Naval Postgraduate School baccalaureate degree must be satisfied. These requirements are outlined in section 5.1 of this Manual.
  3. No more than 20 semester-hours may be credited for work done in non-degree granting service schools.
  4. Final approval of the applicant will be made by the appropriate academic unit Chair.

4.3 Engineer's Degrees

(Approved February 16, 1993)

Entrance requirements for Engineer's Degree programs include:

  1. all requirements for general graduate admission;
  2. departmental approval.

4.4 Ph.D./Doctoral Degrees

(Approved February 16, 1993)

An individual applying for admission to a Ph.D./Doctoral program must hold a Bachelor's degree qualifying the student for graduate status in the academic unit of his/her major study, or shall have completed an equivalent course of study. All applications shall ultimately be submitted to the Director of Admissions who shall be responsible for processing to the academic units. The Director of Admissions will forward all applications to the appropriate departmental Ph.D./Doctoral Committee to determine applicant acceptability. The Chair will recommend appropriate action to the Director of Admissions, who will notify applicants.

Detailed instructions on requirements for PhD applications can be found in the Doctoral Program Admissions section of the NPS Course Catalog.