An applicant may be admitted to the Ph.D. program without a prior degree in political science or public administration if the discipline of the prior degree(s) is relevant to his or her primary fields of doctoral study. If the applicant has not completed a prior degree in political science or public administration, he or she must have completed the equivalent of 9 semester hours of undergraduate political science course work or the department may require that introductory political science courses appropriate to his or her fields of study be taken as a condition of admission.

An applicant to the Ph.D. program in political science is usually expected to have completed both a baccalaureate and an M.A. degree, however, an individual with a baccalaureate degree may be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program. Such an applicant must have GRE scores, strong letters of recommendation, and an undergraduate record which present conclusive evidence of an ability to begin high quality work at the doctoral level immediately.
Students with a baccalaureate degree who are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program must complete all requirements for the master's degree in political science with at least a 3.20 GPA in graduate political science courses exclusive of thesis and independent study courses. Having met the master's degree requirements, they will be strongly encouraged to apply for and receive an M.A. in political science.
An applicant whose native language is not English must present an IELTS score of 6.5 or alternatively, a TOEFL score of at least 80 on the TOELF ibt