Graduate Program - Admission Requirements

Master of Science in Construction Management

All applicants must submit a completed graduate application to Michigan State University along with the application fee before being reviewed. For specifics pertaining to the application process please see Applications.

Admission to the master's degree program in Construction Management with regular status may be granted by the program, subject to the availability of resources and the approval of the dean, upon consideration of the likelihood that the applicant will be able to complete a master's degree program successfully.

To be admitted to the master's program in Construction Management on a regular status:

1. the applicant must possess a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management or in a related field such as:

   • Engineering - Construction, Civil, Architectural, Environmental, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, and other related engineering disciplines.
   • Design - Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Facilities Planning and Management.
   • Management - Business, Finance, Accounting, Labor Relations, Marketing, Management Information Systems, and other related management disciplines.

2. the applicant must have a cumulative grade-point average no lower than 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) for the undergraduate degree program.

3. the applicant must have completed the following courses or their equivalents prior to admission:

   • 3 semester credits of introductory calculus (MTH 124, Survey of Calculus I)
   • 3 semester credits of introductory physics (PHY 231, Introductory Physics I)

The Construction Management Program, with the approval of the Dean, may grant admission with provisional status to an applicant qualified for regular admission, but lacking MTH 124 and/or PHY 231, or collateral courses (background courses) that are deemed necessary.

Students may be required to complete specified collateral courses, from the following list, with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.00. Theses courses will not count toward the master's degree requirements. The collateral courses are:

One of the following courses:

CMP 124 - Residential Construction Materials and Methods

CMP 210 - Commercial Construction Methods

One of the following courses:

CMP 305 - Site Construction and Measurements

CMP 315 - Construction Quantity Surveying

One of more of the following courses:

CMP 222 - Statics and Strengths of Materials

CMP 322 - Structural Systems

CSE 101 - Computing Concepts and Competencies

One business, management or economics course

If collateral courses are required, the minimum acceptable grades and the semesters by which those courses must be completed will be specified on the Recommended Action Form at the time of admission. The provisional status will be changed to regular status when the conditions specified on the Recommended Action Form have been met, as certified by the program and approved by the dean.

Doctor of Philosophy in Construction Management

To be considered for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Construction Management on regular status, an applicant must have completed a master's degree program in Construction Management (CM) or Construction Engineering & Management (CEM) from an accredited U.S. institution. An applicant with a master's degree in a related field or from a non-U.S. institution may be considered for provisional admission but will be required to complete additional requirements for change to regular status (refer to Table 1 for additional requirements).

The following are major admission requirements preferred by the program admission committee:

• a master's degree in Construction Management (CM) Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) or in a related field - Civil Engineering (CE), other Engineering (ENGR), Interior Design (ID), Architecture (ARCH), Landscape Architecture (LA), Business Management (MGT), and Urban and Regional Planning (URP)
• GRE Scores no lower than 1150 in the combined Verbal and Quantitative, and at least 4.5 in Analytical Essay
• TOEFL Score (for international applicants) no lower than 235 on computer based / 575 on paper-based {with no sub-scores below 52 (paper version) or 19 (computer version)}
• GPA no lower that 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in bachelor's degree and 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in master's degree.
• Faculty/Advisor - applicant must indicate preference for a Ph.D. advisor based on his/her communication with the faculty member whose research area most closely matches applicant's interest area. The indicated faculty member will present applicant's case to the admission committee.

Applicants who do not meet the regular status requirements but demonstrate outstanding potential may be granted a provisional admission by the Construction Management program, subject to the approval of the dean.

Table 1: Examples of applicants' backgrounds and additional requirements:

*Note: May also be required to take an additional course in technical writing and/or CMP 898 - 1 credit (research report)