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Department of Psychological Sciences

Graduate Application Procedures

Information about fees and course offerings can be located in the KSU Graduate Catalog. For additional graduate school policies, please see the Graduate Handbook. Please visit the KSU Graduate School website for further information.

Application Deadlines

Application materials must be submitted by December 1. Submitting your application automatically considers you for financial support.

Admission for the Spring semester is considered only under extenuating circumstances, and spring admitted students seldom receive financial support initially.  Please contact the department for more information on this.

Application Requirements
  • GPA: 3.0 minimum in the junior and senior years is required by the university. Successful applicants typically have over 3.5 GPAs.
  • GRE (General Test only): The GRE code for Kansas State University is 6334, and the department code is 2016.

For applications submitted by the December 1, 2023 deadline, the GRE General test will be optional.  

For applicants applying to the Industrial/Organizational area, scores from the GRE General test are encouraged.

  • TOEFL: For students for whom English is not the native language, scores must be considered for the Test of English as a Foreign Language. TOEFL score of at least 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based), or 79 (IBT – internet based) are minimum requirements for consideration.  Applicants accepted by the department who have scores of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based), or 100 (IBT – internet based) or above may be considered for regular admission. Applicants accepted by the department who have score between 550/213/79 and 599/249/99 will be admitted provisionally by the graduate school and must at the time of their enrollment demonstrate proficiency in reading and writing English and in understanding spoken American English to the satisfaction of the Graduate School. These students will be required to take the English Proficiency Test (EPT) prior to enrollment.
  • Undergraduate major in psychology is not essential. However, it is recommended that applicants have a minimum of 15 hours in psychology (including experimental methods or equivalent), plus 3 hours of statistics.
  • The graduate faculty also consider applicants’ actual research experience, personal statement, work experience (if relevant), letters of recommendation, coursework history, and the degree of fit between the applicants’ interests and the research areas of our current faculty.
Application Materials

The Application process for Admission to Graduate School and the application fee can be completed online by clicking on the Application for Admission to Graduate School. Applicants should select either the application for U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents or for International Students, as appropriate.

If you have specific program questions, please feel free to contact the faculty member in charge of your area of interest:

You are also encouraged to contact the faculty member you are interested in working with.  Once again, thank you for your interest in our psychology graduate program and we look forward to hearing from you.

Application Fee Waivers

The Department of Psychological Sciences has a very limited number of PhD graduate application fee waivers. To be eligible for a fee waiver, applicants to Kansas State University’s Department of Psychological Sciences PhD program must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, have demonstrated high promise, and have demonstrated financial need. Permanent residents must provide proof of their status, such as a copy of their green card. Application fee waivers are not available for international applicants.

Deadline: Your completed application must be submitted at least 14 days before the program’s application deadline in order to be considered for a fee waiver.

Procedure: Applicants who are interested in an application fee waiver should contact the faculty member with whom they wish to work, providing information and documentation that substantiate both main waiver criteria:

a)  Financial need (e.g., FAFSA, a letter from a college/university financial aid office, receipt of GRE fee waiver, unemployment verification, or other forms documenting financial hardship). Do not send copies of your tax returns.

b)  Academic promise (e.g., participation in undergraduate research programs, documented by a signed letter from the applicant's program director, research mentor, or academic advisor verifying the applicant's participation).

That faculty member will forward the waiver request to the Graduate Program Director, who will evaluate applicants in terms of their academic promise and financial need. You will receive an email either notifying you of your waiver approval or instructing you to submit your application with an alternate form of payment.