2024-25 Academic Catalog

Colleges and Degree Programs

Mississippi State University is a comprehensive, doctoral-degree-granting university offering to a diverse and capable student body a wide range of academic opportunities. The University has eight colleges that offer graduate courses and/or programs. These courses and/or programs are offered on the main campus in Starkville, at the Meridian campus, and/or online via the Center for Distance Learning. While the University has approved policies and requirements that affect all graduate courses and programs, each college and department may have additional approved requirements. Please refer to each academic program for details.

Thrive in Five Program

A number of academic departments have approved programs permitting highly qualified MSU undergraduates to earn up to 9 hours of graduate-level coursework after completing a minimum number of coursework hours. Students in a Thrive in Five program take graduate-level courses and earn both undergraduate credit and graduate credit simultaneously. Students need to consult with a potential graduate advisor to ensure graduate credit could be applied to a program of study for the graduate degree. Applications to these programs are submitted in the junior year (i.e., after completion of 60 or more hours of graded undergraduate courses).

Requirements for admission into the Thrive in Five Program requires the following:

  • A GPA of 3.50 or higher on a 4.00 system for all undergraduate work
  • A minimum of 60 hours toward the Bachelor's degree

For students enrolled in an Accelerated Program, the MSU Graduate Council has established the following guidelines in cooperation with the Office of the Registrar:

  • Once the student is accepted into the Thrive in Five Program, the student and the advisor may select up to 9 hours that will satisfy both undergraduate and graduate requirements. These courses may be split-level (i.e., 4000-6000) or 8000 level classes. The student must enroll in the courses for graduate credit (i.e., 6000-level or higher). Students cannot exceed 15 hours of combined undergraduate and graduate coursework for a semester.
  • The student should use the Undergraduate Enrollment in Thrive in Five Program form to (i) receive from the Graduate School a level override that enables the student to enroll in the graduate course(s) and (ii) activate a process with the Registrar's Office to obtain both undergraduate and graduate credit for the course. After successfully completing the graduate-level class(es), the Registrar will grant credit for the undergraduate course with the same grade as received for the graduate course. For a split-level class, the transcript will show credit for both the 4000- and 6000-level on the transcript. In the case of an 8000 level class, a special topics undergraduate course of the same title will be entered on the transcript to allow dual credit.  
  • Students are permitted to opt out of the Thrive in Five Program at any time, at which point they would complete only the undergraduate portion of the program. No additional dual counting of courses would occur after the student opted out of the accelerated degree program.
  • Students are expected to apply to the graduate degree program during the last semester in which they are enrolled in the bachelor's program. Application to the graduate degree program would be made through the standard application process via The Graduate School. Students will receive the bachelor's degree once the requirements for the bachelor's degree are met. Students will be required to complete all of the requirements for both the bachelor's and graduate degrees in order to receive both degrees and those requirements will be identical to the requirements for students enrolled in traditional bachelor's and graduate degree programs. Students will be classified as undergraduates until they fulfill all the requirements for the undergraduate degree. At that time, upon admission to graduate school, they will be classified as graduate students and will be subject to all the guidelines pertaining to the graduate degree.

A Thrive in Five is offered by the academic departments listed below. In addition to the above-listed requirements, departments may have additional requirements such as the completion of specific courses or a statement of professional interests and goals. See the Thrive in Five section below for the department of interest.

Academic Affairs

  • Data Science

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

  • Agricultural and Extension Education (Leadership)
  • Agricultural Engineering Technology
  • Agribusiness Management
  • Animal and Dairy Science
  • Biochemistry
  • Didactic Program in Dietetics
  • Fashion Design and Merchandising
  • Human Development and Family Sciences
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Plant and Soil Sciences
  • Poultry Science

College of Arts and Sciences

  • Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures
  • Biological Sciences
  • History
  • Mathematics and Statistics
  • Public Policy & Administration
  • Chemistry
  • Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures

College of Business

  • Management and Information Systems

College of Education

  • General Education Psychology
  • Instructional Systems and Workforce Development

Bagley College of Engineering

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Biological Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Swalm School of Chemical Engineering
  • Computer Science and Engineering
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Master of Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

Bagley College of Engineering/College of Business

  • Industrial and Systems Engineering/Master of Business Administration

College of Forest Resources

  • Forestry
  • Sustainable Bioproducts
  • Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture

College of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences

  • Veterinary Medical Science