Shared enrollment
MSU allows current undergraduate students to apply for "shared enrollment" in a graduate program. The MSU Academic Programs describes this option as "an opportunity for academically talented undergraduate students to enroll in graduate courses and conduct research toward a graduate degree while completing the last two years of their bachelor's degree(s)". Students from any undergraduate major at MSU may apply for shared enrollment admission to a Master's program in Engineering (or other graduate programs). When you are shared enrolled, up to 9 credits of the required 30 credits for a Masters degree can be waived. In order to waive 9 credits, you must carefully plan your senior-level technical electives IN ADVANCE and in consultation with the graduate program director in your intended M.S. program.
Requirements
Each Academic Department determines its own graduate admission processes and requirements. Please review their graduate admission website for more information, and talk to the graduate program director in the program to which you plan to apply to learn about requirements for GPA, GRE, etc.
Application procedure
- Talk to the graduate program director of the program to which you will apply, and identify a faculty advisor for your Master's program.
- Complete the print version Request for Shared Enrollment Status form. Contact Office of the Registrar for additional assistance with the form. Save this completed form as a PDF document and submit it with your graduate application (below). Send the completed Request for Shared Enrollment Status to your graduate program coordinator the semester BEFORE you take your first shared courses. This information needs to be shared with the Registrar's office and Graduate School prior to applying for a graduate program.
- Apply to the Master's program of your choice using the online application system hosted by the MSU Office of Admissions. For "first semester to enroll", choose a semester AFTER you will graduate with your bachelor's degree. For example, if you will graduate with a B.S. in Spring 2026, then your "first semester to enroll" for graduate school should be Summer 2026 or Fall 2026.
- As part of the application process, using the Graduate Student Portal, upload the "Request for Shared Enrollment Status Form" you previously completed. When you upload the form, it will ask for a type of document; use type certificate. These shared credits will officially only be in your B.S. program, and the credits will be waived from the required 30 credits for your M.S. program.
- Follow up with the graduate program coordinator in the department to which you have applied to ensure that your application has been received and is complete.
Academic departments