Major-Specific Requirements

To earn direct admission to one of the schools or programs listed below, you may need to meet requirements beyond those for general admission to KU. Note that admission to the schools and programs below is selective.

Freshman Requirements

The University of Kansas is test optional. First-year students are assured admission into KU’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the School of Education & Human Sciences, or the School of Social Welfare if they meet one of these admission requirements:

  • A cumulative high school GPA (weighted or unweighted) of 3.25 or higher
  • An ACT score of at least 21 or an SAT of at least 1060 plus a 2.0 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale

 

School-Specific Requirements

Architecture

Applicants to the Master of Architecture 5-year program or the Interior Architecture program who apply by November 1 and meet the following criteria will be guaranteed admission:

  • 3.8+ GPA on a 4.0 scale and at least 1 high school drawing or art class with grade of B or higher OR
  • 3.5 – 3.79 GPA on a 4.0 scale and ACT 24+/SAT 1160+ and at least 1 high school drawing or art class with grade of B or higher

Priority deadline is Nov. 1. Final deadline for consideration is Feb. 1.

Applicants who do not meet the above criteria, or who apply after November 1, will be holistically reviewed and admitted as space permits. Applicants whose high schools do not offer drawing or art classes are encouraged to contact Joan Weaver, Admissions Coordinator, by emailing jweaver@ku.edu to submit drawing or artistic samples.

Business

Incoming freshmen must meet one of the following criteria to be directly admitted to the School of Business:

Our current ACT and GPA index score: ACT/10 + High School GPA ≥ 5.55 OR 3.4+ High School GPA

  1. Test-optional pathway: 3.4+ high school GPA (weighted or unweighted, 4.0 scale)

    OR

  2. Business Index Pathway: ACT (or SAT equivalent; official test scores are required) / 10 + GPA = 5.55+

Admission to the School of Business is conditional upon receiving final, official transcript and/or official standardized test scores. Directly admitted incoming freshmen must meet one of the direct-admission pathways for the School of Business; high school GPA consideration is based on a 4.0 scale only.

Transfer Requirements

Transfer students must meet the following criteria to be admitted to the School of Business:

  • Completion of three pre-admission foundation courses (must be taken for a grade)
    • ACCT 200 – Financial Accounting 1
    • BSAN 202 – Statistics
    • ECON 142 – Principles of Microeconomics
  • Cumulative GPA of 2.5+, including the following:
    • Overall GPA (all transfer coursework)
    • Overall professional GPA (all transfer business coursework, including ECON)
Online Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Requirements

Online Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students must meet the following criteria to be admitted to the School of Business:

  • Completion of a minimum 60 college credit hours
  • Cumulative 2.5+ GPA, including the following:
    • All coursework
    • All professional coursework (business and economics)
    • All KU coursework
    • All KU professional coursework
  • Completion of the following courses (must be taken for a grade):
    • MATH 101 College Algebra
    • Statistics (Statistics with a College Algebra or higher-level math as a prerequisite will fulfill this requirement, such as MATH 365)
    • PSYC 104: Intro/General Psychology
    • ACCT 200: Financial Accounting
    • ACCT 201: Managerial Accounting
    • ECON 142: Microeconomics
    • ECON 144: Macroeconomics

 

More information is available on the School of Business website.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

  • 3.25 High School GPA OR 21+ACT and 2.0 High School GPA

Dance

  • Required audition if seeking entry into the B.F.A program

Design

  • 21+ ACT (1060+ SAT) and 3.25+ cumulative GPA or 24+ ACT (1160+ SAT) and 3.0+ cumulative GPA (preferred: 24+ ACT (1160+ SAT) and 3.2+ cumulative GPA)
  • If you have not had the opportunity to take the ACT or SAT, and are interested in majoring in Design, your application will be given a holistic review with or without test scores.
  • Portfolio and essay submitted online at Department of Design, The University of Kansas.

Priority deadline is Nov. 1. Final deadline for consideration is Feb. 1.

Education and Human Sciences

  • Incoming first-year students can be directly admitted if they meet the following requirements:
    • 3.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale, no test scores required OR an ACT score of at least 21 or an SAT score of at least 1060 plus a GPA of at least 2.0.
  • Transfer students must have a 2.75 KU + Transfer Cumulative GPA to be admissible to the SOEHS.

Engineering

Incoming first-year students can be directly admitted if they meet the following requirements:

  • Must be admissible to the University of Kansas by assured admissions or individual review AND
  • Have a 3.0+ high school GPA AND
  • Demonstrate mathematics preparedness by:
  • Obtaining a mathematics ACT score of 22+ (or math SAT score of 540+), OR
  • Achieving a ‘B’ or better in ‘college algebra’ or a more advanced mathematics course, OR
  • Achieving a ‘C’ or better in a high school calculus course; OR
  • Earning credit via IB or AP credit for the above-mentioned courses in accordance with KU placement credit requirements; OR
  • Achieving at minimum a qualifying score for MATH 104 on the ALEKS mathematics placement exam.
  • Unofficial or official transcript must be submitted for admission consideration

Transfer students can be admitted if they meet the following requirements:

  • Be admissible to KU AND
  • Earn a cumulative college transferable grade-point average of 2.5+ AND
  • Earn a "C" or better in MATH 125 (Calculus I, or its direct equivalent) AND
  • Earn grades of "C" or better in math, science, and engineering applicable to the engineering degree.
  • Applications from all transfer students are evaluated on a case-by-case basis

 

Health Professions

  • Clinical laboratory science: 2.7+ college GPA
  • Health information management: 2.5+ college GPA
  • Respiratory care: 2.5+ college GPA

Students enter these programs after two years of undergraduate study at KU or another institution. In all programs, prerequisite courses in biology, chemistry, and math must be completed with a grade of C or better. All grades (including courses that were repeated) are used in the calculation of the GPA. Additional requirements vary by program.

Interior Architecture

Applicants to the Master of Architecture 5-year program or the Interior Architecture program who apply by November 1 and meet the following criteria will be guaranteed admission:

  • 3.8+ GPA on a 4.0 scale and at least 1 high school drawing or art class with grade of B or higher OR
  • 3.5 – 3.79 GPA on a 4.0 scale and ACT 24+/SAT 1160+ and at least 1 high school drawing or art class with grade of B or higher

Priority deadline is Nov. 1. Final deadline for consideration is Feb. 1.

Applicants who do not meet the above criteria, or who apply after November 1, will be holistically reviewed and admitted as space permits. Applicants whose high schools do not offer drawing or art classes are encouraged to contact Joan Weaver, Admissions Coordinator, by emailing jweaver@ku.edu to submit drawing or artistic samples.

Journalism and Mass Communications

  • Incoming first-year students can be directly admitted if they meet the following requirements:
    • 3.25 High School GPA on a 4.0 scale OR 3.0 High School GPA and 21+ ACT/1060+SAT
  • Transfer students can be admitted if they meet the following requirements:
    • 2.5 transferable GPA, and
    • C (2.0) or higher in JMC 101, and 
    • 2.5 Journalism GPA*
      • *Students with only JMC 101 can be admitted with a 2.0 Journalism GPA

Music

  • Successful completion of audition on primary instrument or voice

Nursing

  • 2.5+ college GPA
  • Completion of prerequisite courses
  • Nursing application submitted at nursing.kumc.edu

Students enter these programs after two years of undergraduate study at KU or another institution.

Pharmacy

Students enter these programs after two years of undergraduate study at KU or another institution.

Professional Studies

Incoming first-year students can be directly admitted to certain programs if they meet the following requirements:

  • 3.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale, no test scores required OR an ACT score of at least 21 or an SAT score of at least 1060 plus a GPA of at least 2.0.

Transfer students can be admitted if they meet the following requirements:

  • 24+ transferable credit hours at a GPA of 2.5 or higher from a regionally accredited community college, college, or university. 

Visit the School of Professional Studies to learn more about the programs and specific program requirements. Some programs are fully online. Some courses may also be only offered at either the Lawrence or Edwards Campus.

Students pursuing a BAS in Applied Cybersecurity or a BS in Information Technology must also have a C (2.0) or higher in College Algebra or higher math course.

Social Welfare

  • 3.25 High School GPA OR 21+ACT and 2.0 High School GPA

Visual Art

  • 3.25 High School GPA OR 21+ACT and 2.0 High School GPA