Graduate Admissions

All of the following documents must be received by the Department before an application will be sent to the admissions committee for review:

1. Online Application (follow the link at the top of the page)
2. Application Fee (this is paid while you are completing the online application)
3. Curriculum Vitae or Resume
4. Statement of Purpose (See Note Below)
5. An electronic copy of an Official Transcript (from each institution of higher education attended)
6. Three Letters of Recommendation (letters should be on official letterhead, come from official university or company email addresses, and be signed)

    Notes:

• Non-native English speakers must submit either TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE exam scores. Further details available on KU's English Requirements Policy page.
• As of October 2020 - The GRE is no longer required

The following document is required only after a student has been admitted:

• One (1) Official Transcript and/or degree completion certificate sent directly from the applicant’s university to the University of Kansas. Read about submitting an official transcript on the Graduate Studies International Admissions page.

Additional requirements for Admitted International Students: 

• Copy of degree/diploma certificates (if applicable) 
• Financial Statement (departmental funding offer may cover this requirement)

While composing your statement of purpose, we strongly encourage you to address the following questions:

1. Describe your most significant engineering related successes.
2. Which research areas are you most interested in, and why?
3. What specifically motivated you to pursue a grad school?
4. What do you hope to accomplish with your graduate degree?

We do not have a specific word count established or a required format for this statement, but to cover these four topics, the final document should be more than one page and less than two full pages. 

Find estimated costs of attendance and detailed information about applying for students visa on our university's International Support Service Office website.

There is also a US government agency run through the US State Department called EducationUSA that has offices all over the world. If you are new to the US application process, we recommend getting in contact with your local EducationUSA office. Their advisors can help you prepare your materials and answer many of your questions. 

Up-to-date details are available on the Graduate Admissions Graduate Studies English Proficiency Webpage.

Students who are not native speakers of English must be screened by the Applied English Center/AEC, depending on the types of tests and test scores.  For example, regardless of the score you achieved in Duolingo, you must be screened by AEC.  In addition, students who have been evaluated and assigned to enroll in specified English course(s) by AEC must comply with such enrollment requirements per the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty Senate. 

TOFEL Scores

• Institution Code – 6871
• Program Code – 64
• Or email (see IELTS instructions)

IELTS Scores

• Email a scanned pdf or image file of the official scorecard to cpegrad@ku.edu.
• Please ensure that the Test Report Form Number and Candidate ID are clearly visible.

To qualify for study in any of the graduate programs with regular admission status in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, a student generally must have earned an accredited baccalaureate degree and/or master's of science or engineering in chemical or petroleum engineering with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on the US 4.0 scale.

Provisional status is no longer available as of fall 2021.

In general, the following minimum guidelines are indicators of potential for success in the program:

• Clear research interests and goals demonstrated in the statement of purpose
• 3 letters of recommendation from professors or supervisors who can speak to the research/work abilities of the prospective student
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher (on the US 4.0 scale)
• TOEFL/IELTS: Composite-90, with no individual section below 20 and preferred scores above 22.

Application Deadlines when applying for the Fall semester

• January 5 (priority funding)
• March 1 (final)

Application Deadlines when applying for the Spring semester

• October 1 (final for all)