The purpose of this publication is to provide general information about the academic programs of Sam Houston State University to students and prospective students as well as the faculty and staff of the University. Included is information concerning admissions, the academic calendar, requirements for graduation, services available to students, and the faculty and administrative officers of the University.

While every effort has been made to make this publication as complete and accurate as possible, it should be noted that changes may occur at any time in the policies, requirements, academic calendar, deadlines, fees, and curricula listed in this publication.

Students should refer to the Undergraduate Catalogue or Graduate Catalogue for course descriptions, curriculum outlines, a list of the faculty of the University, and other specific information. The Schedule of Classes provides the offerings for any given semester or summer school.

Any person who desires to apply for undergraduate admission to the University should contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas 77341 for an appropriate application and information. Telephone: (936) 294-1828.

Sam Houston State University accepts applications for undergraduate admission from students of accredited secondary schools and students transferring from accredited colleges without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or age.

Application Fee. A $20.00 non-refundable, one-time application fee must accompany the appliction form. Checks or money orders must be payable to Sam Houston State University. DO NOT SEND CASH. Former students are not required to pay the application fee.

Before a student will be admitted to Sam Houston State University all items listed below must be on file in the Undergraduate Admissions Office:

1. Application for undergraduate admission.

2. Satisfactory evidence of high school graduation and class ranking.

3. Satisfactory scores on the ACT Assessment or SAT I Recentered Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test).

4. Official transcripts of all college level work attempted at any other institution(s).

PERSONAL STANDARDS. Sam Houston State University requires the same personal standards and applies the same criteria in considering applications for admission as it uses in the retention of students who are enrolled. To be consistent with this policy, the University reserves the right to refuse acceptance to prospective or former students who have criminal records including conviction of a felony, offenses involving moral turpitude, or other serious offenses. The personal standards of conduct expected of students who enroll at Sam Houston State University are provided in the student handbook, Student Guidelines.

ACADEMIC FRESH START. Senate Bill 1321, passed by the 73rd Texas Legislature, entitles residents of Texas to seek admission to public institutions of higher education without consideration of courses undertaken ten or more years prior to admission.

Students electing to apply for admission to Sam Houston State University under the provisions of SB 1321 and this policy may not choose which credit hours are to be counted or to be ignored. All college hours ten or more years old are either counted or all ignored. Students must apply for Academic Fresh Start when they apply for admission.

For more information, contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, (936) 294-1828.

ADMISSIONS TESTS. The University accepts students for admission with satisfactory scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test SAT or SAT I, the recentered test, or the ACT Assessment. These tests are administered periodically at more than 1,000 test centers throughout the United States. Information and applications for either test may be secured from the high school counselor or principal.

ADMISSION POLICY FOR BEGINNING STUDENTS. Sam Houston State University accepts applications for undergraduate admission from students of accredited secondary schools without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, or age.

A beginning student must graduate from an accredited high school, take the ACT or SAT, and meet one of the following requirements:

a. Score at least 21 on the ACT Assessment or at least 900 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) or 1010 on the SAT I, the recentered test.

b. Graduate in the upper half of his/her graduating class.

c. Provide official transcript from an accredited college or university indicating successful completion of 12 transferable semester credit hours with no grade less than a "C."

 
Beginning Freshmen submit the following:
 

1. Completed application for admission with a non-refundable $20 application fee.

2. Official copy of ACT or SAT I score.

3. Official copy of final high school transcript showing date of graduation and class rank.

GRADUATE OF A NON-ACCREDITED HIGH SCHOOL. Sam Houston State University will admit qualified students graduating from non-accredited high schools who meet the following criteria:

EARLY UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM. Sam Houston State University permits certain high school students to attend summer school between their junior and senior year. To qualify, a student must:

FORMER STUDENTS. All former SHSU students who did not attend one long semester (fall or spring) must submit an application for undergraduate admission in order to re-enter Sam Houston State University. Any former SHSU student who attends another institution is responsible for submitting an application for undergraduate admission and an official transcript with a minimum 2.0 grade point average of his/her record to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions before he/she re-enters Sam Houston State University.

A student who leaves Sam Houston State University on scholastic probation is readmitted on scholastic probation, even if the student has attended another institution after leaving and re-entering Sam Houston State University.

FULL-TIME EARLY UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. The University recognizes that in some instances a truly gifted high school student may receive considerable educational benefit from a full-time early undergraduate admissions program to a college or university.

High school students desiring to enter the full-time early undergraduate admissions program must:

Coursework completed at colleges and universities outside the United States must be evaluated by a firm or organization specializing in the evaluation of international education credentials if such work is to be considered for transfer credit. Contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for assistance in locating evaluation organizations recognized by Sam Houston State University.

TRANSFER STUDENTS FROM COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES. Students who transfer to Sam Houston State University from another accredited college or university must:

All courses and grades transferred from other colleges and/or universities are recorded as received on the student’s academic record at Sam Houston State University. Changes in the evaluation of transfer credit will not be permitted after one (1) year from the student’s initial evaluation at Sam Houston State University.

Courses and grades transferred from other colleges or universities will remain on the student’s transfer record at Sam Houston State University. If, however, the student repeats a similar course or courses at Sam Houston State University in order to satisfy degree requirements and receives a higher grade, the appropriate transfer grade will be marked as a repeated course and the transferred GPA adjusted accordingly.

A student will have to earn grade points at Sam Houston State University to make up for any deficient grade points resulting from transferred courses and grades.

A student has the option of repeating D or F grades at the school(s) from which said grades were transferred. If the student makes higher grades, those grades will be entered on the student’s transferred record at Sam Houston State University and the transferred GPA adjusted accordingly.

TRANSFER CREDIT FROM JUNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Sam Houston accepts from accredited junior colleges a maximum of sixty-six academic hours plus four hours of activity physical education (kinesiology), or a total of seventy semester hours.

Courses taken at a junior or community college cannot transfer as advanced hours (junior or senior level courses).

The following guidelines and definitions are established to clarify and enhance Chapter 5, Subchapter A, Section 5.4 of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rule pertaining to Transfer Curricula and Resolution of Transfer Disputes for Lower-Division Courses.

The definitions listed below were established by the Coordinating Board and will serve as criteria to resolve legal questions as specified in Section 1.23, Subchapter C, Chapter 61 of the Education Code, Section 61-078. The publications Transfer of Credit Policies and Curricula of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual: A Manual of Approved General Academic Transfer Courses for State Appropriations to Texas Public Community Colleges are the references for this issue: The following criteria for lower-division and upper-division course credit were adopted by the Task Force to Update the Academic Course Guide Manual.

The Texas Common Course Numbering System was developed in part to assist students in identifying which courses at one college will meet specific course requirements at another college. In other words, the common course numbering system promotes the successful transfer of course work among colleges and universities in Texas, making the transfer process easy for students.

The common course number has a standardized four-letter prefix followed by a four-digit number - example, ENGL 1301. The four-letter prefix identifies the subject area. Each digit in the four-digit sequence gives additional information about the course. The first digit identifies the course as either freshman level (1) or sophomore level (2). The second digit identifies the number of credit hours a student will earn upon completion of the course. Most often this digit will be a 1, 2, 3, or 4. The final two digits serve to establish the sequence in which courses are generally taken.

In the course description sections of the catalogue, the common course number is shown in brackets - example, [ENGL 1301]. The following is a list of all the common course numbers currently adopted by Sam Houston State University. Courses which fulfill one of the General Education Requirements for the Baccalaureate Core are identified with the letters GE to the right of the Sam Houston State University course number.

1. International student applications must be completed and accepted no less than 60 days before the beginning of the initial semester of enrollment.

2. Only international students with the Associate of Arts Degree, or its equivalent, will be accepted for transfer to Sam Houston State University from another U.S. college. All previous course work must be completed at one school. Transcripts of international undergraduate transfer students must reflect an overall grade point average of not less than 2.0 and a TOEFL score of not less than 550. Multiple transfers will not be considered.

3. Students entering the United States and applying for undergraduate admission to Sam Houston State University must submit a TOEFL score of 550 or higher and demonstrate a speaking knowledge of English. Although a TOEFL score of 550 or higher normally will make international students eligible to be considered for admission, it is permissible for an individual college within the University to establish a higher TOEFL score for admission to a particular program.

1. Each student must provide evidence of their ability for financial support while studying in this country.

2. All international students are required to purchase the group Hospitalization, Medical Evacuation, and Repatriation Insurance available to all eligible SHSU students. Proof of this insurance must be presented to designated university officials each semester before the registration process can be completed. Further information concerning this required coverage may be obtained from the University Health Center.

3. To ensure that all undergraduate admission and immigration papers are in order, international students are required to visit the Undergraduate Admissions Office immediately upon arrival on campus.

4. Certified English translations are required for documents submitted in a language other than English.

The Office of Student Life coordinates the orientation sessions for new students. Summer Orientation Programs offer freshmen and transfer students the opportunity to learn about SHSU and the range of support services which are available across campus. During these sessions, students meet with an academic advisor and register for fall classes, they can secure on-campus housing for the fall, and can pay all of their fees for the semester. A mini-orientation program is offered for new students at the start of the fall semester, and again at the start of the spring semester. Please call (936) 294-1785 for more information about any of these programs.

Sam Houston State University began its Mandatory Advisement System effective September 1, 1996. This academic advisement system, approved by the Board of Regents, The Texas State University System, mandates that students in one or more of the following categories are subject to Mandatory Advisement prior to registration:

• All students whose current overall SHSU GPA is below 2.50

• All students who do not have an SHSU GPA, i.e., new freshmen and new transfer students

• All students subject to TASP regulations

Each student subject to Mandatory Advisement must be advised by his/her designated advisor prior to the beginning of Advance Registration. Students subject to Mandatory Advisement will not be permitted to register until they have been advised. Students subject to TASP regulations are subject to TASP advisement.

Students may review the name of their advisor by accessing the appropriate computer option through SamInfo Telephone Access or SamInfo Computer Access. Specific information for accessing this data is provided in the Schedule of Classes. Detailed registration procedures are included in the Schedule of Classes which is published twice each year - Summer School/Fall Semester, Spring Semester.

Students are urged to review the Academic Calendar which provides the dates for Advance Registration. Students should schedule their advisement session with their designated advisor at an early date to ensure that the advisement procedures occur prior to Advance Registration.

Questions relating to Mandatory Advisement should be directed to the Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, 200 Lee Drain Bldg., (936) 294-1401.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]