Applicants must have a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, and a combined GPA of at least 3.00 on the last 90 quarter (60 semester) credit hours of graded undergraduate work toward the first baccalaureate degree plus all work completed thereafter, OR a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, and a 45 quarter credit-hour graduate degree from a regionally accredited university.

The Office of Admissions will determine whether the general university conditions for admission have been met. The department will examine the material submitted to determine the adequacy of scholastic background and to decide whether departmental facilities are appropriate for your expressed goals. You will be notified by the Office of Admissions as to the action taken. A critical consideration in the decision is whether your academic objectives can be satisfactorily fulfilled by the graduate programs at Oregon State. Admission to OSU is competitive and meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission.

Under special circumstances, students who do not meet the minimum requirements may be considered for admission. The department however will determine if we wish to support these applicants before the Graduate Admissions Committee. The Graduate Admissions Committee may consider the following additional criteria when reviewing applications from students who do no meet the minimum GPA requirement: GRE or GMAT scores, the student's undergraduate institution, specific courses completed at the undergraduate and graduate level, and letters of recommendation from major professors or current employers.

Applicants who wish to be considered for Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships for the Fall Term must apply prior to March 1st.

Please see Additional Graduate Requirements.

International applicants must have a degree equivalent to a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. A "B" average (3.00 GPA) on the last two years (90 quarter hours or 60 semester hours) of undergraduate work is required and any work completed thereafter.

All applicants must provide complete documentation of all certificates, degrees, titles, or diplomas earned, as well as grades or mark sheets from all academic institutions attended. You must provide the dates and names of the certificates, diplomas, degrees, titles, or licenses you received. Faxed copies of records are not acceptable. A photocopy is temporarily acceptable provided that you present your originals after arrival on campus.

Applicants who wish to be considered for Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships for the Fall Term must apply prior to March 1st.

English Language Proficiency

All international student applicants must provide official English language test scores as described in the table below, unless they meet the criteria listed under "Exempt from English Language Testing". ETS institution code for OSU is 4586.

There are Test Score Alternatives to the TOEFL, please click here for further information.

Conditional admission is a way for students whose English is below the required level for full admission to Oregon State University to begin taking classes. In general, the minimum TOEFL score for full admission to Oregon State University is 213 (computer) or 550 (paper). However, if you meet the University's academic standards, but your TOEFL score is below the required level, you may be admitted to the University under the Conditional Admission Program (CAP). For further information, please click here.

Exempt from English Language

• Testing: Individuals who have completed a bachelors or masters degree from a regionally accredited institution in the U.S. or other English speaking country (See list below).
• Individuals who are in the process of earning an advanced degree from an accredited institution in the U.S. or another English speaking country may be conditionally admitted.
• Citizens of the following countries: Australia, Belize, Canada, Ghana**, New Zealand, Scotland, West Indies, and United Kingdom. ** Exemptions for citizens of African countries are considered on a case-by-case basis if the medium of instruction is English.

Financial Documentation

All international applicants must 1) complete and return the Certification of Finances form and 2) submit documents showing proof of sufficient financial resources before the I-20 can be issued (for F-1 visas). See the Finances and Funding page for information on the amounts required.

Documentation of Finances

Bank statements should be no more than nine months old before the term of enrollment at the university. All documents must bear an original signature and seal. Other types of documentation, such as governmental or agency sponsorship letters, should be official and specify dates of validity.

Please see Additional Graduate Requirements.

Admission decisions are based on many factors, such as the quality of the applicant’s prior academic degree and record of accomplishment, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation from professors or others familiar with the applicant’s academic work, performance in aptitude and achievement tests, relevant work experience, preparation in the proposed field of study, and the suitability of the applicant’s academic goals with the faculty’s research interests.

Particularly at the graduate level, a critical consideration in the decision is whether your academic objectives can be satisfactorily fulfilled by the graduate programs at Oregon State. Admission to OSU is competitive and meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission. Following approval of the Department, the Office of Admissions will determine whether the general university admission requirements have been met.

In general, the following items are required when applying to a graduate program at OSU:

• A Statement of Objectives and Particular Field of Interest
• Letters of Recommendation
  • Three letters of professional reference written on official letterhead, in sealed envelopes, and addressed to:

Graduate Committee
Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiation Health Physics
Oregon State University
C-134 Radiation Center
Corvallis, OR 97331-5902

• If you have a master’s degree, one of the three letters should be from your master's research advisor.
• The NE/RHP Department requires the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) of all graduate applicants.

We offer an MS and MHP option through e-campus option for our Radiation Health Physics program. This allows a graduate-level education at a distance. An MS and MHP option through e-campus. Distance education is an option for those that cannot take the time away from their career to get a graduate degree. Click here to see a suggested E-Campus degree progression map. The MHP option is a Master's Degree without a thesis. However, you still have pass an oral exam.

The MHP is a NON-THESIS MASTER’S degree, and is the preferred program for e-campus students in Radiation Health Physics. It provides students the opportunity to pursue advanced-level study in Radiation Health Physics without the requirement for a research thesis or project. It is intended as a terminal degree, not as preparation for a doctorate, and will emphasize job-related knowledge and skills.

A regular master's degree student must file a study program with the Graduate School before completing 18 graduate credits. The program outlines the courses to be taken to complete degree requirements (see the NE/RHP Graduate Student Handbook). All work toward a master’s degree, including transferred credits, course work, and all examinations, must be completed within seven years.

All e-campus MHP graduate students must take a minimum of 3 credit hours per term (fall, winter and spring) to maintain continuous enrollment status. Enrollment is not necessary during the summer term, as the Graduate School views summer quarter as “automatically on leave”. However – Radiation Dosimetry, Advanced Radiation Detection, and Radiochemistry are only offered as 1-week intensive courses during the summer term.

All MHP candidates will be subject to a two-hour oral comprehensive examination at the completion of their Program of Study. The student will designate an area of technical concentration (e.g., instrumentation, environmental, dosimetry), and must be present onsite for the examination. For more information on requirements of departmental or official integrated minors, talk with your major professor. Prospective students are advised to consult the online NE/RHP Graduate Student Handbook and the “Policies Covering all Graduate Students” contained in the OSU online General Catalog and Schedule of Classes for additional and specific requirements.

For the MS option, prospective students need to have faculty approval prior to admittance.

Tuition and Fees

2007-2008 Academic Year Tuition Rates

E-campus courses are the same price for Oregon Residents, Non-residents, and International students.

Tuition and fees for E-campus courses are set at levels necessary to cover the direct costs of providing the courses. Graduate tuition remission (GTA, GRA) and staff rates cannot be applied to E-campus courses. Some scholarships may not be applicable to E-campus tuition and fees. The technology fee is $5.00 per credit hour and is capped at six credits for a maximum of $30.00.

E-campus application requirements the same for all graduate students. See above application requirements. We only take new students for Fall and Winter terms. No new students can start during our Spring and Summer terms. A one week laboratory class is offered here at the Radiation Center once per summer to fulfill the required laboratory classes that are offered during the academic school year.

For for further information about our e-campus option, please email Kristie Marsh, Department Student Liaison.

Applicants who wish to be considered for Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships for the Fall Term must apply prior to March 1st.

We do our best to provide TA/RA support for those students requesting support. We maintain a current list of fellowship and scholarship opportunities.

The RHP program prepares students for professional careers in the field of radiation protection. Employment opportunities in the field include: federal, state, and local environmental protection agencies; medical care facilities; nuclear reactor sites; academia, national laboratories; and private consulting.

At the master’s degree level, our faculty offers the research-based degree of Master of Science (MS) or the professional degree of Master of Health Physics (MHP). Our doctoral program focuses on a strong independent research component and prepares students for careers in many facets of radiation protection academia and research. The doctoral program has a requirement of three-quarters residency at OSU, and all potential doctoral students must obtain a commitment for mentoring from an active faculty member prior to being accepted into the doctoral program. We currently have active research programs in environmental health physics, radiation instrumentation development, risk analysis, radiation dosimetry, and emergency response planning.

If you are interested in applying to our Health Physics program, please click here. If you have questions about our program, please feel free to contact Kristie Marsh.

RHP is an integrated study of the physical aspects of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, their biological effects, and the methods used to protect people and their environment from radiation hazards while still enabling the beneficial uses of radiation and radioactive material.

Nuclear engineers design, build and operate complex systems involving radiation and/or radioactive materials. Employment opportunities in the field include: nuclear utilities; reactor and nuclear fuel vendors; national laboratories; academia, federal agencies (NASA, DOE, NRC, etc.) and private consulting.

At the master’s degree level, our faculty offers the research-based degree of Master of Science (MS) or the professional degree of Master of Engineering (MEng). Our doctoral program focuses on a strong independent research component and prepares students for careers in many facets of nuclear science research and development. We currently have active research programs in thermal fluidics, design of advanced reactors, nuclear reactor safety, nuclear reactor physics, computational methods for radiation transport, nuclear techniques for materials characterizations, radiation instrumentation development, nuclear fuel materials, radioisotope power sources, non-proliferation technologies and medical radioisotope production.

For our graduate courses and their descriptions, please click here.

If you are interested in applying to our Nuclear Engineering program, please click here If you have questions about our program, please feel free to contact Kristie Marsh.

Current areas of research interest in Nuclear Engineering are oriented toward advanced power reactor development, thermal hydraulics and numerical methods and analysis.

Radiochemistry is an interdisciplinary applied science that explores both the radioactive and chemical characteristics of elements and compounds to address technical needs in many areas, including nuclear material science, waste treatment and disposal, environmental and biomedical applications, etc.

Radiochemistry is a research program option available to graduate students in Nuclear Engineering or Radiation Health Physics. If you are interested in learning more about OSU's Radiochemistry Program, please click here.

We offer a fabulous resource to our graduate students when they arrive on campus. This handbook covers everything from getting settled here in Corvallis to our basic requirements for all graduate degrees.

Please click on the image and feel free to go through this year's Graduate Student Handbook.

Current areas of research interest in Nuclear Engineering are oriented toward advanced power reactor development, thermal hydraulics, numerical methods and analysis and neutron scattering. Specific areas include nuclear reactor engineering, experimental and thermal hydraulics, nuclear power generation, reactor physics, nuclear criticality safety, radiation transport computational methods development, nuclear waste management, in-core fuel management, nuclear instrumentation, radioisotope production, radiation shielding, space nuclear power, research reactor utilization and development, and materials investigations using neutron beams.

Areas of research interest in Radiation Health Physics include environmental health physics, radioactive material transport, research reactor health physics, radiation detection methods, instrumentation development, radiation shielding, environmental monitoring and assessment, radiation dosimetry, emergency response planning, and high-and low-level waste management.

Current research in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics covers a wide range of topics including:

• Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics
• Advanced Thermal-Hydraulic Research Laboratory
• Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactors (MASLWR) Test Facility
• Nuclear Reactor Systems Design
• Numerical Methods
• Research Reactor Operations and Management
• Radiation Instrumentation Development
• Radiochemistry
• Uncertainties in Environmental Dose Assessments
• Handford-Related Issues
• Radioecological Benchmarks
• Radiography
• Emergency Response
• Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses

1.1 MW TRIGA Mark II Pulsing Research Reactor - a water-cooled, swimming pool type of research reactor which uses uranium/zirconium hydride fuel elements in a circular grid array. The reactor is licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate at maximum steady state power of 1.1 MW, and can also be pulsed up to a peak power of about 3000 MW. The reactor has a variety of irradiation facilities available. We are one of only 21 universities to have a reactor.

ATHRL - Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Research Facilities. Incorporates three facilities: Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX), a three story test facility that assess the safety systems of Westinghouse’s next generation of nuclear power plants (AP600, APEX-CE, and AP1000), Air-water Test Loop for Advanced Thermal-hydraulic Studies (ATLAS), and Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR), a Generation IV design concept. ATHRL offers excellent opportunities for student research and training in instrumentation, quality assurance, safety, operations, and nuclear and mechanical design.

Instrumentation Development Lab -

Other Labs and Facilities - Radiochemical Analytical Laboratory with radio-HPLC- and radio-LC-IS-MS/MS systems; Cobalt-60 Gamma Irradiator; Neutron Radiography Facilities; Gamma and Alpha Spectrometry Facilities; Radiological Instrument Calibration Facilities; Liquid Scintillation Counting Systems; Thermoluminescent Dosimetry Systems; large inventory of radiation detection instrumentation; student computer laboratory; student nuclear instrumentation laboratory; and wet chemistry laboratories.