Merchandising, MS

Admission requirements

The student must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School. Included in these requirements are:

a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university;
an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 for the last 60 semester hours of course work or a 2.8 GPA on all undergraduate work;
acceptable scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the GMAT must be submitted with application. (GRE or GMAT score must be less than 10 years old.);
if the applicant has a 3.5 GPA or higher in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work from an accredited university, the GRE/GMAT requirement can be waived. The student will be admitted conditionally for the first semester and fully admitted upon achieving a 3.0 GPA or higher in the first nine hours of graduate course work in the first semester;
a demonstrated proficiency in oral and written English; and
a minimum of 24 semester hours of undergraduate work in merchandising, or the equivalent; 12 of the 24 hours must be advanced. Students who do not meet the requirements must complete specified prerequisite courses in merchandising before beginning the graduate program. No single prerequisite course may have a grade lower than a B.

In addition, to be considered for admission into the merchandising program, students need to submit the following to the CMHT graduate coordinator:

three letters of recommendation from employers or teachers;
a resume; and
an essay that provides:
- an overview of the student’s undergraduate degree, any specializations, minors or certificates earned;
- prior and/or current work experience; specifically work experience related to retail merchandising or other similar positions, including paid or unpaid internships;
- professional goals and how the graduate degree will help achieve these goals; and
- primary career objective for degree

Students graduating from the Honors College with a 3.5 or higher GPA are entitled to automatic admission to, and are not required to submit standardized test scores for admission to, the Toulouse Graduate School and, with required prerequisites, to the graduate programs in the Department of Merchandising and Digital Retailing.

Degree requirements

The student must earn a minimum of 36 semester hours.

Merchandising core, 3 hours

MDSE 5500 - Merchandising Strategies (is required for all merchandising majors)

Research tools, 9 hours

Courses in major, 18–24 hours

Maximum of 6 hours from the following

A maximum of 6 hours from the following may be included as part of the major:

Electives, 0–6 hours

Up to 6 hours may be taken in courses outside of merchandising with the consent of the department chair and the student’s major professor. The thesis option requires 6 hours of electives in a related area.

Options under the degree

The student will select one of the following options.

Thesis Option: This option requires a minimum of 36 hours with 21 hours in the student’s major area, including 6 hours of MDSE 5950 , Master’s Thesis, plus 9 hours of research tools. Students may have a minimum of 6 elective hours from a related area, which must be approved by the major professor and department chair. The student must complete and defend the thesis successfully and submit it for approval.
Individual Research Option: This option requires a minimum of 27 semester hours in the student’s major area (including research tools), 3 hours of MDSE 5920 , Problem in Lieu of Thesis, and up to 6 hours of approved electives for a total of 36.