How to Apply to Engineering at Texas State University: An Ingram School of Engineering With Civil, Electrical, Industrial, Manufacturing and Mechanical Majors, Entered as a Pre-Major Until Calculus I Readiness, for Domestic and International (Including Chinese) Applicants and Transfer Students

Undergraduate engineering at Texas State University (TXST, main campus in San Marcos) is offered by the Ingram School of Engineering (ISoE), in the College of Science and Engineering. A university news item says the Texas State University System Board of Regents has approved creating an Ingram College of Engineering and a College of Science; the other pages still use Ingram School of Engineering, which is the name used here. It is organised for U.S. domestic applicants, international applicants, applicants from China and transfer students. Computer science is in the college’s computer science department and has its own guide on this site, so it is not covered here.

1. Engineering degrees

• Degrees: the school’s undergraduate degrees page says it currently offers five B.S. degrees: civil, electrical, industrial, manufacturing and mechanical engineering. Computer engineering is described as a separately accredited concentration within the electrical engineering degree; the admission-requirements page lists three electrical engineering concentrations (computer engineering; micro and nano devices and systems; networks and communication systems) and two manufacturing engineering concentrations (smart manufacturing; mechanical systems).
• A further major in the catalog: the 2026–2027 catalog page for the school also lists a B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering and combined B.S./M.S. options for industrial engineering (with the M.S. in Engineering, non-thesis, or the M.S. in Industrial and Business Operations Engineering, thesis). The school’s own undergraduate page lists only the five degrees and no mechatronics. The two differ; ask the school.
• ABET (accreditation page): civil, electrical, industrial and manufacturing engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission; computer engineering is the separately accredited concentration within electrical engineering; for mechanical engineering the page says accreditation “will be sought at the earliest time appropriate”, so it is not yet accredited.
• Curriculum notes (catalog): every program ends in a senior design or capstone project. Civil engineering stresses smart infrastructure; the mechanical engineering page calls it the first program in Texas designed around Industry 4.0 technology.
• Credits: credit totals per major are not on the pages read; check the university catalog.
• Paid co-op: the pages read have no dedicated paid co-op program description. Not published.

2. Admission: university first, then pre-major to full major

• You apply to the university: the College of Science and Engineering admissions-requirements page says you must apply to and be accepted by Texas State; on acceptance you are placed in a “pre” major, for example pre-Industrial Engineering.
• Becoming a full major: you must be qualified to enroll in Texas State’s Calculus I. The page says this applies to students admitted for fall 2025 or later. You can show readiness with any one of: SAT math 600 (taken after March 1, 2016); ACT math 27; Accuplacer Next-Generation Advanced Algebra & Functions 276–300; MATH 2417 (or equivalent) with a C or better; MATH 2417 AP credit; MATH 2471 (or equivalent) with a C or better; MATH 2471 AP credit. Older scores also work: SAT math 550 (before March 1, 2016), Accuplacer 103–999 and Compass algebra 46–99. The university runs reports regularly and moves qualified pre-majors to full majors; there is no separate major application form.
• A different statement in the catalog (2026–2027 catalog, Ingram School page): to declare electrical engineering a student must have an ACT math of 24 or higher, an SAT math of 550 or higher, or a C or better in MATH 1315 (College Algebra), 1317 (Trigonometry), 1319 or 1329 (business mathematics); students who do not qualify can choose Pre-Electrical Engineering and declare after completing one of those courses. Those thresholds are lower than the “ready for Calculus I” standard on the college page (ACT 27 / SAT 600 and so on). The catalog itself also says the school’s admission requirements are listed on the college’s engineering and computer science admissions page, so this guide treats that page as the main one; confirm with the school.
• Limited seats, guarantees and internal transfer conditions: the pages read do not state a seat limit or guarantee.
• Admissions office wording: the program entry requirements page lists civil, electrical (three concentrations), industrial, manufacturing (two concentrations) and mechanical engineering under “Engineering & Computer Science” with only the Calculus I condition above.

3. Prerequisites and credit

• High school courses (freshman admission page, the university-level curriculum for assured admission): 4 English; 4 math, including algebra I and II, geometry and advanced math such as pre-calculus, calculus and statistics; 4 science, including biology, chemistry and two advanced sciences such as physics; 3 social studies; 2 of a language other than English. Applicants without this curriculum go through review. No separate high school prerequisite for engineering is published on the pages read.
• Math: Calculus I readiness is the condition for becoming a full major (section 2). Prerequisites in the catalog’s engineering courses include, for example, CHEM 1335 and ENGR 3311 with a C or better for civil engineering’s CE 2340; the required course sequence of each major is not reproduced here.
• AP/IB credit against engineering required courses: apart from MATH 2471 AP credit counting as Calculus I readiness, the pages read do not say which AP or IB scores map to which engineering required courses. Not published on the pages read; check the catalog or ask the school.

4. Deadlines, materials and fees (fall 2027 entry)

• How to apply: the TXST application, the Common App or ApplyTexas.
• Deadlines (apply page, no year printed — confirm they apply to fall 2027): first-year fall priority December 1 and final July 15; spring November 15; summer May 1. Transfer fall priority February 15 and final July 15. The admissions office’s priority-dates page lists only fall 2026 (first-year priority December 1, 2025, final July 15, 2026) and spring 2027 (first-year November 15, 2026) and has no fall 2027 row, so the fall 2027 dates need checking. The site says applying by the priority date also meets the scholarship deadline.
• Application fee: $90 for international applicants (non-refundable, no waivers). The domestic fee amount is not on the pages read; need-based waivers are mentioned.
• Materials: high school transcript (mail, document uploader or electronic service); college transcripts if applicable; SAT or ACT scores (not required for students in the top 75% of the class); an application essay is optional.
• Testing: the site says applicants ranked in the top 75% of their class need not submit SAT or ACT, including for the Honors College and scholarships; students in the fourth quartile must submit scores meeting assured admission. The engineering math score condition in section 2 is for becoming a full major, not for admission.
• Assured admission (freshman page): complete the recommended curriculum and meet one of: top 25% of class with no minimum score; second quartile ACT 22 / SAT 1090; third quartile ACT 26 / SAT 1250; fourth quartile ACT 29 / SAT 1330. Others are reviewed holistically, considering curriculum, essays, rigor and grades.

5. U.S. domestic applicants

• Admission: see sections 2 and 4. The site suggests that applicants not offered freshman admission complete at least 15 transferable hours with a 2.5 GPA at another college and apply as a transfer.
• Tuition, resident versus non-resident: the International Student and Scholar Services 2026–2027 F-1 estimate shows, for full-time undergraduates (12 hours), tuition and fees of $19,700 for non-residents and $10,000 for residents over fall and spring, living expenses of $20,900 for nine months, and totals of $40,600 and $30,900. These are estimates used for the I-20, and another sentence refers to a “2025–2026” graphic, so the year labelling is not fully consistent. Engineering courses in the catalog carry the course attribute “Dif Tui- Science & Engineering”; the pages read do not give the differential tuition amount. Not published there; ask Student Business Services.
• Scholarships (freshman scholarships page; amounts apply to students admitted for summer 2026 and later): National Distinction for National Merit finalists or semifinalists, $40,000 total ($10,000 a year); Assured scholarships by SAT/ACT and class rank, open to residents, non-residents and international students: President’s Honor $48,000 over four years ($12,000 a year) with SAT 1420+ or ACT 32+ and top 25% (or an IB or AP Capstone diploma); Achievement $32,000 ($8,000 a year) with SAT 1260–1410 or ACT 27–31 and a top-25% class rank (or an IB or AP Capstone diploma); the table then has further tiers of $32,000, $28,000, $24,000, $20,000 and $16,000 by SAT/ACT band and class-rank percentile — see the site’s table for which condition goes with which tier. Students without test scores in the top 35% of the class get an academic review for Merit scholarships of varying amounts. Renewal needs a 3.25 cumulative GPA and 28 hours a year. A non-resident who receives $1,000 or more in competitive or merit scholarships may be eligible to pay resident tuition.
• Resident priority or guaranteed admission: the assured-admission standard is the same for all applicants; no engineering-specific guarantee for residents is described.

6. International applicants

• Who is international: anyone on a non-immigrant visa (including H-1B) or seeking one; those who are not U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees or asylees apply as international.
• Application and documents: $90 fee; secondary school transcripts with all courses and marks for each semester plus graduation or school-leaving exam results (originals or copies certified by the school or a U.S. embassy or consulate); a certified translation for non-English records, not one done by the student. Unofficial transcripts can generally support a decision, then the school must send official ones (PDF by email to processing@txstate.edu); without the official final transcript by the start of registration for the second term, enrollment is jeopardized.
• English (scores no more than two years old; single-skill tests not accepted): TOEFL iBT total 78 (each section 19, writing 18; new 6-point scale total 4, each section 4); TOEFL Essentials 8.5; IELTS 6.5 overall and 6.0 in each section; Duolingo 105; SAT evidence-based reading and writing 520; ACT English 21; PTE Academic 52; iTEP 3.8; IB English 4; GCE/GCSE/IGCSE English C; Cambridge B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 176. Exemptions: three years of regular English at an accredited U.S. high school; 30 transferable credits including ENG 1310 and 1320 with a C or better; or a diploma from the exempt countries the site lists (China is not among them).
• Credential evaluation: in the section on international college (transfer) credit, the site says the admissions office evaluates international transcripts in-house and does not use third-party evaluators such as WES; whether secondary transcripts are handled the same way is not stated on the pages read.
• Funds and visa: the admissions pages read do not state a proof-of-funds rule; the international student office page says the I-20 amount follows the 2026–2027 estimate (non-resident undergraduate total $40,600). Applicants needing a visa are advised to finish all requirements at least a month before the deadline. F-1 students generally do not qualify for in-state tuition; dependents require $5,400 for a spouse and $3,600 per child.
• Deadlines (apply page, no year printed): international first-year fall priority December 1 and final June 1; spring October 1; summer March 1. International transfers fall priority February 15 and final June 15; spring October 15; summer March 15.
• Scholarships: international students can receive the Assured and Merit scholarships above; there are also TAMS for students from Mexico and the Good Neighbor scholarship for students from Western Hemisphere nations (applied for through BOSS by March 1); students in online degree programs cannot receive institutional scholarships.

7. Applicants from China

• Gaokao: the site’s secondary credentials page for China (mainland) does not mention the Gaokao. Not published; contact admissions (processing@txstate.edu or the contacts on the admissions site).
• Grades and credentials (China page, standard track): the last-year junior secondary transcript if not yet graduated; transcripts for all senior secondary years (grades 10–12); the senior secondary graduation certificate if already graduated; grades averaging B or better and a recalculated GPA of at least 2.74 on a 4-point scale over the last three years, with a note that this does not guarantee admission. A vocational track has the same B average and 2.74 GPA. The grade scale: 90–100 is A, 80–89 B, 70–79 C, 60–69 D. How academic proficiency exam records are submitted is not stated.
• English: the China page says “Not exempt”; submit one of the tests above.
• Interview: not published on the pages read.

8. Transfer students

• Who is a transfer student: an applicant with transferable credit hours from a college (not counting dual credit) who has been out of high school at least one semester.
• Assured admission (transfer requirements page): 14 or fewer hours: 2.0 cumulative GPA and freshman admission standards; 15–29 hours: 2.5; 30 or more hours: 2.25. AP, IB and CLEP credit is not considered for transfer admission. You must be eligible to return to all previous institutions. Others may be reviewed on transcript and grades.
• Engineering majors: transfers also enter as pre-majors and must meet the Calculus I readiness condition; MATH 2417 or MATH 2471 with a C or better counts. Required physics and chemistry sequences are not stated on the pages read.
• Credit transfer: use the Transfer Equivalency System and Transfer Planning Guides; international college credits are converted by the admissions office’s own evaluation.
• Deadlines (no year printed): fall priority February 15 and final July 15; spring November 15; summer May 1. International transfers: see above.

Checklist

U.S. domestic applicants:

• Apply with the TXST application, Common App or ApplyTexas; fall priority December 1 and final July 15 (confirm the year); high school transcript; top-75% rank means no SAT/ACT needed
• After admission you start as a pre-major; show Calculus I readiness (SAT math 600 / ACT math 27 / MATH 2417 or 2471 with a C or better and so on) to become a full major

International applicants (including China):

• $90 fee; secondary transcripts (China: grades 10–12, recalculated GPA of at least 2.74); English test (TOEFL iBT 78 / IELTS 6.5 and so on; China is not exempt); certified translations
• Fall priority December 1 and final June 1 (confirm the year); ask admissions how the Gaokao and proficiency exams are handled

Transfer students:

• Cumulative GPA 2.0 to 2.5 depending on hours; official transcripts; Calculus I readiness; fall priority February 15 (confirm the year)

Sources: Texas State University, Ingram School of Engineering degrees and programs; Undergraduate degrees; Accreditation; Engineering and computer science admission requirements; 2026-2027 catalog, Ingram School of Engineering; Apply; Freshman admission; Transfer admission; International requirements; China secondary credentials; Program entry requirements; Priority dates; 2026-2027 F-1 cost estimate; Freshman scholarships; International scholarships. Where the site shows no year (deadlines, scholarship tables), confirm they apply to fall 2027 entry.