Abstract
Engineering Management masters degree programs at every institution have admission criteria. However, what constitutes admission criteria varies from one program to the next. There are quantitative criteria that exist for nearly all programs, such as the undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Acceptable values of these criteria vary from one program to the next. There are more qualitative criteria, such as letters of recommendation, which are difficult to assess. Furthermore, admission decisions based on these criteria are not absolute as there are provisions for relaxing the acceptance level of the criteria so that students who do not meet the standard can still be admitted into the program. These situations raise questions as to the purpose of admission criteria, their value, and how they are applied. There are also concerns as to the barriers imposed by admission criteria and if they unnecessarily reduce access to degree pursuit. In this paper we present information from a variety of sources to provide a better understanding of these issues. We also summarize the acceptance criteria currently used by 30 engineering management masters degree programs in the United States to characterize how they are applied. Finally, we make recommendations that engineering management masters degree programs may consider, along with identifying areas for further study on this topic.