Admission Requirements
Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution and does not discriminate in its admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, national origin, or veteran status.  Any student with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university may be admitted to the graduate program.  Students are expected to have strong academic backgrounds in mathematics, probability and statistics, and computer usage.  Those students with undergraduate work in engineering or the sciences typically meet these requirements.  The faculty may require students to strengthen their academic preparation in specific subjects such as statistics and undergraduate-level occupational safety and ergonomics (OS&E) by taking non-graduate credit prerequisite courses.  All applicants must have demonstrated the capability of performing "B" or better undergraduate work and and must submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores acceptable to the University.  For more information, please visit the Auburn University Graduate School or the departmental (INSY) website.

Degrees Offerings
The Auburn University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (INSY) offers three graduate degrees for students interested in OSE: Master of Industrial and Systems Engineering (MISE), Master of Science (MS), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). In addition, students interested in Injury Prevention (IP) may pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree with an IP focus. The MISE is a non-thesis professional degree program.  For the traditional research thesis-based MS degree, the student, with the major professor's assistance, develops an individualized plan of study that will prepare the student to conduct the thesis research. The PhD student likewise develops an individualized plan of study for obtaining the academic background to conduct dissertation research.   All graduate degrees require satisfactory completion of a departmental "core" curriculum that is discussed on the departmental website for Industrial & Systems Engineering.

Degree Requirements
The MISE/MS student follows a required plan of study (minimum of 30 semester hours) that includes a departmental core and a concentration in one of four tracks/options: Engineering economics, safety and ergonomics, operations research and statistics or production and manufacturing. The departmental core includes 18 hours and is discussed at the ISE department website. The OS&E track includes a minimum of 12 hours of courses in safety and ergonomics and design/research. The design and research requirement  includes a three hour (minimum) design project for MISE students or a six hour (minimum) research project for MS students.

Masters and PhD students who receive support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the current grant must, in addition to the departmental (18 hour) core, and the design/research requirement, include an “OSE&IP core” of four courses (12 hours) in the study plan.  PhD students with an OS&E focus must also complete advanced courses in safety (INSY 8010), ergonomics (INSY 8060), and research methods (INSY 8970) in addition to other coursework that may be directed by their graduate committee. PhD students with an IP focus will take advanced courses in epidemiology and public health as prescribed by their graduate committee.  All NIOSH supported students are also required to register for at least two hours of special topics (INSY 7090) each Fall and Spring semester in order to provide for interdisciplinary seminars, field projects and clinical rotations.

For each degree option, some courses may be exempted depending on the students background and experience. However, the major professor works with the MISE/MS or PhD student to develop an individualized plan of study that will support the students design project, thesis or dissertation research and career aspirations.

Course requirements for the PhD vary depending on the student’s academic background. Ordinarily, the student’s plan of study will include at least 48 hours beyond the bachelors degree including an Industrial and Systems Engineering core of 18 hours. A dissertation/research plan of at least 12 hours is also required. There is no language requirement.

Financial Assistance
Under a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) grant, fellowships plus tuition and fees are available to full time on-campus students holding U.S. citizenship or permanent visas. This training grant establishes the Deep South Education and Research Center (ERC) which consists of the Auburn University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Departments of Environmental Health Sciences (Industrial Hygiene) and Occupational Health Nursing.

During the academic year, graduate research assistantships and graduate teaching assistantships, typically for one-third time, may be awarded to qualified students if funds are available.