Overview
Texas A&M University has the largest college of engineering in the United States; about 10,000 engineering students are among the 43,000 students enrolled in the University. University and department graduates are well recognized in industry and are heavily recruited. Many graduates of the Department of Petroleum Engineering hold high-level positions in the petroleum industry as well as other leading industries.

The Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University is the largest in the United States, with about 390 students (230 graduate students and 160 undergraduate students) currently enrolled. Virtually all graduate students hold fellowships, research or teaching assistantships, or corporate sponsorships.

The Community
Texas A&M is located in Bryan-College Station, two adjacent cities with a combined population of approximately 120,000. The University is about 90 miles northwest of Houston, 90 miles east of Austin, and 170 miles south of Dallas.

Programs of study and degree requirements
The Department of Petroleum Engineering offers programs of study leading to the Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) degrees. All students work with an advisory chair and committee. Advanced-level research and course study are offered in drilling, production, well stimulation, reservoir engineering, reservoir characterization, and reservoir management. Specific teaching and research areas include core analysis and flow imaging, drilling and drilling fluids, economic evaluation, field-scale reservoir studies, formation damage, formation evaluation, horizontal and extended-reach wells, improved oil and gas recovery, production and well test data analysis, reservoir characterization, reservoir management, reservoir simulation, rock mechanics, well logging, and well stimulation. New areas of research include multilateral wells, nonparametric optimization (including neural networks), streamtube flow simulation, and well performance modeling and interpretation.

The M.S. degree program requires a minimum of 32 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. The student typically devotes two thirds of these hours to petroleum engineering graduate courses, including thesis-related research, and one third to graduate courses taught in other departments, such as mathematics, computer science, business, and geology. An acceptable thesis is required for the M.S. degree.

The M.Eng. degree program requires a minimum of 36 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate (B.S.) degree, in which, similar to the M.S. degree, approximately two thirds of the hours are petroleum engineering courses, and one third are taken outside the department. A summary report is required for the M.Eng. degree. International petroleum management is offered in cooperation with Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business. Students receive the M.Eng. degree with a certificate of completion from the Graduate School of Business. Institut Français du Petrole (IFP) is a cooperative area of interest in which students are required to study in France for two semesters in addition to their time of study at Texas A&M. Students receive separate degrees from both institutions. Two separate degree programs are available at IFP; one program has a business emphasis while the other focuses on technology in reservoir geoscience. Admission to programs in IFP is made by application to IFP, independent of admission to Texas A&M. The M.Eng. degree is also offered via distance learning. Due to the large component of independent study required, the M.Eng. degree via distance education is presently limited to those persons with a baccalaureate (B.S.) degree in petroleum engineering or those with a B.S. degree in another discipline of engineering who also have extensive experience in the recognized practice of petroleum engineering. Students should see the petroleum engineering distance learning Web page for a complete listing of current courses that are offered via distance learning and for additional information.

The Ph.D. degree program requires a minimum of 96 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. Students in the Ph.D. program devote at least one third of their time to petroleum engineering courses, approximately one third to research, and approximately one third to courses outside the department. An acceptable dissertation is required for the Ph.D. degree.

The D.Eng. degree program also requires a minimum of 96 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree, which include 80 hours of course work and 16 hours of a professional internship. An acceptable record of study is required for the D.Eng. degree.

Students entering the Graduate Program in Petroleum Engineering with degrees in areas other than petroleum engineering may be required to take prerequisite courses at the undergraduate level. These courses are required to ensure proficiency in petroleum engineering skills and academic success in graduate course work.

Facilities & Resources
The Department of Petroleum Engineering is located in the Joe C. Richardson building, a ten-story structure that contains 50,000 square feet of space that is dedicated to petroleum engineering research and teaching. The department research facilities include laboratories for drilling, petrophysical analysis, formation evaluation, well stimulation, production engineering, reservoir engineering, reservoir modeling, enhanced oil recovery, and reservoir management. The department has a thirty-unit PC laboratory for undergraduate and graduate student use and a ten-unit PC laboratory devoted exclusively for use by graduate students. In addition, a number of workstation computers are available, and many graduate research groups have their own computing facilities.

Expenses and Aid
Costs: Graduate tuition for residents of Texas is $100 per semester credit hour with a $120 minimum; for nonresidents the tuition rate is $395 per semester credit hour. Additional fees of $500 to $650 per semester are required for student services, engineering equipment and computer access, and laboratory use. Nonresident tuition and fees are waived for eligible students receiving fellowships and/or assistantships.

Financial Aid: Research and teaching assistantships may be available to qualified graduate students who have satisfied the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in petroleum engineering, other engineering disciplines, geology, or physical sciences. Requests for financial aid should be made on the University admissions application. Departmental aid is not guaranteed, but applicants are reviewed based on departmental resources and individual qualifications.

Housing/Living Expenses: A limited number of University-owned apartments, both furnished and unfurnished, are available for graduate students. Rents range from $150 to $380 per month, plus electricity. A large number of private apartment complexes with one- to three-bedroom apartments are available, with rents ranging from $290 to $895 per month. The estimated living cost (not including school expenses) is approximately $350 to $500 per month.

How to Apply
For graduate admission in petroleum engineering, an applicant must hold a baccalaureate degree from a college or university of recognized standing and be able to demonstrate fundamental skills in petroleum engineering. Acceptable scores on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are required. The combined verbal and quantitative GRE score must be more than 1050. TOEFL scores must be at least 550 on the paper test or at least 213 on the computer-based exam.

Applicants for admission to the petroleum engineering graduate program at Texas A&M should contact the Director of Admissions at Texas A&M University and return the completed application to that office (not the department). An admissions application can also be downloaded from the University Web site (http://www.tamu.edu/admissions/).

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