Parent & Family Resources

New Student Orientation is a required program for all entering undergraduates at MSU. Entering students do not need a specific invitation to complete New Student Orientation, however, students must be accepted for admission to MSU prior to completing Orientation.

Yes. Effective Fall 2015, the MSU Board of Regents authorized a mandatory, one-time $75.00 Student Orientation Fee for all new freshmen and transfer undergraduate students. The fee covers the orientation programming, staffing, technology and materials provided to the incoming student at either the on campus or online orientation. This fee is added to the student's MSU account and is not a fee that must be paid in advance.

MSU uses registration holds on student accounts to make sure all required items are completed before an incoming student can register for or begin classes. Common holds for incoming students include: TSI, Meningitis, Advising and/or Orientation. These holds must all be cleared/removed before a student can begin the semester. Details about each hold are below.

Yes. All incoming new undergraduate students are required to complete the New Student Orientation requirement.

The Texas Succes Initiative Assessment is essentially a placement exam, used to determine the right level of math and English courses for each incoming new student. For more informatio on the testing requirement, interpretation of scores and exemptions to testing, visit the Registrar's TSI webpage.

THIS STEP MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO ADVISING AND REGISTERING FOR CLASSES!

Please note that if you have a TSI status of "not taken" or "partially exempt" you will not be able to register for classes until we have TSI scores or proof of a full TSI exemption on record. Therefore, students who are not exempt and have not attended another public Texas college, must schedule to take the TSI assessment in the required subject areas prior to registration. Additional information can be found at https://msutexas.edu/testing/ 

If you need to take the TSI, you can reserve a test date with the Student Engagement Center, 940-397-4500, or take it online. Some community colleges local to you may also offer TSI test options that can be mailed to MSU. 

An Academic Advisor is a member of the faculty or staff who guides your student in the selection of courses and progress toward degree completion via a degree plan. MSU’s Academic Advising model relies on Academic Advisors assigned to each college who report to college deans to coordinate student progress toward degree. Undecided students are advised through the Tutoring & Academic Support Programs (TASP) Office. Student-athletes work with an Academic Advisor (or faculty advisor) to create a course schedule; once they have done so, they must also meet with the Student-Athletes Academic Coordinator.

For a list of Advising contacts visit the website for Academic Advising

Yes. State law requires Texas college students under the age of 22 to receive a vaccination or booster against bacterial meningitis. The vaccine must be administered within the past five years and at least 10 days before the first day of classes. Step-by-step instructions for submitting documentation are available on our website.

Organizationally, the New Student Orientation Team is within the Admissions Office. For fastest service, please send us an email to orientation@msutexas.edu. Please be sure to include the full name and Mustangs ID number of the student when emailing so we can best assist you. You can also reach us by phone at (940) 397-4500.