The Department of Comparative Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Purdue University, offers three-year graduate instruction leading to the Master of Science (MS) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees to persons possessing the DVM degree and to those with a baccalaureate degree and comprehensive training in the biological sciences. Areas of study include animal welfare science and human-animal interaction, cancer biology, infectious diseases, bacteriology, epidemiology, immunology, laboratory and experimental medicine, parasitology, pathology, public health, toxicology, virology, and molecular genetics.
Students applying for admission must be graduates of a veterinary or medical college or hold a bachelor’s degree in the biological sciences. Graduates in other fields may be accepted with approval of the graduate faculty and department head if they have sufficient background in the biological sciences.
GRE Requirement
GRE is optional. However, some clinical residency programs and certain Departmental faculty members may require it for application evaluations. Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator cpbgradc@purdue.edu if you are unsure if you need the GRE to support your application.
TOEFL Requirement
International non-native speakers of English must achieve a TOEFL score of 80 or higher on the Internet-based test, with section scores of: reading, 19; listening, 14; speaking, 18, and writing, 18.
As an alternative to the TOEFL, the Graduate School accepts IELTS (Academic Module) scores of 6.5 or higher. (Non-native speakers of English who are U.S. citizens or who hold permanent visas are not required to submit TOEFL/IELTS scores.) The scores must be documented by an official report from Educational Testing Service or IELTS and must be no more than 24 months old at the time the application credentials are reviewed in the Graduate School. The Graduate School will routinely waive the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE for applicants who have received a baccalaureate degree or graduate or professional degree, within the last 24 months, from a school where English is the primary language of instruction in a country/location where English is the native language.
The major professor and graduate advisory committee will assist all students in development of good scientific writing skills over the course of the entire graduate training program.
Conditional Continued Enrollment
Conditional continued enrollment status is assigned to any application possessing deficits (e.g. GRE scores or cumulative GPAs). Students admitted in this status are required to take at least two courses (6 credits) from the following list in addition to research credits in each semester of their first year in the graduate program.
Students may substitute other courses recommended by their faculty mentor(s) from the Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, and Epidemiology and Public Health sections; and approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.
If a student fails to receive a "B" or better for the two required courses, or fails to maintain an overall "B" average for all courses taken, it will result in the dismissal of the student from the program.
Download the Purdue Graduate School application checklist and check the graduate program requirements.
You will be asked to provide a complete curriculum vita or the following items of information:
Please direct any further communications to the CPB Graduate Program Coordinator by e-mail to cpbgradst@purdue.edu or mail to:
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Comparative Pathobiology
College of Veterinary Medicine
725 Harrison Street
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2027
A copy of your electronic application and corresponding material will be directed to interested faculty.
