Guidelines for polyacrylamide (PAM) application for erosion control are not well developed. Improved guidelines are needed to conserve soil while reducing practice costs. We hypothesized that amount and frequency of PAM applications are related to runoff and erosion. The study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of PAM applications in a single or a split application at rates of 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-kg/ha combined with 5 Mg/ha gypsum. Mexico silt loam was repacked to a bulk density of 1.3 Mg/m³ in beds and subjected to 90 mm/hr of simulated rainfall for 180 minutes. Runoff showed no difference among treatments from 0-180 minutes (P = 0.99). A Control treatment having no PAM was characterized by an increase in erosion rate to 9.2 g/m²/min at 50 minutes, decreasing to 7.5 g/m²/min at 180 minutes. Erosion was reduced (P <0.001) using both single and split PAM applications. The single application 10-, 20-, 30- and 40- kg/ha PAM treated soils increased in rate of erosion approaching that of the Control after 90-, 100-, and 160- minutes, respectively. The split treatments of 30- and 40-kg/ha were 2.3 times more effective in reducing soil detachment than the single treatments after 180 minutes of rainfall (270 mm). No difference in soil detachment were detectable for the 10-, or 20- kg/ha for times >100 minutes (143 mm rain) for the split treatment. The longevity of PAM effectiveness for the split application was not different among the 20- 30- and 40- kg/ha treatments with the average Relative Soil Loss Ratio being 0.47 after 180 minutes (270 mm rain). Results show split PAM applications are more effective than single applications, and are recommended at rates of >=20 kg/ha of PAM. If a single application is chosen, it is recommended that an application rate of 40 kg/ha be used.