The M.A. Degree

The M.A. degree requires a minimum of thirty semester hours of graduate-level coursework including successful completion of a thesis (to find out more, see the list of thesis topics for previously submitted theses). Each student will engage in an independent research project closely supervised by a committee of three faculty members selected by the student. Students are required to submit and orally defend (in person, or via tele-conference or video-conference) a thesis proposal in the academic term preceding the semester in which they plan to write the thesis. The completed thesis will be evaluated by the student's faculty committee and must be successfully defended before the committee in an oral examination.

The full-time course of study is four semesters of graduate work. The first three semesters are used primarily for required foundation courses and elective coursework, while the fourth is used to write the required Master Thesis. The sample full-time schedule below assumes that the student is beginning in the Fall semester. Students who begin their coursework in the Spring semester, will need to alter their schedules, since 5214 and 5116 are always offered in the Fall and 5115 is always offered in the Spring.

Many on-line students pursue a part-time course of study. A sample part-time schedule is included below. The required courses are underlined. A full listing of courses, with descriptions, is also available.

Sample Full-Time Schedule (for Fall entry):

First Year:

First Semester

• PSCI 5214 * Contemporary Political Theory (3)
• PSCI 5115 * Research Methods I (3)
• One elective (3)

Second Semester

• PSCI 5116 * Research Methods II (3)
• Two Electives (6)

Second Year:

First Semester

• One Elective (3)
• PSCI 5994 * Research and Thesis (6)

Second Semester

• PSCI 5994 * Research and Thesis (3)

Sample Part-Time Schedule (for Fall entry):

First Year:

First Semester

• PSCI 5214 * Contemporary Political Theory (3)
• PSCI 5115 * Research Methods I (3)

Second Semester

• PSCI 5116 * Research Methods II (3)
• One Elective (3)

Second Year:

First Semester

• Two Electives

Second Semester

• One Elective (3)
• PSCI 5994 * Research and Thesis (3)

Third Year:

First Semester

• PSCI 5994 * Research and Thesis (6)

Students may take more than 12 hours, or as few as 3 hours each semester. Yet regardless of the course load, both full-time and part-time students should take the three required courses (5214, 5115, 5116) at the beginning of their course of study. At least 21 semester hours must be earned through substantive courses and at least nine (9) hours of Research and Thesis are required as part of the minimum 30 for all students.

Note: * denotes required course.