Admission requirements

Master of Arts

The Department of History offers a Master of Arts degree. The degree program is designed to develop historians with special competence by systematic training in the content, methods, and interpretation of history. Although each degree program will vary, as will the individual’s purpose for pursuing graduate work, the same level of scholarly competence and intellectual attainment is expected of all students.

To be considered for admission to graduate study, applicants normally should have the minimum preparation undertaken by an undergraduate major in history and should demonstrate good research and writing skills. Most students admitted to the program have maintained a GPA of at least 3.50 in upper-division history courses. Non-history majors or students with a lower history GPA may be considered for admission to the graduate program on a qualified basis. In addition to the University application for graduate studies, students are required to submit:

• Two letters of recommendation from faculty or other individuals who can evaluate their preparation for graduate studies,
• A statement of purpose, describing their objectives in graduate study,
• Two examples of their writing, preferably history research papers.
• Foreign students must comply with the University requirements of a minimum grade of 550 in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Applications for fall-term admission are due by February 1.