Master of Arts in History

APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 1 (for Spring entry) or December 1 (for Fall entry)

The Department of History welcomes student applications with the following materials. Additional details about the application process are found on the department website.

1. Complete the Graduate School’s Online Application.
2. Pay the application fee ($50).
3. Submit official transcripts.
4. International applicants whose first language is not English may be required to submit scores from an acceptable English language proficiency test.
5. Upload Supplemental Application materials for the Department of History to the link provided in the online application.

• Statement of purpose: describe your intellectual background and future goals. 
• Three letters of recommendation: provide contact information for three recommenders.
• Sample of written work: email sample directly to the Chair of the Graduate Advisory Committee, Dr. Rebecca Marchiel.

To gain admission to the graduate program, an applicant should have at least a B average as an undergraduate and should have majored in history (or have taken a significant number of history courses).

Students in the M.A. in History program complete either a thesis or a nonthesis option. The thesis option requires 24 hours of graduate-level course work and 6 hours of thesis work. The nonthesis option requires 36 hours of course work.

With either option, students complete:

• Hst 550: Historical Methods and Philosophy of History
• Hst 601: Professionalization and Colloquium I
• minimum of 9 credit hours of 500-level courses
• minimum of 3 credit hours of 700-level research seminar

With approval, students may take 3-9 credit hours of graduate courses outside the department.

Nonthesis option: Students must pass an oral examination.

Thesis option: Students will complete the thesis and pass an oral examination. 

Undergraduate history majors who have completed 90 credits as an undergraduate with a GPA of 3.0 or greater can begin earning credit toward an M.A. in history, while completing their B.A. in history. Therefore, they can earn the M.A. in only one additional year of graduate work after completion of the B.A. degree.

To pursue this path, undergraduate students enroll in the GradSHARK Launch "PAAD" (Program for Accelerated Advanced Degrees) program with the Graduate School by submitting a required form each semester. They can earn up to 15 credits toward the M.A. in history by taking 500- or 600-level history courses in their senior year and completing all coursework requirements for graduate-level credit as specified in the course syllabi. 

Admission to the graduate program in history is a separate process, not guaranteed by participation in the Launch PAAD program. Participants in the Launch PAAD program who gain admission to the graduate program in history can apply graduate credits earned as an undergraduate through the Launch PAAD program (with a grade of B or higher) to their graduate degree in history.

The department offers several competitive graduate assistantships every year based on merit. All applicants are automatically considered for these assistantships that pays as much as $16,000 per year and cover some or all of the tuition and non-residency fee, if applicable, for regular semesters and subsidized health insurance.

The Graduate School has a recruiting fellowship program that promotes academic excellence and access to graduate education to groups who are historically underrepresented. See the Graduate School’s financial aid page.