The Department of Political Science grants a free-standing Master’s degree and a Master’s degree during the course of study for the Ph.D. degree. Requirements below apply to both types of Master’s degrees. Students must complete all course requirements for the M.A. in two semesters.

In order to qualify for the M.A. degree, students must register for two Residence Units and complete six courses and the program’s research tool requirement. Course requirements are as follows: two colloquia or seminars (8000-or 9000-level courses); two courses, normally in one of four fields (American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory); and two other Political Science courses, normally in another field. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, and one set of field courses must be completed with an average grade of B+ (3.33) or better. Courses taken to satisfy the colloquium-seminar requirement may not be used also to satisfy the four-course requirement. Students must also demonstrate command of one research tool as described in the research tools section of the M.Phil. requirements below.