Political Science
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Total Credits
Program Graduation Requirements
Must complete the degree within two calendar years after admission to the program.
Complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of approved graduate course work.
Successful completion of a master's thesis or master's essay and final oral defense of the thesis or essay.
Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.
Courses are offered in five fields listed below. Students must designate one of these fields as a major field and a second as a minor field.
Complete one 6000-level American Politics course.
Complete one 6000-level American Politics course.
Complete one 6000-level Comparative Politics course.
Complete one 6000-level International Relations course.
Graduate School policy requires that all Master’s candidates pass a final oral examination conducted by their supervisory committee. This exam covers only the essay or thesis topic and not unrelated course work. The completed essay or thesis should be given to all committee members well in advance of the date of the oral defense. Graduate School policy specifies that students should submit acceptable drafts to the committee chair at least three weeks in advance, and to the other committee members at least two weeks in advance of the oral defense date. If the defense is successful, the committee chair files the “Report of the Final Oral Examination” with the Graduate Program Coordinator. Students should expect to make additional revisions to their papers after the oral defense in order to put the paper into final approved form.
Students must be registered for at least three credit hours during the semester in which they defend, even if they defend during the summer. POLS 6980, Faculty Consultation, should be used for this purpose if no further courses or thesis credits are needed. Students do not need to be registered after a successful oral defense, even if minor revisions to the essay or thesis are necessary.