The Master’s Program in History has flourished for more than 75 years, making it one of the oldest graduate programs at Baylor University. Like the PhD program, the MA program admits students studying religion and culture in the US, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Great Britain, as well as other topics and areas supported by faculty. Additional departmental strengths include women’s and gender history, military history, and the history of race and ethnicity. Faculty excellence in scholarship and teaching combined with our commitment to faith manifests in our focus on forming historians as whole people who thoughtfully bring their own ethical commitments to their vocations. We typically accept 3-5 well-qualified MA students each year and are able to provide full and partial tuition waivers.

Admissions Requirements

Thesis Track

1. GPA predictive of success in the program
2. An undergraduate major in history, or at least eighteen semester hours of history at the undergraduate level with a degree in the humanities and social sciences or twenty-one semester hours with other degrees
3. Three letters of recommendation
4. Personal statement outlining area of historical interest
5. Writing Sample
6. Transcripts

Non-Thesis Track

This track is only an option for PhD students receiving an MA on the way to the PhD.  No students are admitted directly into the non-thesis track.

Requirements for an MA in History

Thesis Track

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
HIS 5369	The Historian's Craft	3
HIS 5370	Advanced Graduate Research and Writing	3
HIS 5V99	Thesis	6
12 hrs. of graduate HIS electives		12
6 hrs. of additional electives in HIS or related areas 1		6
Additional Requirements
Oral defense and final approval of thesis
Intermediate proficiency in a modern language 2
Total Hours		30

Non-Thesis Track

Note: This track is only an option for PhD students receiving an MA on the way to the PhD.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
HIS 5369	The Historian's Craft	3
HIS 5370	Advanced Graduate Research and Writing	3
Restricted Electives
(complete through two years of PhD coursework)
18 hrs. of graduate HIS electives		18
6 hrs. of additional electives in HIS or related areas 1		6
Exam Preparation
HIS 6V85	Preliminary Readings	6
Additional Requirements
Comprehensive Exam
Intermediate proficiency in a modern language 2
Total Hours		36

¹

Students may choose to take up to 6 hrs. of their coursework in a related department, subject to GPD approval.

²

Intermediate proficiency may be demonstrated by one of the methods listed in the Specific Degree Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree.