The Department of Museum Studies offers a Master of Arts degree in museum studies. The program consists of thirty-six semester hours, including six hours of internship, professional project, or thesis.

Admission Process

New students are admitted for the fall semester only. An applicant for the master’s degree in museum studies should have a baccalaureate degree, documentation of courses taken, and GPA earned in previous college or university study, and internship experience in a museum, gallery, historic site, or archive. Applications are considered on a rolling basis until the class is filled. Students wishing to be considered for a graduate assistantship and/or a departmental scholarship, which are the principal form of financial aid in the department, should have their applications complete by February 15.

The application consists of transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions, completion of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement explaining their interest in museums and museum studies, and why they are a good fit for Baylor. Letters of recommendation must include two letters from academic references and one letter from a professional reference. The admissions committee looks carefully at academic credentials but is also interested in previous experiences that show familiarity with and aptitude for museums and the museum profession. Professional experience may include summer internships or volunteer assignments in a museum or related institution; it does not have to be a full-time position. If you lack such experience in a museum, we suggest you take some time to gain such experience before submitting an application to the program.

Under certain circumstances, students who do not meet all requirements may be admitted into the program on probation and may be required to take undergraduate leveling courses before formal admittance to the program.

Requirements for the MA

Thirty-six semester hours, including

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
MST 5301	The Museum: History, Philosophy, Prospects	3
MST 5304	Collections Management	3
MST 5309	Museum Education	3
MST 5311	Issues in Museum Administration	3
MST 5340	Capstone: Major Issues in Museum Administration	3
Select a minimum of six semester hours of internship, professional project, or thesis		6
Total Hours		21

All students in either the thesis or non-thesis program are required to take a written comprehensive examination. Thesis students will also have an oral examination representing defense of the thesis. Up to six semester hours of graduate study in museum studies or a cognate field may be transferred from another accredited institution with the approval of both the Department of Museum Studies and the Graduate School. Prospective students are encouraged to have a pre-admission interview.

ACA-Approved Courses

The Academy of Certified Archivists has created a Graduate Course Preapproval Program to evaluate graduate-level archival courses. Courses that have been preapproved by the ACA will count toward the 9 semester hours of credit required to take the ACA exam under the provisional option. The following Museum Studies courses have been preapproved by the ACA:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
MST 5304	Collections Management	3
MST 5311	Issues in Museum Administration	3
MST 5312	Outreach and Community Relations	3
MST 5324	Archival Arrangement and Description	3
MST 5326	Archival Technology and Digital Collections Management	3
MST 5333		3