Graduate
MA Program
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Students in the M.A. program must complete a total of 30 credit hours: eight courses (24 credit hours) and a Master's Thesis (six credit hours) or 9 courses (27 credit hours) and a Research Project Paper (three credit hours). A maximum of 6 hours of transfer credit may be allowed. No more than three credits may be earned through the satisfactory completion of Political Science 599, Supervised Teaching or PSC 600 Supervised Research.
In accordance with Graduate School regulations, all requirements must be completed in four years. Masters students are required to take two of the following Department Core Courses (PSC 500-Introduction to Political Inquiry; PSC 502-Graduate Research Methods; PSC 508-Basic Statistics for Social Science) plus the Core Courses in two of the four Fields (PSC 503 in Comparative Politics; PSC 504 in International Politics; PSC 505 in American Politics; PSC 561 and PSC 662 in Public Law). A maximum of three courses (nine credit hours) may be taken outside the Department, subject to prior approval for each by the Director of Graduate Studies.
The Master's Thesis or Research Project Paper is written under the direction of, and must be approved by, two faculty members; it is also subject to the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. Although the research paper is ordinarily less substantial than the thesis in scope, it is expected to be of comparable quality. As appropriate, faculty members outside the Department may participate in the guidance of theses or research papers.
Masters candidates must complete 24 credit hours at the University at Buffalo.