Political Science, M.A.

Degree:Master of Arts (M.A.)
Major:Political Science
Department:Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government
Building 50, Room 120
850-474-2929
http://uwf.edu/govt
College:Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
CIP Code:45.1001
Semester Hours Required For Degree: 33

The M.A. program is designed for students interested in acquiring a broad view of political science or who wish to specialize in international relations. The program consists of 33 semester hours plus successful completion of a comprehensive examination or a thesis. All new students should be advised by the departmental advisor. In addition to the university requirement that students maintain an institutional GPA of 3.0 or higher, students must also make a 3.0 or higher GPA in at least 5 of the 6 core courses.

Online M.A. in Political Science

The Reubin O’D. Askew Department of Government offers a fully online program for the M.A. in Political Science. To be eligible to apply for the online program, students must live outside of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida. Note this is a synchronous course delivery program, meaning that students are required to attend live lectures via the University's online video conferencing system for courses. Through this format, students benefit from face-to-face interaction with other students and faculty in real time while also enjoying the flexibility of online course delivery. The strength of the online graduate program and students' success depend on these live interactions.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the University graduate admission requirements described in the Admissions section of the catalog, the department bases decisions for regular admission on a holistic review of credentials in which the following criteria can be used to assess the potential success of each applicant:

  • Undergraduate institutional GPA of 3.0 or above
  • Submission of a sample research paper
  • Completion of Supplemental Questions on Graduate Application

Degree Requirements

Political Science Core

CPO 6006Seminar in Comparative Politics3
INR 6007Seminar in International Relations3
POS 6006The Study of Politics3
POS 6045Seminar in American Politics3
POS 6704Political Science Research Methods3
POT 5016Seminar in Political Theory3
Total Hours18

 Non-Thesis Option

Non-thesis students take 15 semester hours (sh) of electives, of which 6 sh may be taken outside of the discipline. Non-political science credits require prior approval of the department chair. 15
Completion of the degree requires successful completion of a chair- & advisor-approved comprehensive exam.0
Total Hours15

Thesis Option

Thesis students take 15 sh of elective credit, of which 6 sh may be earned by writing and successfully defending a thesis. Note: In order to be eligible for the thesis option, students are required to maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA. A match between faculty expertise of a thesis director and intended thesis topic is necessary, in addition to thesis director and chair approval to pursue a thesis. 9
POS 6971Thesis6
Total Hours15