Sociology, M.A.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Master of Arts in Sociology program requires

1. an earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college;
2. an acceptable grade point average in all college work taken (generally at least a 2.75 GPA);
3. successful completion of at least 6 semester hours of undergraduate sociology courses, which includes the prerequisites of research methods (SOC 3040) and sociological theory (SOC 3060) or their equivalents with a grade of C or better*.

*NOTE: This requirement may be waived by the graduate program director for students with sufficiently high GPA scores.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

Application deadline for the M.A. program is April 1 for Fall admission, October 1 for Spring admission, but applications are reviewed on a continuous, rolling basis by the Admissions Committee and Program Director.

 Applicant must

1. submit application with appropriate fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php). Once this initial application has been accepted, the applicant will receive directions on how to enter the graduate portal to be able to submit other materials.
2. submit official transcripts of all previous college work;
3. submit letter of interest and goals;
4. submit an example of written work, preferably in the form of academic writing;
5. submit three letters of recommendation from mentors or colleagues able to speak to your ability to succeed in graduate school in the social/behavioral sciences.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Arts in Sociology requires completion of 36-39 semester hours. In addition, a maximum of 9 hours of thesis research may be required to fulfill degree requirements.

Candidate must

1. complete 36-39 semester hours in graduate-level courses, six hours of which may be at the 5000-level and the remaining must be at the 6000 level or above; 24 of these hours must be Sociology courses;
2. complete all required courses with a minimum grade of B-;
3. complete 6-9 hours of thesis research (SOC 6640 );
4. submit and successfully defend a thesis.

Curriculum: Sociology

The following illustrates the minimum coursework requirements.