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Our faculty is committed to mentoring graduate students, socializing them into the profession, and incorporating them into our teaching, research, and service missions. Graduates of our M.A. program have gone on to teach in community colleges, pursue doctorates at top universities, and work in a wide array of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other rewarding jobs in the public and private sectors.
The fields of study in our graduate program are American Institutions and Processes, Comparative Politics, and International Relations. We also offer courses on Border Politics within the field of Comparative Politics. Indeed, our location in a vibrant binational metropolitan area of over two million people makes UTEP an ideal laboratory for the study of many domestic, transnational, and international political topics. Moreover, the natural beauty and superb climate of El Paso, situated in the scenic Franklin Mountains, provide an outstanding setting for graduate studies. Finally, it is worth mentioning that El Paso is consistently ranked as one of the safest mid-size cities in the United States.
A limited number of teaching assistantships is available. Research or teaching opportunities may also be available at other units of the university, such as the Center for Civic Engagement, the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies, and the Institute for Policy and Economic Development.
Queries about the Graduate Program should be directed to Dr. Charles Boehmer, Director of Graduate Studies at crboehmer@utep.edu (915 747-7979). Click here for application information.
Our M.A. program is outlined below. We hope that you become part of our collegial academic community! ¡Vengan a estudiar con nosotros!
Basic Requirements for Admission to the MA Program in Political Science
1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a degree in Political
Science or a related area.
2. Letters of recommendation and statement of purpose.
3. Demonstration of academic achievement and potential by performance in upper level
undergraduate and graduate courses and the results of the Graduate Requisite
Examination (GRE).
4. Other evidence of background and experience that may be available.
Requirements for the MA Degree
The Master of Arts in Political Science requires the successful completion of 30 semester hours: 24 hours of course work and 6 hours for the thesis. There must be a minimum of 21 hours, including POLS 5398 and POLS 5399, of graduate-level courses. Independent studies are limited to three hours, with the permission of the instructor and graduate advisor, and must be justified with a proposal from the student outlining the objectives of the project.
The MA Degree Plan:
1. Research Preparation (6 hours)
POLS 5300 Research Methods in Political Science (First semester
after admission.)
POLS 5301 Seminar in Qualitative Methods or
POLS 5302 Seminar in Quantitative Research Methods II
2. Graduate courses in political science, with a minimum of at least 1 course in each field.
(18 hours)
3. One three hour elective graduate course may be taken from a related field outside the
department with the advice of the Graduate Advisor.
4. Two Thesis courses: (6 hours)
POLS 5398 Thesis
POLS 5399 Thesis
Total Hours: 30
Registration
No student may be registered as a graduate student in the Department of Political Science without the advice and signed approval of the Graduate Advisor. This applies not only to the initial registration, but also to all subsequent enrollments.
Satisfactory Performance
Satisfactory performance is defined as maintaining a 3.0 GPA. A student who receives a grade of “C” or lower in two courses taken for graduate credit will be dismissed from the graduate program.