Program Description: Master of Arts/Sciences in American Studies (Standard Specialization)

Degree

The Master of Science/Master of Arts in American Studies (Standard specialization) is one of the five graduate degrees offered by the Department of English.

The American Studies program is a traditional research-based program, It is an interdisciplinary program that draws courses from a number of departments/disciplinary fields, and students enrolled in this program must take courses in at least two departments/disciplinary fields. Coursework follows a program of study developed in conjunction with a student’s major professor and graduate committee. The program of study must meet the core requirements of the department and graduate school, and it also includes courses pertinent to the student’s research project and later career goals. Students must demonstrate a mastery of their subject area to their supervisory committee during an oral thesis defense of their research and/or creative activity. Credit, course, and other degree requirements can be accessed here (link here to catalog/website). 

Below is a table that gives the current student numbers in the program. It describes the number of students actively enrolled (i.e. not on leave) in the academic year, the number of new students who entered that academic year, the number of students who graduated (i.e. completed all requirements and the degree was awarded) in the academic year, and the average time to completion for graduates.

Year	Number of students enrolled in program	Number of students who entered this year	Number of student who graduated*	Average time to completion for graduates
2017-2018	10	4	6	4.33 semesters
2016-2017	10 (projected)	6 (projected)	To be determined	To be determined
2015-2016	11	2	Anticipated by August 2016: 4	To be determined
2014-2015	9 (average)	6	5	5-6 semesters, not including summer (note that time of 14 semesters for one student who returned after a leave was not included in this number)

*Note that after students successfully defend their theses, they are given a “grace period” by the Graduate School to complete any necessary thesis revisions. Students taking the summer grace period must turn in the completed thesis by early August. We count these students as graduates of the academic year in which they defended.