JD/MA in Political Science

Admission Requirements

Candidates must submit separate applications and be separately admitted to the School of Law and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Political Science Master’s Program. Admittance into one school does not guarantee admittance by the other school.

Candidates must meet all applicable requirements of the School of Law, Political Science department and the Graduate School. Admission requirements include both the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) or GRE (Graduate Record Examination), along with other departmental and graduate school requirements.

No student may enter the joint program after completing more than 29 credit hours in the School of Law or 12 credit hours in the Political Science department.

Degree Requirements

The tables below outline the requirements for this joint degree program.

Total Credit Hours

J.D. Requirements

The following law courses are required for all J.D. candidates. Learn more about J.D. Program Degree Requirements.

Students must complete all required first-year courses (29 credit hours) during their first year of law school enrollment. In addition to these course requirements, the School of Law has an upper-class writing requirement, a residence requirement, and a time limit for completion of the degree. Please refer to the current School of Law academic catalog for details.

JD/MA in Political Science Joint Degree Candidate Requirements

Political Science Requirements

All candidates for the M.A. degree must complete, at a satisfactory level:

1. 30 credit hours of graduate credit, 21 of which must be earned in courses at the 700 level or above;
2. Research methods through POLS 706; and
3. A comprehensive master’s oral examination.

The student selects a principal advisor from the graduate faculty by the end of the first year to choose courses and prepare for the comprehensive examination. The examination is administered by a 3-person M.A. committee that includes the student’s principal advisor and two other members of the KU graduate faculty selected by the student in consultation with the principal advisor. One member of the committee may be from another department (including special status members of the graduate faculty).

Directed readings courses in excess of 5 hours cannot be counted toward the 30 credit hours required for the degree.

Applicants who have not completed at least 15 undergraduate credit hours in political science may be admitted with the provision that they complete additional hours of coursework.

All candidates must fulfill the requirements of either the thesis or the non-thesis option for the Master of Arts degree.

Non-thesis Option

Candidates may substitute a minimum of two 800- or 900-level research courses plus satisfactory performance on a comprehensive written examination administered by the three-person M.A. committee before the oral examination.

Typical Program Format

The University of Kansas Graduate School Catalog states specifically that all coursework toward any master’s degree requires a B (or 3.0) cumulative grade point average for the award of the degree. Students should understand that the grades received in any law courses that are credited toward fulfillment of the M.A. in Political Science degree requirements are incorporated into the M.A. grade point average, which ultimately must be B (3.0) for the award of the M.A. in Political Science degree.

All joint-degree students also must fulfill the Upper-Level Writing Intensive course requirements and the Experiential course requirements in the School of Law. Please see the current School of Law academic catalog for details.