Applicants admitted to the Graduate School as either regular or provisional students may be admitted to the program for the master of arts in history if they meet the following qualifications:

1. Application materials must be received by January 10 for those seeking eligibility for financial assistance. Materials must be received by March 1 for admission to commence the following academic year.
2. A baccalaureate degree.
3. A minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.3 in the applicant’s undergraduate major.
4. A complete application file (see above).

Applicants to the MA program must be accepted by a major professor with whom they wish to work in their primary field of study. Please contact the appropriate faculty member before the application deadline (see Guide to Fields of Study and Major Professors).

Applicants admitted to the Graduate School as regular students may be admitted to the Ph.D. program in history if they meet the following requirements:

1. Application materials must be received by January 10 for those seeking eligibility for financial assistance. Materials must be received by March 1 for admission to commence the following academic year.
2. Admission is contingent upon the completion of a master of arts degree by the beginning of the semester in which graduate studies begin. A master of arts degree in history is preferred. Applicants who hold a master’s degree in fields other than history and who have been admitted to the Graduate School as regular students must have completed at least 15 graduate credits in history.
3. A minimum graduate GPA of 3.5.
4. Evidence of competence in at least one (1) foreign language demonstrated either through the completion of at least 2 years of university course work, appropriate non-academic experience, or passage of a 2-hour examination in which the applicant will translate into smooth idiomatic English approximately 600 words (or the lexical equivalent) from a foreign language.
5. A complete application file (see above).

Applicants to the Ph.D. program must be accepted by a major professor with whom they wish to work in their primary field of study. Please contact the appropriate faculty member before the application deadline (see Guide to Fields of Study and Major Professors).

PhD Admission Requirements for WSU Master’s Students

Students completing a master’s degree in history at WSU and requesting admission to the PhD program must meet the admission requirements for all applicants to the PhD program and must submit the following:

• A new statement of purpose (see Writing Your Statement of Purpose).
• An unofficial WSU transcript.
• A new writing sample.
• Three (3) new letters of recommendation, one (1) of which must be from the student’s major professor in the master’s program.
• A new PhD Preferred Fields of Study Form.
• A new Master’s Preferred Fields of Study Form.
• A new Language Background Form.

Students seeking eligibility for financial support must submit all materials by the January 10 deadline. Financial support as a teaching or research assistant will be determined on a competitive basis in conjunction with all students entering the graduate program.

It should be stressed that admission to the MA and PhD programs is competitive. Satisfying these minimum requirements does not, by itself, guarantee admission. At the same time, the decision to admit is based on consideration of the entire file, and promising applicants in unusual circumstances whose records fall below the minimum requirements should not be discouraged from applying.

What to expect from a history degree AFTER graduation

Click here to see “Careers For History Majors,” presented by the American Historical Association.

Click here to visit Candid Career’s Major Explorer to watch interviews from specialists offering insight on 17 different career opportunities for History Majors

To find out more about the attributes employers are seeking among recent college graduates, visit Job Outlook 2016: Attributes Employers Want to See on New College Graduates’ Resumes.

In addition to being a core major for a liberal arts degree, an undergraduate degree in history can lead to work as a teacher, historian, archivist, librarian, information specialist, writer, researcher, or work in government service.

With further study, you can go into college teaching, business, medicine, law, politics, or ministry. Double majors—combining history with one or more such fields—are easily accommodated.

The study of history is an excellent way to develop skills in critical reading and the ability to come to draw conclusions by analyzing and interpreting materials. These skills can serve as a foundation for success in a variety of disciplines.

For example, you can combine your program in history with selected classes in political science, English, speech, and business to prepare for law school. Students have also combined a pre-med program with a history major; in fact, the percentage of those with history majors admitted to medical schools has sometimes been higher than applicants with biology majors.

Because history is one of the best fields in which to receive a broad and liberal education, job opportunities for historians are not limited to teaching and writing history. Training in historical methodology fits persons for many types of historical and non-historical careers outside of teaching. Governmental service offers careers as historians, archivists, information specialists, immigration officers, and social security officials. The Interior and State Departments, Smithsonian Institution, Agriculture Department, Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency also fill positions with persons with historical training. Our students usually do well in the competitive examinations given by the United States Civil Service Commission and by the State Department.

WSU History Alumni Testimonials

See what WSU History alumni are doing with their degrees.

Mr. Bradley Richardson is the Executive Director of the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver, WA

Students who indicate an interest in History and have a 2.0 GPA or above may be admitted to the major. Those interested in a teaching option should consult with the College of Education concerning certification requirements for teaching. Students majoring in social studies should have a strong and broad high school background in humanities, social science, and languages, and are encouraged to get a second endorsement.

Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies (66 hours)

Required History Courses
Hist 101: Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Europe
Hist 102: Modern Europe
Hist 110: American History to 1877
Hist 111: American History Since 1877
Hist 120: World History I
Hist 121: World History II
Hist 300: Writing about History
Hist 308: North American Indian History
Hist 279: Introduction to Social Studies Methods
Hist 324: History of the Pacific Northwest
One (1) from Hist 230, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275
Three (3) upper-division history elective courses, including one (1) Global/non-Western, one (1) European course, one (1) U.S.
Hist 380: Methods of Teaching Social Studies
Pol S 101: American National Government
Soc 102: Social Problems
EconS 102: Fundamentals of Macroeconomics
Anth 101 or Anth 203: General Anthropology or Peoples of the World
One (1) Geography course from Hist 393, Hist 495, Anth 309
One (1) from Anth 307, 316, 320, 330, 331, 350; Pol S 300, 316, 427, 450, 455; Psych 310, 324, 361, 470; Soc 320, 346, 351, 384, 430

Courses used to complete the social studies degree and the College of Education requirements must be passed with a grade of C or better.

NOTE: Additional courses are necessary to complete the education requirements for the social studies education option. For a complete listing of requirements, see the College of Education’s Web site. The College of Education requires applicants for admission to the Teacher Education Preparation program to apply on-line.