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Northern Arizona University

Arizona , Arizona ,United States

Master of Arts in Political Science

We designed this Master's degree to provide you with broad training suitable for pursuing doctoral work or a career in government, teaching, or the private sector. You choose your primary field of study from one of these three areas: American Politics and Public Administration, Comparative Politics and International Relations, or Public Policy.
  
The M.A. in Political Science is available in two forms: Non-thesis and Thesis.

Purpose Statement

The Master of Arts in Political Science degree provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to understand and participate in the political systems of the United States and the world.  This degree provides a broad perspective on experiences, international and domestic, from both theory and practice.
 
This degree builds a strong foundation in the advanced knowledge of the political world, and enables students to be able to use key concepts and analytical approaches from Public Policy, American Politics, Public Administration, Comparative Politics and International relations.
 
Building upon this fundamental knowledge, our curriculum ensures that students can define, design, and implement effective scholarly research projects in political science.  In addition, they will be able to make clear and effective demonstrations of their work in writing and in public presentations, including scholarly presentations to academics at professional political science conferences.  Students will also leave this program ready to work in government, non-academic research institutions, and governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Campus Information

Flagstaff

Intakes

  • May
  • Aug

Application Processing Time in Days: 30

Minimum English Language Requirements

English Level Description IELTS (1.0 -9.0) TOEFL IBT (0-120) TOEFL CBT (0-300) PTE (10-90)
Expert 9 120 297-300 86-90
Very Good 8.5 115-119 280-293 83-86
Very Good 8 110-114 270-280 79-83
Good 7.5 102-109 253-267 73-79
Good 7 94-101 240-253 65-73
Competent 6.5 79-93 213-233 58-65
Competent 6 60-78 170-210 50-58
Modest 5.5 46-59 133-210 43-50
Modest 5 35-45 107-133 36-43
Limited 4 32-34 97-103 30-36
Extremely Limited < 4 < 31 < 93 < 30

Job Opportunity Potential

Career exploration

  • Know what transferable skills are, provide examples of transferable skills, and identify strategies to build these skills.
  • Feel confident that you are able to identify your strengths, interests, and values, and begin to connect these to potential careers.
  • Feel confident in utilizing career and personality assessments to assess fit with careers and work environments.

Resume and cover letter reviewsAccordion Open

  • Identify and apply principles of high-quality resume design and formatting to your own resume.
  • Feel confident crafting bullet points (accomplishment statements) using strong verbs, quantifiable actions, and results.
  • Feel empowered to begin crafting a compelling Summary of Qualifications targeted towards desired jobs that reflect your skills, experience, and what makes you unique.

Internship exploration and resourcesAccordion Open
Identify strengths, interests, and values, and begin to connect these to potential internships.

  • Feel confident identifying reputable online internship search sites and using them to find internships.
  • Identify the application materials you need to apply for internships.

Job search strategiesAccordion Open

  • Feel confident about finding and using resources to match your strengths, interests, and values to various jobs.
  • Identify and locate reputable online job search sites.
  • Learn to use online tools, such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn, to investigate organizational culture.

Mock interviewsAccordion Open

  • Use the STAR Method to identify your responses to behavioral interview questions and practice these responses.
  • Identify nervous habits and replace them with professional, confident body language.
  • Recognize appropriate and professional interview attire.

PSW Opportunity

Post-Study Work visa or permit, allowing international students on F-1 visas to work in the US after completing their studies, typically through Optional Practical Training (OPT).

Eligibility:
To be eligible for OPT, students must have been enrolled full-time in a US educational institution for at least one academic year and be seeking work related to their major.

Duration:
Students can apply for up to 12 months of OPT, either before they finish their studies (pre-completion) or after graduation (post-completion).

STEM OPT:
Students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields can apply for an extended OPT period of up to 24 months.

Contact our PSA counselor for more information

Admission Requirement / Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must have earned a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 out of a 4.0 scale for their bachelor’s degree to be considered for regular admission. Admitted students are expected to have undergraduate educational experiences, including general education studies, that are similar to those required for a baccalaureate at Northern Arizona University. Students holding a cumulative GPA below a 3.0 may be considered for conditional admission with a recommendation and rationale from the admitting academic program. 

Undergraduate transcripts from all undergraduate and/or graduate work completed in the U.S. must be uploaded to evaluate your application. Ensure all pages of your transcript are included and can be easily read. Your official transcripts, sent from the issuing institution directly to Northern Arizona University, will be required upon admittance to your graduate program for GPA and degree conferral verification. NAU students do not need to submit official transcripts for NAU coursework.

NAU students may access unofficial transcripts via LOUIE. NAU alumni must have an NAU Google account to access their LOUIE files. 

  • TOEFL iBT 80
  • DuoLingo 105
  • IELTS 6.5