Graduate
Master's Program and Certificate
We explore sites and systems of power and privilege that impact the experiences of diverse communities in our entangled world.
Ethnic Studies MA Degree Requirements
Competion of 30 Semester Credits (Plan A)
Completion of 30 Semester Credits (Plan B)
Completion of all Required Courses
Completion of Oral Defense of Master's Theses or Professional Paper
Completion of Master's Theses or Non-Thesis Option
Thirty or thirty-two credits is the minimum required for an ethnic studies master’s degree. A minimum of 24 credits must be earned at CSU, 21 of which must be earned after admission to the Graduate School. At least 21 credits must be in 500 or higher level courses and at least 12 must be in regular courses. For Plan A, 3 thesis credits are required and a maximum of 6 credits allowed. For Plan B, 3 independent study or internship credits are required and a maximum of 6 credits allowed.
Students are expected to complete their degrees in 2 years (four to five semesters of course work).
Graduate Advisory Committee
Upon beginning the ethnic studies graduate program students are assigned to the Graduate Coordinator for advising. This assignment is temporary. Students construct a Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC) that serves to guide the development of their work and that will provide the final evaluation for completion of the program.
To begin students first select a Chair for their GAC. The Chair serves as the main mentor in directing the development of student’s thesis or professional paper. Students should make this selection based upon similar research interests and workable relationship with the faculty member.
Deciding upon a research interest early on or prior to entrance will assist students in this decision. Students can look into Faculty research interests by viewing there biographies in the “People” link.
Next, students collaborate with their Chair to select two more faculty members to join the GAC. One position will be within the department and the other will be an outside faculty member. Similarly, these positions should be filled by faculty whose research is related to the student’s interest.
It is advisable for students to take courses from the faculty on their GAC. As each course will conclude with a research paper, students can easily incorporate various approaches into their research.
The selection of the GAC is required to be completed by the end of the second semester. To complete this process, students must file the proper forms with the Graduate School at Colorado State University. Forms and deadlines can be found on the Graduate School’s webpage.
Performance Standards
In addition to attending regular courses and seminars, graduate students are expected to contribute to their professional growth through interaction with the faculty, students, and the community. The criteria for being granted an M.A. are as follows:
- Completing the credit hour requirements
- The successful defense of the Master’s thesis or completion of the non-thesis option
The student is expected to maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Students who fail to maintain the necessary grade average will be placed on probation or will be separated from the program. A maximum course load is 15 credit hours a semester; a 9 credit hour load is considered to be full-time for graduate courses. Finally, all graduate students are required to be continuously registered from first enrollment through graduation term (excluding summer). Please check the relevant Graduate School Bulletin for more information.
Satisfactory progress is defined more specifically by the satisfactory progress document. Students not meeting the standards defined on the document may be discounted from teaching assistantships.
Financial Assistance
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) are limited in number and are awarded to first-year incoming graduate students. Actual funding for Graduate Teaching Assistantships varies from year to year and depends upon the availability of funds.
Graduate students who have been awarded GTA positions are expected to maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA. If students have been awarded a full GTA position, and their GPA drops below a 3.5 during the first semester of the award, their GTA may be revoked pending a case review.
These positions pay a monthly stipend and cover resident or non-resident tuition for first-year GTA. It is assumed that first-year graduate students who are awarded a GTA position will establish Colorado residency by the beginning of their second year in the program.
Assistantships generally constitute a half-time workload which, is 20 hours per week. Teaching assistantships will be awarded by Graduate Students Committee.
Students considering applying for a GTA position should complete their application by January 15 and send it to the Department of Race, Gender, and Ethnic Studies Graduate Coordinator.
Other Financial Opportunity
For those with experience we offer an opportunity to teach a stand-alone class when available.
Fellowships, Scholarships, Loans, and Grants
The University offers assistance in locating Financial Resources for new and continuing students. The opportunities include CSU funding, non-CSU funding, loans, student employment, and access to a national database of funding opportunities.