Admissions

Tell us more about yourself, and request admissions materials to be sent to you: For prospective undergraduate history majors For prospective graduate students in history Go to an online application: For prospective undergraduate history majors For prospective graduate students in history

Admission into the graduate program is competitive. Criteria for admission comprise a combination of good grades in the applicant's previous academic work, good scores on the three components of Graduate Record Examination's general test, and evidence of ability to accomplish graduate-level research and writing through letters of recommendation and a writing sample. Applicants to both M.A. and Ph.D. programs may submit application materials at any time throughout the year, though most apply for entry in the fall semester (and applicants should note that scholarships are granted only upon fall entry).

Application can be made both via traditional paper forms or through the University web site -- click here to request more information.

To apply for admission to the M.A. program, an applicant must:-

-- complete and submit the standard graduate application form along with application fee.

-- arrange for an official transcript of undergraduate grades to be sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions, Room 110 McMahon Hall. It is not necessary for an applicant to have been a History major at the undergraduate level, but ordinarily the Department would expect a minimum of 18 undergraduate semester credits in history and 12 in other areas of the social sciences or humanities.

-- take the general portion of the Graduate Record Examination -- the Department does not require the History examination -- and arrange to have the scores sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions, 110 McMahon Hall.

-- arrange for the forwarding of at least three letters of recommendation -- preferably by professors from the applicant's previous academic program -- attesting to the applicant's ability to perform graduate-level work.

-- send a sample of writing, which should be a research paper on an academic subject (preferably History).

All these materials should be sent directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions, Room 110 McMahon Hall, rather than to the History Department.

To apply for admission to the Ph.D. program, an applicant must complete all the above, and in addition submit graduate transcripts attesting to the completion of a M.A. degree in history. The writing sample for a Ph.D. applicant should be either two seminar papers incorporating original, primary-source-based research, or else an M.A. thesis. Applicants to the Ph.D. program should also contact the Department to discuss with the Chair the prospects for dissertation work with a specific member or members of the Department faculty, in order to determine how closely the applicant's preferences for subject area mesh with faculty resources.

Applicants to the joint degree programs -- the M.A./M.S.L.S. and M.A./J.D. -- should note that they must submit separate applications (as for the M.A.) to both the History Department and to the other school of the university involved (the School of Library and Information Science or the Columbus School of Law). Intending applicants should contact the History Department with any questions.

Financial Aid

The University is able to offer a limited number of scholarships -- which entail remission of half or all of tuition -- to qualified entering graduate students. These awards are highly competitive, and are awarded by nomination of the Department. The deadline for application in order to be considered for scholarships is 1 February of each year.

We offer teaching assistantships (awarded on a highly competitive basis), most of them to teach sections of our first-year undergraduate survey course in World History, and students thus chosen take a practicum in college teaching that fully involves them in the techniques of teaching undergraduate courses. We also offer a limited number of graduate research assistantships, for work in the university and other local archives and as editorial assistants in one or more of the scholarly journals published in the department. All these assistantships come with cash stipends. CUA is an equal opportunity educational institution.

Please note: There is no separate application for merit-based financial aid (i.e. scholarships and stipendiary assistantships): all eligible applicants to the program will automatically be considered.