Combined Degree Pathway in Political Science (BA+MA)

The Department offers a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Political Science combined degree pathway. For the most up-to-date and authoritative information on this program, please consult the current course catalog at: https://catalog.fiu.edu/.

Admission Requirements

1. Students must have completed 75 credit hours.
2. Students must have been admitted to the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs.
3. A 3.5 GPA overall in college work, and a 3.75 GPA in Political Science courses taken at FIU, are required.
4. Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which must be from FIU Politics and International Relations faculty, are required.
5. Students must meet admissions requirements for the M.A.in Political Science.
6. Finally, a favorable decision into the combined degree pathway by the Political Science graduate committee is required.
7. Students will be awarded the B.A. degree upon completion of the B.A. requirements, prior to completing the requirements for the M.A. degree.
8. Applicants must submit a completed online application form for the combined degree pathway through their FIU Student Portal (more information available here). The application is typically submitted before starting the last 30 credits of their Bachelor's degree program in Political Science.

Common Prerequisites (3 courses/9 credits)

The Common Prerequisites are required introductory courses for the undergraduate major and should be among the first Political Science courses taken. The department requires one additional 2000-level course beyond the Common Prerequisites. In order to conform with both state and departmental requirements, students must take the following:

• POS 2041 American Government (or its equivalent)

and two of the following three courses:

• CPO 2002 Introduction to Comparative Politics (or its equivalent) • INR 2001 Introduction to International Relations (or its equivalent) • POT 2002 Introduction to Political Theory (or its equivalent)

Some transfer students will have already taken these or equivalent courses at other institutions, and should not repeat them at FIU. Students with questions about course equivalencies should contact the Political Science undergraduate advisor.

Breadth Requirement (8 courses/24 credits)

The Breadth Requirement is intended to expose majors to each of the four major sub-fields of Political Science. Two three-hour courses must be taken in each of the following subfields, for a total of 24 semester hours. These courses may not include independent studies, internships or POS 4784 Analytic Writing in Political Science.

American Politics - Any two 3000-level or above courses with a POS prefix, except POS 4784. PUP 4004 may be used as one of the required two American Politics courses. (6 credits)

Comparative Politics - Any two 3000-level or above courses with a CPO prefix. (6 credits)

International Politics - Any two 3000-level or above courses with an INR prefix. (6 credits)

Political Theory - Any two 3000-level or above courses with a POT prefix. (6 credits)

II. Political Science Electives Requirement (6 credits) Two upper division courses with POS, CPO, INR, or POT prefixes, for a total of 6 credits. Independent studies, internships and/or POS 4784 can be applied toward the Political Science Electives Requirement.

Political Science Graduate/Undergraduate Electives Requirement (3 courses/9 credits)

Students in the combined degree pathway will take three 3-credit graduate Political Science courses at the 5000-level to satisfy this requirement. Students must be advised by the departmental Graduate Program Director before enrolling in these 5000-level courses. The 9 hours of graduate credit taken to satisfy the undergraduate Political Science major requirement will also count as 9 credit hours toward the 30 hours of graduate courses required for the M.A. degree.

M.A. Courses

A total of 30 hours of graduate-level courses is required for the successful completion of the M.A. degree. Nine of these 30 hours will have been completed at the undergraduate level by students in the combined degree program.

Required Core Graduate Courses

• POS 5706 Research Methodology
• POS 5716 Foundations of Political Science
• POS 6976 Research Seminar (to be taken during last term)

Secondary Core Graduate Courses – Choose three of the following:

• CPO 5091 Seminar in Comparative Politics
• INR 5007 Seminar in International Politics
• POS 5045 Seminar in American Politics
• POT 5007 Seminar in Political Theory

Electives – Four courses (12 credit hours)

Any 5000- or 6000-level Political Science courses. Two courses (6 credit hours) may be taken from outside the Department, with prior approval from the Graduate Program Director.

Research Project

A final research project must be completed in POS 6976 under the supervision of a Politics and International Relations faculty member. M.A. candidates are required to formally present the results of their research to faculty and peers at the end of the semester. The M.A. project will be evaluated by a three-member faculty panel.