Frequently Asked Questions (Prospective Students)

You may find the answers to ordinary questions here. Specific requirement questions will often be answered in our Graduate Handbook. For any unanswered concerns, please contact us and we'll do our best to answer promptly.

How long does graduate education in history take?

The answer depends on the program, your time, and your interests. Graduate courses are considerably harder than undergraduate ones, so a full-time load as a graduate student is three courses per academic term. A graduate certificate may be completed with three or five courses, so potentially one or two semesters of full-time study or a year if taken one course per term. Full-time study as a Master's student usually takes two years; part-time study will take longer. Our doctoral program takes five to six years to complete if one is a full-time student and progresses at average or above-average speed when researching and writing the dissertation. The pace of research and writing are heavily dependent upon the individual and vary a lot. The national average to complete a doctoral program in the humanities is 7.25 years.

Do I have to take the GREs to be admitted?

For the M.A. and Ph.D., yes. For the Graduate Certificate programs and AGDP students, no.

Will I need to learn a foreign language?

Yes for all graduate programs except the Graduate Certificates. For the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees to be awarded in History, we require proficiency in a foreign language. Typically, this is satisfied by completing the equivalent of a fourth-semester course in the language with a grade of "B" or better (except for the General Option track, where it may be a "C" or better). "Fourth-semester course" means the second year, second semester course in a sequence; at WMU, foreign language course sequences are 1000-1010-2000-2010 in number. Students in medieval or ancient history have to demonstrate proficiency in two foreign languages. There are several ways one may satisfy the foreign language proficiency requirement aside from course work: by being a native speaker of a language other than English; by being an undergraduate major or minor in a foreign language such that one has completed four courses in the same foreign language; by satisfying the WMU World Languages or Spanish Department proficiency tests (offered twice per year); or by successfully completing the intensive reading sequence (FREN 5000-5010 or GER 5000-5010) offered in the summer. The summer intensive courses are for reading proficiency only and compress two years of language study into Summer 1 and Summer 2 sessions.

I've been accepted at several graduate programs. Funding will probably make the difference in my final choice. Help?

Funding is a big issue for most students. In 2020, the AHA (American Historical Association) published a list of questions to help prospective students sort through their options and offer guidance about some money matters that may not seem obvious.

Can I transfer credits from another institution? Can I change programs once I'm admitted?

Yes, the Graduate College permits the transfer of up to 6 credits of graduate work from another graduate program or institution. The History Department's Graduate Studies Committee reviews the course requirements and the student's performance before deciding whether to accept the credits. 

It is possible to switch from the Graduate Certificate programs to an M.A. or Ph.D., and up to 9 credits of coursework may be used for the new program of study. The Graduate College requires a new application, to be formally admitted into that program. Switching between different M.A. tracks (general option, thesis, public history) is possible without having to reapply for admission. Students who are enrolled in the AGDP programs are automatically moved onto the M.A. track once they receive their B.A. degrees; the AGDP application is their application into the M.A.

What is graduate education like? Is it different from my undergraduate studies?

Graduate education is different from undergraduate education in several ways. First, there are few lecture courses–the vast majority of coursework is completed in seminars. Seminars are small (usually fewer than 12 students) and require students to complete significant reading prior to the class. Seminars are driven by discussions of the common readings. Second, graduate education at the M.A. and Ph.D. level requires being a self-starter: to complete an internship, research assignments, a thesis, or a dissertation, the student must manage time responsibly and be organized and focused enough to complete projects without intense supervision. 

I've heard that most graduate students find it hard to get a job. True?

That depends on the field and may depend on the type of job you want to have. For students in public history, there is a constant demand for archivists, museum curators and program administrators, government historians, and more. For teaching posts, the picture is not as clear cut as you might think. In fact, a Ph.D. in biosciences may only lead to a tenure-track post about 12% of the time, so there's no truth to statement that a Ph.D. in the sciences can always get a teaching job while doctoral degree holders in History have a hard time. About 70% of Ph.D.s in the humanities are working full-time in a field related to their research, but about 60% are doing so on or off the tenure track. The American Historical Association has been collecting information for many years on the career trajectories of graduate and undergraduate History students, which can be reviewed thoroughly here. About 80% of History Ph.D.s are working full-time in a field related to their research, and the most recent data is that 47% are doing so in a teaching post that is tenured or tenure-track at a four-year institution. 

Where do WMU History graduate students get jobs? What doctoral programs are they admitted to?

History graduate students hold jobs in many fields: every major federal government agency employs them, as does the military; major private corporations house vast archives about company history that needs curation; lobbyists and consultants, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, frequently hold history doctorates; museums, archives, and historic preservation firms hire history graduates, as do documentary filmmakers; and there is a steady demand for history instructors at all levels of education both domestically and internationally. Information about placement of our graduates may be found on the Scholarly Recognition and Placement Information webpage. 

Aren't History departments shrinking? Will there be teaching posts in the future?

The decline of enrollments in the Humanities appears to have bottomed out, as of spring 2019. Student demand for history courses appears to be steady and strong and in some universities has begun a resurgence

Can I complete my WMU graduate program in History remotely?

It isn't possible at the present time to finish a graduate degree in History completely online. The vast majority of our courses are offered in face-to-face seminar format, meaning that you learn via discussion with other students and faculty. While online completion isn't an option, we have many students who commute to Kalamazoo in order to attend courses. Most graduate courses are taught in a once-per-week format (for example, 4 to 6:30 p.m. one day a week) meaning that our students live throughout the region.