Since 2008, the Western Michigan MA program has placed nearly all students seeking a higher degree (~90%). Most of these students have gone on to pursue doctoral degrees in philosophy at top-ranked PhD programs and all of them have received full funding packages to support their studies. Other WMU graduates have pursued advanced degrees in a variety of areas including law, the humanities and social sciences, and theology. Students who have chosen not to pursue a further degree (roughly 10% of students since 2008) have found rewarding careers in education, business, or other pursuits. After completing their doctoral degree programs, our graduate students have also obtained tenure-track jobs at philosophy departments, including University at Albany, University of Utah, Virginia Polytechnic University, York University, and Australia Catholic University.
Placement summary
Annual data*
*Unless otherwise noted, placement is into a Ph.D. program in philosophy with full funding.
2021 Graduates
| Student 1 | Notre Dame |
| Student 2 | University of Texas, Austin |
| Student 3 | University of Virginia |
| Student 4 | University of Edinburgh Law School |
2020 Graduates
| Student 1 | University of Michigan Law School (with tuition assistance) |
| Student 2 | University of Virginia |
| Student 3 | University of Connecticut |
2019 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Michigan |
|
Student 2 |
University of Texas, Austin |
|
Student 3 |
University of Arizona |
|
Student 4 |
Indiana University (HPS) |
|
Student 5 |
SUNY, Buffalo |
|
Student 6 |
SUNY, Buffalo |
|
Student 7 |
Declined PhD admission offer; teaching philosophy at local university |
2018 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
Columbia University (Interdisciplinary Humanities Program) |
|
Student 2 |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
|
Student 3 |
University of Maryland, College Park |
|
Student 4 |
University of Virginia |
|
Student 5 |
University of Michigan Law School (with tuition assistance) |
|
Student 6 |
Rice University |
|
Student 7 |
University of Utah |
|
Student 8 |
Western Michigan (Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program) |
|
Student 9 |
University of Vermont (Education Program) |
|
Student 10 |
Instructor, WMU Philosophy department |
2017 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
|
Student 2 |
Northwestern University |
|
Student 3 |
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
|
Student 4 |
University of Miami |
|
Student 5 |
University of Miami |
|
Student 6 |
University of Washington, Seattle |
|
Student 7 |
Baylor University |
|
Student 8 |
University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
|
Student 9 |
University of Buffalo |
2016 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
Stanford University |
|
Student 2 |
University of Oklahoma |
|
Student 3 |
University of South Carolina |
2015 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Michigan |
|
Student 2 |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
|
Student 3 |
Rice University |
|
Student 4 |
University of South Carolina |
|
Student 5 |
SUNY Binghamton |
|
Student 6 |
University of Georgia |
|
Student 7 |
M.A. in linguistics |
|
Student 8 |
M.A. in theology |
2014 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
|
Student 2 |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
|
Student 3 |
Bowling Green University |
2013 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
Cornell University |
|
Student 2 |
University of Iowa |
|
Student 3 |
Rice University |
|
Student 4 |
University of Rochester |
|
Student 5 |
University of Rochester |
|
Student 6 |
Georgetown University |
|
Student 7 |
University of Rochester |
2012 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
Rutgers University |
|
Student 2 |
University of Rochester |
|
Student 3 |
Ohio State University |
|
Student 4 |
St. Louis University |
2011 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Missouri |
|
Student 2 |
University of Iowa |
|
Student 3 |
University of British Columbia |
|
Student 4 |
University of Kansas |
|
Student 5 |
University of Cincinnati |
|
Student 6 |
Tulane University |
|
Student 7 |
Johns Hopkins University (Cellular and Molecular Medicine) |
2010 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
Brown University |
|
Student 2 |
Cambridge University (HPS) |
|
Student 3 |
University of California, Irvine |
|
Student 4 |
University of California, Irvine |
|
Student 5 |
Lewis & Clark (Law School) |
|
Student 6 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
|
Student 7 |
Ohio State University |
|
Student 8 |
University of Georgia |
2009 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Virginia |
|
Student 2 |
Thomas M. Cooley Law School |
|
Student 3 |
University of Wisconsin – Madison |
|
Student 4 |
Bowling Green University |
|
Student 5 |
University of Colorado – Boulder |
|
Student 6 |
University of Iowa |
|
Student 7 |
Not Available |
2008 Graduates
|
Student 1 |
University of Pittsburg (HPS) |
|
Student 2 |
Australian National University |
|
Student 3 |
University of California, Berkeley |
|
Student 4 |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
|
Student 5 |
University of Maryland, College Park |
|
Student 6 |
Washington University in St. Louis |
|
Student 7 |
Indiana University (HPS) |
|
Student 8 |
Indiana University (HPS) |
|
Student 9 |
Ohio State University |
|
Student 10 |
State University of New York |