The two year Master of Arts and Master of Sciences degrees are designed to prepare students for a career as a policy analyst in government or the private sector or as a stepping stone to a career as a professional political scientist. The program offers three possible substantive tracks - Public Policy; Democratic Theory and Practice; and Conflict and Security.

The Public Policy track examines the process and strategies of public policy development with an emphasis on which policies can succeed both substantively and politically in different policy arenas.

The Democratic Theory and Practice track considers the theoretical requirements for establishing a democratic political system and evaluates the extent to which these requirements are met in comparative examination of competing political systems.

The Conflict and Security track emphasizes the special problems associated with modern conflict situations including special consideration of the dilemmas posed by the threats of terrorism.
Each track requires completion of 30 credit hours which include a research design course, a track-specific core course, 3 credit Thesis Research, and 12 credits from a broad list of depth courses specific to that track. Additionally, student may fill their 30 credit requirement with up to 3 credits Graduate Tutorial, up to 3 credits of Internship, up to 3 credits Graduate Seminar (special topics), up to 3 credits of approved graduate courses outside of the department or up to 3 credits from any of the other tracks.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. B.A or B.S. Degree or equivalent.
2. An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or A GPA of 3.5 or better over the last 90 hours of undergraduate course work.
3. Scores exceeding the 50th percentile on each of the three sections of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
4. International students must receive a score on the TOEFL exam of 550 or better.
5. Applications may be obtained from the School of Graduate Studies: 0900 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-0900
6. Applications of students not meeting the GPA and GRE requirements are reviewed on an individual basis.

Completed application, GRE scores, TOEFL scores, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and application fees should be sent directly to the School of Graduate Studies. Applications are accepted year round though the program sequence begins in the fall. University scholarships, fellowships and other types of financial aid are available for qualifying students through the Dean's office and the School of Graduate Studies http://www.usu.edu/gradsch/financial/.

Assistantships - The department normally appoints seven teaching assistants, who receive an annual stipend of $7000 and an out-of-state tuition waiver. Most appointments are for one year, but are renewable for a second year. Research assistantships are often available as well. Applications are available from the Political Science Department and are due on May 15.