Admission Requirements for Prospective Students

Applications to the M.A. program in history should be made through the Graduate School. The History MA program no longer requires GRE scores from any applicants. In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, the following are required for admission to the M.A. program in History:

  • A personal statement (2 pages) that details your interest and experiences in history, as well as the particular area(s) of research you hope to pursue in your MA.
  • Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which should be from professors in history or a related field.
  • A writing sample, preferably from a historical research project.
    A curriculum vitae/résumé.

Admission deadlines
For Graduate School information on deadlines, please click here

  • The priority deadline for admission to the History M.A. program is March 1 for Fall admission. Students who wish to be considered for funding should apply by 1 March to start that Fall. Funding awards (Departmental Assistantship offers) are made only for students starting in the Fall semester.
  • We continue to take applications for Fall admission through 1 August. These applications are not eligible for funding consideration.
  • The application deadline for Spring admission is 1 December.
  • We do not accept applications for admission during the summer.

Early Entry admissions. We welcome advanced UNC Charlotte undergraduate history majors, particularly those in the department’s honors program, to apply for Early Entry to the M.A. program. Accepted applicants may count up to 12 credits for both the B.A. and the M.A. For more information about this option, please contact our Graduate Program Director, Dr. Peter Thorsheim, at pthorshe@uncc.edu .

Competitive Application Fee Waivers:

The department offers a limited number of application fee waivers on a competitive basis for candidates who have overcome significant challenges to continue pursuing educational opportunities. To be considered for an application fee waiver: 

  • your entire MA application (except for the application fee) must be uploaded into the system by 1 February. However, please do not formally submit the application until after the decision on the fee waiver.
  • your undergraduate GPA must be 3.0 and above
  • you must submit a statement to the Graduate Program Director, not exceeding 300 words explaining the challenges you have faced as you pursue your education.

Please submit this 300-word statement as an MS Word or PDF document attached to an email to the Graduate Program Director, Dr. Peter Thorsheim, at Peter.Thorsheim@Charlotte.edu. The document must be in Times New Roman 12 point, double-spaced. Please title the document as Lastname-Fee waiver application. Please note that being granted an application fee waiver does not guarantee admission to the program.

Graduate Cost of Attendance

  • Please note that funding awards (Graduate Assistantships) are made only for students starting in the Fall semester who apply by the priority application deadlines of 1 March.
  • The University also offers other forms of on-campus and off-campus employment.

For additional advice on what we are looking for in an application, please consider these two articles found on the American Historical Association’s website: