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Why Pursue a Master's Degree in Political Science

Political Science is a versatile program with a set of valuable transferable skills for success in any field, including research design, quantitative and qualitative research methods, theory and argumentation, critical thinking and analysis, writing skills, and presentations skills. The program prepares students for possible careers in city, state, federal, and international governmental organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations, campaign management, community college teaching, and more. The program also provides excellent preparation for law school or doctoral studies.

Admission & Application Requirements

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application. Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

Political Science Master’s Degree Program
  Required Degree Bachelor's Degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution.
  Minimum GPA 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) Departments may consider GPA of last 60 semester credit hours
  Coursework 18 credit hours in an area related to this graduate degree and at least 12 hours must be at the upper-division level.
  Transcripts* Required from all institutions attended; international transcripts must be recorded/translated to English
  Credential Evaluation Required if you have earned university-level credit from foreign institutions. Submit an evaluation of your transcripts from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) directly from the graduate admission application platform
  TOEFL/IELTS Score 550 TOEFL Paper / 79 TOEFL Internet / 6.5 IELTS scores for International applicants (exempt countries). Scores are currently waived for this program through the 2022-23 academic year.
  Purpose Statement Required
  Resume Required
  Letters of Recommendation 3 demonstrating your academic and personal attributes for success in this program (you will request these through the Graduate Admissions Application; let your recommenders know of your deadline to ensure submissions are on time)
*Unofficial transcripts will be taken into consideration for admissions; however, if admitted into the program, you must submit official transcripts to the University.
Apply using 2021-22 Graduate Application Apply using 2022-23 Graduate Application

Admission Deadlines

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

Political Science Master’s Degree Program
Completed applications will be reviewed for admission on a rolling basis. Decisions generally will be made and sent to applicants within 4 to 6 weeks of receiving the application.
  Fall Spring Summer
Priority March 15 September 15 Not Available
International June 1 November 1 April 1
Domestic July 1 November 1 April 1

Funding Opportunities

Resources

Career Options

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.


  • American Politics
  • International Relations
  • Political Theory & Law

The majority of courses are offered in the evening, but every semester we have at least one that is offered during the day.

Andrea Aleman

Graduate Advisor of Record

Andrea Aleman, MA

210-458-4627

Andrea.Aleman@utsa.edu