Graduate Programs
A Message from the Graduate Director
Lei "Frank" Zhang, Ph.D.Our Sociology MA Program provides high-quality training in social science theories, methods, and various substantive fields to prepare students for academic and professional career goals. Our program is designed to train scholars, researchers, and teachers for employment in human services, government agencies, corporations, higher education, and social research positions.
The department also offers the Public Administration and Sociology MA/MPA Dual Degree in conjunction with the College of Public Service. This Dual Degree Program prepares students for positions in public and nonprofit management and policy analysis.
As a unique feature of our programs, we offer four graduate certificates in Sociology of Diversity, Advanced Research Methods in Sociology, Disability Studies, and Teaching Sociology. These certificates further prepare our graduate students for their academic and other professional careers.
Please get in touch with me at lzhang4@uccs.edu or (719) 255-4125 if you have any questions about our master’s programs and certificates.
Master of Arts
The general MA, which includes a thesis requirement, is designed for those who are interested in pursuing a general education in sociology as well as developing research skills, and those considering the pursuit of a PhD in sociology in the future.
Sociology, Accelerated Master's Program
The Accelerated Master’s Degree Program in Sociology offers highly-qualified UCCS sociology majors at the undergraduate level the opportunity of pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Sociology and a Masters of Arts (MA) in Sociology.
The main benefit of the program is that it allows for up to nine credit hours to be used for both the BA and MA. The program is designed to be a five-year program for currently enrolled UCCS Sociology majors.
Public Administration and Sociology, MA/MPA Dual Degree
In conjunction with the UCCS College of Public Service, the department offers a dual graduate degree in Public Administration and Sociology.
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a generalist degree designed to prepare students for a variety of positions in public and nonprofit management and policy analysis. The Master of Arts in Sociology (MA in Sociology) provides methodological and theoretical frameworks to transcend individual experience in order to understand social life and is guided by a vision of social justice. Together, the two disciplines offer students a strong foundation to advance public service, work collaboratively to meet social challenges, and better understand key social phenomena using multiple lenses.
Certificates
The Graduate Faculty of the Sociology Department has a strong emphasis on diversity and inequality issues, highlighting race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and class.
For sociology graduate students wishing to concentrate in these areas, we offer a graduate certificate of specialization. Completion of the certificate provides evidence of specialized study, which can be beneficial for enhancing future career options and interests. The certificate is useful for students planning careers in the private sector and educational institutions, including social work, graduate and professional schools, community action organizations, and social services.
Advanced Research Methods in Sociology
This course of study certificate trains master 's-level sociologists in a range of sociological research methods. Completion of the certificate provides evidence of competence in tools of quantitative and qualitative research methodology, which can be beneficial for enhancing future career options.
For graduate students wishing to develop an understanding of the interdisciplinary field of disability
studies, we offer a graduate certificate of specialization.
Completion of this course of study certificate provides
evidence of specialized study, which can be beneficial for enhancing future career options and
interests.
The certificate is useful for students planning careers in the private sector and for educational
institutions, including social work, graduate and professional schools, community action
organizations, and social services.
This course of study certificate consists of a three-semester sequence of courses designed to prepare graduate students in sociology to teach at the university level.