Graduate

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university or have completed work equivalent for such a degree and equivalent to the degree given at this University
• An undergraduate overall grade-point average of at least 3.00*  
• Adequate preparation to begin graduate study in sociology
• Show promise for advanced study and research, as judged by the applicant's previous scholastic record

There are two options for completing the requirements for the degree:

Plan I- Thesis

Plan I students must complete a total of 24 hours of approved course work, including the required courses, plus an acceptable thesis for 6 hours of credit.

Plan II - Non-Thesis

Plan II students must complete a total of 30 hours of approved course work, including the required core sociology courses and are encouraged to develop individualized areas of concentration with the elective credits. Elective coursework may include approved courses from other UCCS Graduate programs, for example: the Graduate School of Public Affairs, Applied Geography, Communications, Business and the College of Education.

Advisory Committee, Thesis Advisor, and Examination Committee

Each student must select a graduate faculty member within the Department as his or her Advisor. This should be done as early as possible during the first semester of graduate work. 

The Accelerated Master’s Degree Program in Sociology offers highly-qualified UCCS sociology majors the opportunity of pursuing the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Sociology and 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 a designed to be a five-year program for currently enrolled University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) Sociology majors. This program is intended to serve the interests of our students by facilitating earning their graduate degree in an expedited process.

The School of Public Affairs in collaboration with the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences 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.

The Graduate program currently offers three graduate certificates; one in Diversity one in Teaching Sociology and one in Advanced Research Methods in Sociology. Coursework that meets the requirements for a certificate also counts toward the total credits required for the Masters. In addition, the sociology department participates in an interdisciplinary graduate certificate Disability Studies. The certificates we offer are not gainful employment certificates, instead they are course of study certificates.

The Graduate Faculty of the Sociology Department has a strong emphasis in diversity and inequality issues, highlighting race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, 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.

The sociology department has one recruitment scholarship available for out-of-state graduate students who are paying full non-resident tuition (if they receive in-state tuition because of WGRP, military, OTC, etc., the applicants are not eligible).  

A copy of your portfolio should be given to Rosemary Kelbel approximately 2 weeks before your scheduled Oral Exam. NON-THESIS ORAL EXAMINATION 1. You should plan to start with a well-thought out, 10-15 minute presentation. This presentation is a reflection on your portfolio, for example: how do you see your studies in the Sociology graduate program at UCCS as potentially informing and relating to your next professional steps? Presentations will be timed to ensure faculty can pose questions to the MA candidate. 2. Be prepared to address any theoretical, methodological, and substantive content evident in your portfolio (a list of example questions is available from Rosemary Kelbel).

View courses within this Graduate course designation.

Students are notified of provisional status via their email acceptance letter sent by the graduate director.

View Sociological & Social Science Associations Annual Conferences.