Admission Requirements 

1. Admission is based on the entire record of the applicant and availability of departmental resources.
2. Students must submit a completed admissions form to the UTEP graduate school, including references and statement of purpose, as well as transcripts.
3. A bachelor's degree from an accredited U.S. university or proof of equivalent education at a foreign institution. Generally, students should have a 3.0 (B) grade point average, or equivalent, particularly in Sociology courses and over the last 60 hours of undergraduate work.
4. The department also grants a limited number of teaching and research assistantships to selected graduate students. Other forms of financial assistance are also available. For further information, please contact the graduate advisor.
5. Applicants from countries where English is not the first language are required to demonstrate English proficiency. Please consult the graduate school website for required scores.

Degree Requirements 

The following are the requirements of the 33-hour MA in Sociology degree program:

1. Each candidate must take:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
SOCI 5311	Prof Development in Sociology	3
SOCI 5312	Sem-Advanced Measure/Inference	3
SOCI 5320	Seminar in Research Methods	3
SOCI 5328	Social Theory	3
Plus three semester hours of sociology methods 3		3
Plus twelve semester hours of sociology or anthropology approved for graduate credit		12
SOCI 5398	Thesis I	3
or SOCI 5396	Non-Thesis Project I
SOCI 5399	Thesis II	3
or SOCI 5397	Non-Thesis Project II
Total Hours		33

4.Students enrolled in the thesis plan must enroll at least one semester in SOCI 5398 Thesis I and SOCI 5399 Thesis II and successfully propose and defend the thesis before a committee while enrolled in SOCI 5399.  Each thesis course can only count once toward the total number of hours needed for the degree.  Thesis committees consist of at least two departmental representatives and one member from outside the department.

5.Students enrolled in the applied non-thesis plan must enroll at least one semester in SOCI 5396 Non-Thesis Project I and SOCI 5397 Non-Thesis Project II 11 and successfully propose and defend the thesis before a committee while enrolled in SOCI 5397 Non-Thesis Project II. Each non- thesis project course can only count once toward the total number of hours needed for the degree.  Project committees consist of at least two departmental representatives and one member from outside the department.

6.Candidates may pursue a minor in Anthropology.  Candidates taking this option must obtain the consent of the graduate advisor and his/her thesis director, and may take up to 9 hours of anthropology courses from the list of advanced undergraduate courses approved for graduate credit.  The plan of anthropology courses must be approved by the graduate advisor and thesis advisor, once assigned.  Additional requirements are listed in item 6 below.

7.Undergraduate courses and independent studies approved for graduate credit will count toward the degree only by permission of the graduate advisor and thesis advisor, once assigned.  To use an undergraduate course for graduate credit, the following additional work is required: additional reading of original scholarly books and articles above and beyond textbooks; additional written work such as research on specific topics or hypotheses, literature reviews, or identifying research problems in specific areas; and at least five additional meetings with the professor to discuss the added requirements and their completion. The extra requirement must be specified by the instructor in a syllabus.

8.Each candidate will submit a PDF that must be approved by the candidate's committee and submitted to the graduate school following their requirements.

9.Candidates will be allowed only one grade lower than a "B" in coursework taken for graduate credit.  No grade lower than a "B" will be accepted in a required course.  Candidates must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA.