Degree Programs | Master of Arts

Master of Arts in International Relations (M.A.)

With the exception of MIPP candidates, all full-time students admitted to the Bologna Center are automatically admitted to the two-year M.A. program. After satisfactorily completing a year of study in Bologna, students spend their second year in Washington, DC. In order to receive the M.A. degree, all candidates must fulfill the following minimum requirements:

Courses: All candidates must complete 16 non-language courses taken for credit, normally within four consecutive semesters of study.

Language Proficiency: All candidates must pass a written and an oral proficiency examination in a language taught at SAIS. Regional studies programs may require a proficiency exam in a language specifice to that region. All non-native speakers of English must also pass written and oral exams in English.

Core Examinations: All candidates must pass written examinations in two core subjects.

Oral Examination: All candidates must pass a comprehensive oral examination, taken normally at the end of the second year of study, in two fields of concentration. International Economics must be one of the two fields. The other may be either functional (International Relations or International Development) or regional (Africa, Asia, Europe, Western Hemisphere program including Canada and Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, or American Foreign Policy). Candidates are expected to integrate knowledge of their two oral examination fields with the general substantive and theoretical background of the core requirements. Information on fields and programs offered and the respective requirements are available on the SAIS website. Students usually take five or six courses in an examination field in order to be prepared adequately. A specific language requirement may be necessary to fulfill the requirment for certain fields of concentration. For example, most geographic area fields require proficiency in a language of that geographic area.

Research Thesis: No thesis is required for the MA degree.