Admission Requirements

Applicants are considered on an individual basis. In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, applicants must meet the following program requirements:

• Baccalaureate Field Applicants must have either an undergraduate major in history or a minimum of 16 semester hours in history.
• Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00 for the final 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate study. A GPA of 3.50/4.00 is recommended.
• Minimum English Competency Test Score
  • TOEFL 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21 (iBT Test); 60, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Writing 21 (revised Paper-Delivered Test), OR,
  • IELTS 6.5, with subscores of 6.0 for all four subscores, OR,
  • PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
• Letters of Recommendation Three required, from former professors, for the MA, MAT, and PhD.
• Personal Statement Required.
• Writing Sample Required.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, students must meet the following program requirements:

• Minimum Semester Hours Required 54 (entering without license); 32 (entering with license). Students seeking a teaching license must complete a minimum of 54 semester hours, which includes hours taken in the Department of History and the College of Education. Students not seeking a license must complete a minimum of 32 semester hours.
• Course Work At least 16 hours must be in 500-level history courses. Credit toward the degree is not given for any course in which the student receives a grade of less than B.
• Students must complete 16 hours in graduate-level readings courses across the three fields of U.S., European, or world history, with at least 4 hours in each of these, and a focus of 8 hours in one of these fields. These hours are to be drawn, where possible, from 500-level colloquia. Students must complete 8 hours in courses that focus on the teaching of history and the social sciences, HIST 420 and HIST 500. HIST 420 has a prerequisite of 9 hours in social sciences.
• Students seeking licensure must take 30 hours in required courses toward licensure:

  Course List

  Code	Title	Hours
  Required Courses
  CI 504	Secondary Literacy
  ED 402	Philosophy of Education and Urban School Policy
  or ED 403	Policy Issues in the History of American Education
  ED 421	Advanced Educational Psychology
  or ED 445	Adolescence and the Schools
  ED 432	Instruction and Assessment in the Urban Secondary Classroom
  SPED 410	Exceptional Learners
  HIST 475	Educational Practice with Seminar I
  HIST 476	Educational Practice with Seminar II

• Students not seeking licensure must take a minimum of 8 additional hours in a specific field of history of their choosing in consultation with their advisor.
• Additional Requirements for Teaching License In addition to specified course work, students seeking licensure must fulfill certain other requirements as well as maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00/4.00 in history course work, and a 3.00/4.00 in required education courses. For detailed information, see the advising documents and other information available on the program’s website.
• The teaching license is not automatically awarded upon successful completion of licensure and degree requirements. Before the license is issued, the candidate must file an application for the Illinois teaching license in the Council on Teacher Education. The candidate must also pass a series of examinations required by the Illinois State Board of Education. The Content Area Test must be passed before the candidate is allowed to be placed for student teaching. The Assessment of Professional Teaching must be passed prior to licensure. For information on application procedures, contact the Council on Teacher Education  or the Illinois Licensure Testing System web page.
• Comprehensive Examination Required.
• Thesis, Project, or Course-Work-Only Options Course work only. No other options are available.