All students are required to meet the general university admission requirements.

Program-Specific Deadlines
Admissions decisions for U.S. applicants are made in two rounds. The initial round will close Jan. 8, and the admissions committee will admit a number of applications, put other applicants on a waiting list and reject the remainder. A second round will close on Aug. 1. Those on the waiting list from the February round will automatically be considered for the August round. Because of the tight deadlines, all candidates intending to apply for the August round should contact the director of security studies as soon as possible to inform the program of their plans.

• U.S. Applicants
  • Fall semester (begins in late August): Jan. 8 and Aug. 1

• International Applicants
  • Fall semester (begins in late August): Jan. 8

Additional Documentation
Your application must include the following:

• Statement of objectives: State your academic objectives, giving specific reasons for the selection of your field of study, contemplated research areas, and professional plans. Most statements are three to four paragraphs in length. The objectives allow faculty to:
  • determine that your expectations of the security studies program are congruent with what the program provides
  • review a sample of your writing skills
• Names and emails of three professional and/or academic references. At least two of the three letters should be from those who can speak authoritatively to your potential to succeed in graduate studies in an academic context.
• Unofficial transcripts from each institution attended
  • Failure to list any colleges or universities from which you received a degree or enrolled in graduate coursework may result in dismissal from the university.
  • If your transcripts are not in English, you must furnish a translation by an appropriate authority.
  • You will be asked for official transcripts after notification of admission.
  • Official reports of Graduate Record of Examination (GRE) test scores are recommended but not required. For applicants with a GPA below 3.0 at the institution at which they earned their bachelor's degree, GRE scores are particularly important in meeting the requirements for admission to the K-State Graduate School.
• A writing sample. This should be between 10 and 30 pages and representative of your best scholarly work. Term papers, thesis chapters and copies of published articles are all examples of acceptable writing samples.

The security studies master’s degree will prepare you to work in fields such as:

• international affairs
• foreign policymaking
• policy research and analysis
• intelligence analysis
• military service
• homeland security
• law enforcement
  

Fundamentals of Security (3 credits)

• HIST 812 - Foundations of Security Studies (3 credits)
• POLSC 812 - Foundations of Security Studies (3 credits)

Security Studies Methodology (2 credits)

• POLSC 810 - Security Studies Methodology (2 credits)
• HIST 810 - Security Studies Methodology (2 credits)

History and Security of Pivotal Regions (6 credits)

• HIST 850 - History and Security: East Asia (3 credits)
• HIST 851 - History and Security: Latin America (3 credits)
• HIST 852 - History and Security: the Middle East (3 credits)
• HIST 853 - History and Security: Russia/Central Asia (3 credits)
• HIST 854 - History and Security: South Asia (3 credits)
• HIST 855 - History and Security: Modern Africa since 1850 (3 credits)

International Security and Transnational Security (6 credits)

• POLSC 813 - International Security (3 credits)
• POLSC 814 - Terrorism and Transnational Security Issues (3 credits)

Research Design in Security Studies (1 credit)

• HIST 815 - Research Design in Security Studies (1 credit)
• POLSC 815 - Research Design in Security Studies (1 credit)

Electives (12 credits for nonthesis option; 6 credits for thesis option)

Thesis Option (6 credits)
If you choose to complete the thesis op­tion, you will take 24 credits of coursework consisting of 18 credits of required courses and six elective credits. You will also take six credits of master’s research in either political science or history.

• POLSC 899 - Master’s Thesis (6 credits) OR
  HIST 899 - Research in History, M.A (6 credits)

Note: Some classes may require you to attend scheduled classes via video teleconference.