Please Note: The Philosophy Department at the University of Washington does not offer a terminal M.A. degree.

This is a non-thesis program. There is no language requirement for the M.A. degree. The following requirements supplement the general requirements set forth by the UW Graduate School in the General Catalog (see the Graduate School Admissions page for further information). All students, whether or not they have earned an M.A. at another institution, must complete the M.A. requirements before entering the Ph.D. program.


logic requirement
As a condition for the M.A. degree, the Department requires that each student receive either a grade of 3.0 or better in one of the graduate level logic courses or a passing score on the departmental logic examination. We offer the departmental logic exam once annually upon request. Part-time students must satisfy this requirement by the time they submit Master’s papers.


twelve course requirement
Students must complete twelve graduate courses in philosophy, with a grade of 3.0 or better in each course. At least four of these twelve courses must be seminars.


master's papers
At the end of their second year, in lieu of a Master’s thesis, students submit three papers, one in each distribution area. (Part-time students will submit their papers for evaluation upon completion of twelve courses in philosophy. A change of status from full-time to part-time student requires departmental approval.)


evaluation
The graduate faculty of the Department evaluates the students’ progress on the basis of course work in philosophy and the papers submitted. The graduate faculty then decides whether the students are:

• awarded an M.A. and admitted to the Ph.D. program;
• awarded an M.A. and invited to submit papers a second time;
• awarded a terminal M.A.;
• or dropped from the program without a degree.

Students resubmitting papers must submit completely new ones that satisfy the distribution requirements. A completely new paper is one that has not been submitted before and is not a revised version of one that has been submitted before. These papers are due the following year.

satisfactory progress
Students not yet admitted to the Ph.D. program must have at least 2 courses (10 credits) per quarter with a grade of 3.0 or better in order to be in good standing.

Please be aware that an excessive number of incompletes may jeopardize a student’s good standing. If a student does not make satisfactory progress in a given quarter, the director of graduate studies will recommend to the dean of the Graduate School that the student be placed on probation. If the student is not making satisfactory progress at the end of the next quarter, the director of graduate studies makes a second recommendation of probation. If the student is not making satisfactory progress at the end of the quarter after that, the director makes a recommendation that he/she be dropped from the program. Ideally, for each course taken, the instructor places a written evaluation in the students’ files. Students are encouraged to read these evaluations each quarter to get a better idea about their progress in the program.