Degree Options

MA/JD with the Law Center

Applicants to the joint MA/JD must submit two separate applications, including separate credentials (transcripts, personal statements and letters of recommendation). One complete application is submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (for the MA) and another is submitted to the Georgetown University Law Center, which has its own application requirements. Successful applicants will meet or exceed the application requirements of both programs.

MA/PhD with the Department of Government

Applicants to the joint MA/PhD in Government must submit two separate applications, including separate credentials (transcripts, personal statements, and letters of recommendation) and all required elements of each application. Applications are reviewed separately by CLAS and the Department of Government, and successful applicants will meet or exceed the requirements of both programs.

Accelerated Degree

CLAS partners with 17 universities to allow undergraduate students with a demonstrated commitment to the field the opportunity to complete both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies via an accelerated program. The standards for admission into the Accelerated Degree program are based on the guidelines established for the MA program. In addition to the MA requirements, successful applicants generally are Latin American Studies majors with a minimum overall GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants to the Accelerated Cooperative Degree Program are not required to submit GRE scores.

Students from our partner schools who intend to enroll in the Accelerated Degree Program should declare interest during their junior year and apply during their senior year. Georgetown undergraduate students should apply during their junior year to ensure the most efficient transition. For updated deadlines and additional information about the application process, please visit the Graduate School Admissions website.

In addition to Georgetown University undergraduates enrolled in the School of Foreign Service or Georgetown College, students at the following seventeen institutions are currently eligible to apply for the Accelerated Cooperative Degree Program:

• Boston College
• Brown University
• Dartmouth College
• Duke University
• Hampshire College
• Haverford College
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• McGill University – Canada
• Mt. Holyoke College
• Rhodes College
• Smith College
• Tulane University
• Union College
• Universidad de los Andes – Colombia
• The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
• Wake Forest University
• Wellesley College

In order to finish the thirty-six credit program in fifteen to eighteen months, students must take four classes per semester and participate in one summer abroad program (two courses). Two classes (six credits) from the participating undergraduate university count towards the degree. Usually students who finish in fifteen months do not have time for internships or jobs because their schedules are so demanding. The curriculum requires that students take four core classes (States and Societies, Origins and Transformations, Political Economy, and Culture and Power) and choose six classes that count towards their chosen concentration.  All students have one elective and are expected to complete a Capstone course in their final semester.  A typical accelerated schedule looks similar to this:

• Summer (CLAS in Latin America):
  
  • Concentration
  • Concentration
• Fall:
  • States and Societies
  • Origins and Transformations
  • Concentration
  • Concentration
• Spring:
  • Political Economy
  • Culture and Power
  • Concentration
  • Concentration
• Transfer Credits:
  • Concentration
  • Elective

Joint Degrees

Graduate students at CLAS may pursue two joint degree options: an MA/JD with Georgetown Law Center, and an MA/PhD with Georgetown University’s Department of Government.