The UW-Madison Graduate School confers the Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Accountancy, Master of Business Administration, Master of Music, Master of Engineering, Master of French Studies, Master of Legal Institutions, Master of International Public Affairs, Master of Public Affairs, Master of Social Work, Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy. Also, several programs that do not award graduate degrees offer Ph.D. minors and certificates.
The master's degree is conferred only upon completion of a coherent and focused program of advanced study. Each department has set its own minimum degree requirements beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School. The master of fine arts degree offers superior students advanced training and opportunities for creativity. The program is for the prospective professional artist and teacher in the fine arts at the college level and emphasizes creative work.
The doctor of philosophy and the doctor of musical arts are the highest degrees conferred at UW-Madison. Neither is conferred solely as a result of any prescribed period of study, no matter how faithfully pursued. The Ph.D. degree is a research degree and is granted on evidence of general proficiency, distinctive attainment in a special field, and particularly on ability for independent investigation as demonstrated in a dissertation presenting original research or creative scholarship with a high degree of literary skill. The D.M.A. degree is granted on evidence of a high degree of competence in performance, conducting, or composition.
Both the Ph.D. and D.M.A. degree programs must be rationally unified, and all courses must contribute to an organized program of study and research. Courses must be selected from groups embracing one principal subject of concentration, called the major (see list of Majors and Degrees), and from one or more related fields, called the minor. The major field is normally coextensive with the work of a single department or with one of the subjects under which certain programs have been formally arranged. A major may be permitted to extend beyond the above limits with the prior approval of the Dean of the Graduate School. The minor is designed to represent a coherent body of work, taken as a graduate student, and should not be simply an after-the-fact ratification of a number of courses taken outside the major department.
Minimum credits and other requirements necessary to earn these degrees are listed in the Graduate School Minimum Degree Requirements section.
Agricultural and Life Sciences, College of
Business, School of
Education, School of
Engineering, College of
Graduate School, Interdisciplinary Programs
Human Ecology, School of
Law School
Letters and Science, College of
Medicine and Public Health, School of
Nursing, School of
Pharmacy, School of
Veterinary Medicine, School of
This is the official list of graduate degrees offered at UW-Madison. Additional information, including all application materials, is available directly from the department or program.
African Languages and Literature—M.A., Ph.D.
Afro-American Studies—M.A.
Agricultural and Applied Economics—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Agroecology—M.S.
Agronomy—M.S., Ph.D.
Animal Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Anthropology—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Art—M.A., M.F.A.
Art Education—M.A.
Art History—M.A., Ph.D.
Astronomy—M.S., Ph.D.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Bacteriology—M.S.
Biochemistry—M.S., Ph.D.
Biological Systems Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Biomedical Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Biometry—M.S.
Biomolecular Chemistry—(See Biochemistry)
Biophysics—M.S., Ph.D.
Biotechnology—M.S.
Botany—M.S., Ph.D.
Business—Ph.D.
Business: Accounting—M.Acc., M.B.A.
Business: Actuarial Science—M.S.
Business: Arts Administration—M.A., M.B.A.
Business: Finance, Investment and Banking—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: General Management—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Information Systems—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: International Business—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Management and Human Resources—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Marketing—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Operations and Technology Management —M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Real Estate and Urban Land Economics—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Risk Management and Insurance—M.B.A., M.S.
Business: Supply Chain Management—M.B.A., M.S.
Cancer Biology—M.S., Ph.D.
Cartography and Geographic Information Systems—M.S.
Cellular and Molecular Biology—M.S., Ph.D.
Chemical Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Chemistry—M.S., Ph.D.
Chinese—M.A., Ph.D.
Civil and Environmental Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Classics—M.A., Ph.D.
Communication Arts—M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D.
Communicative Disorders—M.S., Ph.D.
Comparative Biomedical Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Comparative Literature—M.A., Ph.D.
Computer Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development—M.S.
Counseling—M.S.
Counseling Psychology—Ph.D.
Creative Writing—M.F.A.
Curriculum and Instruction—M.S., Ph.D.
Dairy Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Development—Ph.D.
Economics—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Education and Mathematics—M.A.
Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis—M.S., Ph.D.
Educational Policy Studies—M.A., Ph.D.
Educational Psychology—M.S., Ph.D.
Electrical Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology—M.S., Ph.D.
Engineering—M.Engr.
Engineering Mechanics—M.S., Ph.D.
English—M.A., Ph.D.
Entomology—M.S., Ph.D.
Environment and Resources - M.S., Ph.D.
Environmental Chemistry and Technology—M.S., Ph.D.
Environmental Monitoring—M.S., Ph.D.
Food Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Forestry—M.S., Ph.D.
French—M.A., Ph.D.
French Studies—M.F.S.
Genetics—M.S., Ph.D.
Geography—M.S., Ph.D.
Geological Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Geology—M.S., Ph.D.
Geophysics—M.S., Ph.D.
German—M.A., Ph.D.
Greek—M.A.
Hebrew and Semitic Studies—M.A., Ph.D.
History—M.A., Ph.D.
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology—M.A., Ph.D.
Horticulture—M.S., Ph.D.
Human Ecology—M.F.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Industrial Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
International Public Affairs—M.I.P.A.
Italian—M.A., Ph.D.
Japanese—M.A., Ph.D.
Journalism and Mass Communication—M.A.
Kinesiology—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Landscape Architecture—M.A., M.S.
Languages and Cultures of Asia—M.A., Ph.D.
Latin—M.A.
Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies—M.A.
Legal Institutions—M.L.I.
Library and Information Studies—M.A., Ph.D.
Life Sciences Communication—M.S.
Limnology and Marine Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Linguistics—M.A., Ph.D.
Manufacturing Systems Engineering—M.S.
Mass Communications—Ph.D.
Materials Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
Materials Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Mathematics—M.A., Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering—M.Engr., M.S., Ph.D.
Medical Genetics—M.S., Ph.D.
Medical Microbiology and Immunology—M.S.
Medical Physics—M.S., Ph.D.
Microbiology—Ph.D.
Molecular and Cellular Pathology--M.S., Ph.D.
Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology—M.S. Ph.D.
Molecular and Environmental Toxicology—M.S. Ph.D.
Music—M.A., Ph.D.
Music: Education—M.M.
Music: Performance—M.M., D.M.A.
Neuroscience—M.S., Ph.D.
Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics—M.S., Ph.D.
Nursing—M.S., Ph.D.
Nutritional Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Occupational Therapy—M.S.
Pharmaceutical Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.
Pharmacy—M.S. (see also Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Philosophy—M.A., Ph.D.
Physics—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Physiology—M.S., Ph.D.
Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics—M.S. Ph.D.
Plant Pathology—M.S., Ph.D.
Political Science—M.A., Ph.D.
Population Health—M.S., Ph.D.
Portuguese—M.A., Ph.D.
Psychology—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Public Affairs—M.P.A.
Rehabilitation Psychology—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Rural Sociology—M.S.
Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies—M.A.
Scandinavian Studies—M.A., Ph.D.
Science Education—M.S.
Second Language Acquisition—Ph.D.
Slavic Languages and Literatures—M.A., Ph.D.
Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy—M.S., Ph.D.
Social Welfare—Ph.D.
Social Work—M.S.W.
Sociology—M.S., Ph.D.
Soil Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Southeast Asian Studies—M.A.
Spanish—M.A., Ph.D.
Special Education—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Special Graduate Committee—M.A., M.F.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Statistics—M.S., Ph.D.
Theatre and Drama—M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D.
Therapeutic Science—M.S.
Urban and Regional Planning—M.S., Ph.D.
Water Resources Management—M.S.
Wildlife Ecology—M.S., Ph.D.
Women's Studies/Gender Studies—M.A.
Zoology—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
The purpose of the minor is to give breadth to a Ph.D. major. Crosslisted courses are permitted if distinct from the major area of study as judged by the major department. There are two kinds of minors: Option A and Option B.
The Option A minor requires: African Studies
Air Resources Management
Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies
Conservation
Biology and Sustainable Developoment
Culture, History and Environment (added 10/9/2008)
East Asian Studies
English Linguistics
Folklore
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
Human Development and Family Studies
International Education
Law
Prevention and Intervention Science
Print Culture History
Religious Studies
Russian
Science and Technology Studies
Women's Studies
The Option B (Distributed) minor requires:
The university offers several programs of study that may not grant graduate degrees but coordinate teaching and research among scholars active in interrelated disciplines. Students enrolled in graduate certificate programs must be enrolled simultaneously in a UW-Madison graduate degree program. There is no formal admission to graduate certificate programs. Students typically request the certificate after all course work has been completed. Programs offering the following certificates monitor all course and satisfactory progress requirements.
African Studies
Air Resources Management
Bioinformatics
Clinical Investigation
Culture, History and Enviroment (added 10/9/2008)
Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (Specialist)
Energy Analysis and Policy
Engineering Management Specialization
European Studies
Gerontology
Global Health
Library and Information Studies (Specialist)
Humans and the Global Environment
Material Culture Studies
Medieval Studies
Patient Safety
Prevention and Intervention Science
Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies
Southeast Asian Studies
Teaching and Learning Scholarship in Higher Education
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL)
Technical Communication
Transportation Management and Policy
Women's Studies at the Graduate Level
The university offers certificates for new students not currently enrolled in a UW-Madison degree program. Applicants must have completed a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent; seek a certificate to "cap off" their undergraduate training; or are professionals returning to school for specialized training in the area of the certificate. Capstone programs do not lead to the conferral of a graduate degree.
Programs offering capstone certificates monitor all academic and satisfactory progress requirements. Applicants are admitted as Special students through the Division of Continuing Studies. For more information about capstone certificates, see www.dcs.wisc.edu/capstone.
UW-Madison offers the following capstone certificate programs:
Bioinformatics
Clinical Investigation (Admission to the Capstone certificate in Clinical Investigation has been suspended effective 4/24/08.)
French Studies
Fundamentals of Clinical Research
Geographic Information Systems
Global Health
Laboratory Quality Management
Master Administrator
Public Affairs