Admission
To be admitted to the Master of Arts (MA) in Liberal Studies Program, you must be admitted to the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma. The College of Liberal Studies serves as your major department. All applicants must provide a completed OU application as well as the MA supplemental application materials and the $40 application fee.

Regular Admission Status
Applicants admissible to the Graduate College with a 3.00 grade point average on their last 60 hours of undergraduate work are admissible to the Master of Liberal Studies program. Applicants who have at least 12 hours of graduate work with a 3.0 GPA on those hours are admissible on that basis.

• MA Application
• MA Startup Scholarship
• Graduate College Bulletin

Conditional Admission Status: Low Grades
An applicant whose grade point average falls between a 2.75 and a 2.99 can be admitted under the Conditional Low Grades status. By the terms of this conditional admission, such students must make a 3.0 grade point average on the first twelve letter-graded program hours of enrollment. Failure to do so will result in an automatic termination from the program.

Conditional Admission Status: Additional Supplemental Materials Required: This category of admission applies only to applicants who graduated more than three years prior to the request for admission. Applicants having a grade point average between a 2.25 and 2.74, and whose academic credits are not current enough to be useful in evaluating potential for graduate work, must submit the following supplemental application materials:

• A résumé or materials showing relevant life experience
• A 1500 word essay demonstrating the ability to critically analyze material. Applicants may select a book, article, movie, performance or presentation and their essay should include a brief rationale for the selection of the material

To maintain regular status as a graduate student, you must perform in the MA at a level comparable to a 3.0 grade point (“B”) average in a conventional master’s program. All MA students must have a grade point average of 3.0 to graduate. If you are admitted with a graduate grade deficiency that can be corrected with a three-hour letter-graded course, the College can arrange to have a reading course included in addition to Interdisciplinary Independent Study. The course would entail paying a separate enrollment fee.

Student Enrollments and Status

Definitions

• Semester-based enrollments: Courses in this category are taught within the dates of the main campus OU schedule of classes. Enrollment is before or at the start of the semester and all assignments must be completed by the end-of-semester dates posted on the OU Academic Calendar here. If students have not completed course assignments by that time, the professor has the option of giving an “F,” an Incomplete or, in some circumstances, an Administrative Withdrawal. If the student receives an “I,” the professor will describe time and work requirements to remove the “I”. The university requires that all “I” grades become permanent after one year.
• Short-term enrollments: The compressed MA on-campus seminars are considered short-term enrollments in that the class may or may not be offered within a given semester or standard term.
• Long-term enrollments: These independent courses are individual enrollments that can begin at any time and are in effect for one calendar year. If the student does not complete the work within a calendar year, then the student can extend all open enrollments for an additional year with the payment of an $83 Records Maintenance Fee.

Status
Your status in the MA program can affect any deferments for previous financial aid. You should check your status with the college if this is a consideration.

Official status is determined according to how long a student has been enrolled in a program step. The status will vary by program option. You are considered to be an active student in the MA program if you complete the formal enrollment procedures and maintain appropriate fee payments. During the first year your status will be “active” and "full-time” if you are enrolled in 15 credit hours of long-term enrollments or 6 hours per semester and 3 summer hours of semester-based enrollments. Completion of 17 hours in the second year of enrollment permits completion of the 32-credit hour degree program in two years. After two years, any student still in the program will be designated as “part-time.”

Students enrolled in long-term program options (Integrated Studies, Health and Human Services) have a twelve-month period to complete the enrollments. These long-term enrollments can be renewed twice (see “Enrollment Extension” below). After a first extension, you will be "half-time;” after a second extension, you will be "less than half-time" or "part-time." Students who have “full-time” rate of progress would complete the MA program in approximately two years.

Students enrolled in semester-based program options (Administrative Leadership, Museum Studies) should enroll in and complete 6 hours per semester and 3 hours in the summer. At this rate of progress would complete the MA program in approximately two years.

Enrollment Extension
You may request a 12-month enrollment extension for the independent study phases of long-term enrollments in the MA program. The general limit is two extensions on Interdisciplinary Independent Study, and one on Thesis, Research Project, Internship or additional coursework. You will pay a records maintenance charge of $83.00 for each 12-month extension. When you enroll for an extension, you cannot be considered as making full-time progress in the MA program.

Transcripts
If at any time during your MA program, or upon completion of the MA degree, you wish to order transcripts of your college work, you should contact Continuing Education Admissions and Records. For transcripts to go to other institutions or individuals, provide Continuing Education Admissions and Records the names and addresses; the transcripts will be sent directly to them. Transcript requests must be in writing and signed. The request must contain your name, social security or other student identification number, dates of attendance, number of copies, where to send, and any special instructions.

Send written and signed transcript requests to the following address:

CCE Transcripts
1700 Asp Avenue
Norman, Oklahoma 73072-6400
Phone: (405)325-1021
FAX: (405)325-7698 or 325-7273