Future Graduate Students
The College of Arts & Letters prepares transformative scholars in the Arts & Humanities. We aim to lead the world in providing inclusive, global, digital, and interdisciplinary graduate education in the Arts & Humanities.
Engaging: Graduate Education
The Arts & Letters Difference
- Outperforming national averages in key metrics such as time to degree and graduate placement.
- Student-Centered, offering full funding to our terminal degree students for 3-5 years paired with rich mentoring and professional development support.
- Diverse, with a demographic profile that matches the U.S. national percentages.
- Small & agile, with an average terminal degree yearly cohort size of less than five students.
- Producing the next generation of leaders in the arts & humanities; a group that will positively impact the lives of millions of students to come.
Julio Cesar Paredes
PhD Candidate
Department of Romance and Classical Studies
Kristen Franyutti
MFA Candidate
Department of Art, Art History, and Design
About Our Programs
- A rich curriculum that includes significant faculty engagement and innovative co-mentoring experiences.
- Graduate assistantships and fellowship funding to students throughout the degree period and supplemental research/professional support.
- A strong, focused program mission tied to innovative research in their disciplines.
- Graduate students with PhDs in less than 5 years and MFAs in 3 years.
- Place 100% of graduates.
- Recruit diverse cohorts.
- Attract internationally competitive students who earn university fellowships at an accelerated rate.
Master's Programs
Important Updates:
Admissions for most College of Arts & Letters graduate programs are paused for the 2026–27 academic year. This is part of a proactive effort to align the college academic and financial planning with university-wide goals.
Programs that will still be admitting students during 2026–27 include:
- M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise
- M.A. in Foreign Language Teaching
- M.A. in Arts, Cultural Management & Museum Studies
- M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Graduate admissions for all other College of Arts & Letters programs will resume in fall 2026 for the 2027–28 academic year. This temporary pause reflects our commitment to ensuring the long-term strength and stability of our graduate programs.
If you have questions or would like more information, please visit Graduate Admissions Pause Information Page or contact the graduate program you are interested in using the links below.
African American and African Studies
Arts & Cultural Management
Critical Studies in Literacy and Pedagogy
Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing
Foreign Language Policy
French
German Studies
Global Nonprofit Leadership
Hispanic Literatures
Linguistics
Literature in English
Spanish as a Second or Bilingual Language
Studio Art
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Theatre
PhD Programs
African American and African Studies
English
French, Language and Literature
German Studies
Hispanic Cultural Studies
Linguistics
Philosophy
Rhetoric and Writing
Second Language Studies
Master's Programs
PhD Programs
Certifications
Graduate certificates offer focused and relatively short (3 courses/9 credit) experiences for students who want to build expertise and experience in cross and inter-disciplinary areas. Some can be pursued as short, stand-alone experiences and all can be done as additions to another graduate program.
Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities
Graduate Certificate in Film Studies
Graduate Certificate in Global Studies
Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies
Graduate College Teaching Certification Program
Graduate College Foreign Language Teaching Certification Program
The Graduate School at MSU
The Graduate School provides complete information on programs and application procedures.