Admission to the NSS Program

In addition to the general requirements of the university, specific requirements for admission to classified graduate status are:

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; 

2. Satisfy the National Security Studies graduate admissions committee that sufficient preparation and a satisfactory course of study has been pursued in preparation for graduate study. The committee will notify individual applicants if the GRE General Test is required; (If the test is required and the GRE test results are not received in time for the entry term, admission will be in conditionally classified graduate standing.)

3. A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of at least 2.5 overall and at least 3.0 ("B") in the student's undergraduate major;

4. Completion of the graduate entrance writing requirement;

5. Competence in the following prerequisite courses or their equivalents:

MATH 110. College Algebra
PSCI 203. American Government
PSCI 484. National Security Policy (prerequisite for the core courses)

Competence in these areas may be demonstrated by:

A. Formal completion of the course or its equivalent, or

B. Credit by examination (not applicable to PSCI 484: National Security Policy);

6. Submission to the National Security Studies Admissions Committee of a brief statement (one or two double-spaced typewritten pages) of the student's preparation for graduate study and professional aspirations following receipt of the master's degree;

7. Submission of three letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with the student's academic or professional work and potential to complete the program successfully. Letters must come directly from the writer on National Security Studies forms.

Students who meet the requirements for admission to graduate study, but who do not meet the program requirements, may be admitted to graduate study in unclassified post baccalaureate status or to the program in conditionally classified graduate standing. When the specified deficiencies are removed, student status is changed from conditionally classified to classified. (Unclassified post baccalaureate students may enroll, when space is available, in selected graduate courses.) No more than 20 quarter units of national security studies course work taken as an unclassified or conditionally classified graduate student may be applied to the program as a classified graduate student.

Advancement to Candidacy

To be advanced to candidacy, a student must have:

1. Achieved classified status;

2. Selected a graduate advisor to supervise the course of study;

3. Completed at least 16 quarter units of national security studies program course work at this university, and achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 ("B") in those courses;

4. Filed a graduate program approved by the student's advisor, the national security studies program director and the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Requirements for Graduation

1. A minimum of 46 quarter units of acceptable graduate-level work, with at least 36 quarter units completed in residence at California State University, San Bernardino. Thirty-two quarter units must be in 600-level courses;

2. A grade point average of at least 3.0 ("B") in all national security studies program courses taken;

3. Choose Option A or B:

A. Completion of acceptable comprehensive final written and oral examinations;
B. Completion and defense of an original master's thesis;

4. The graduation writing requirement will be satisfied by achieving a minimum grade point average of 3.0 ("B") in all three core courses. Each core course will allow the student to develop competence in three forms of writing traditional to the field:

A. Critical book reviews (PSCI 600),
B. Chapter length essay (PSCI 601),
C. Article length essay (PSCI 602) and the process of "peer review;"

5. Any additional general requirements not cited above and listed on Page 329.

Classified graduate students in the Master of Arts program must complete their degree requirements within five years of admission to the program. Students in classified status who fail to register for at least one course in the program each quarter will automatically be declassified.

PSCI 698. Continuous Enrollment for Graduate Candidacy Standing must be taken if another course is not taken during a given quarter.

The instructor in each 600-level course will complete an evaluation of each student's performance and potential to complete the program successfully. These evaluations will be reviewed by the program director and maintained in the student's file for early consultation with the student about his or her future prospects in the program.

The Master of Arts in National Security Studies is a thesis option course of study requiring either written and oral comprehensive examinations (to be taken in the last quarter of program course work) or a thesis. Students with less than a 3.0 grade point average in the program will not be permitted to take the examinations or propose a thesis. All students are required to take the prerequisite and core courses. In addition, students are required to select a Regional Field

(e.g. Eurasia, Middle East) or a Functional Field (e.g. Terrorism, Intelligence, etc.) to be arranged between faculty advisor and student, and approved by the NSS Director.

Comprehensive Examination

Comprehensive examinations must be taken in the core and the regional field or functional field. The comprehensive examination committee for each candidate will consist of the core advisor, the advisor of the field and a third faculty member from the department. The examinations will be graded credit/no credit.

An oral examination by the student's committee follows successful completion of the written examination. The oral examination is open for public attendance, but not participation. Should the candidate fail one or more written or oral examination areas, the entire oral or written examination may be repeated one time after remedial course work or study is completed. The scope and deadline for completion of this remedial work will be determined by the student's examination committee at a post-examination conference.

Students must enroll in the Political Science Comprehensive Examination, PSCI 999.

Thesis

The criteria for determining who will be allowed to choose the thesis option will be determined by the proposed thesis committee. Students are still required to develop a course of study consistent with the core and one field, as noted above. After completion of a minimum of 30 quarter units, the student will request three faculty to form a preliminary committee, at least two of whom have instructed a course that the student has taken in the program.