Master's Degree
In order to receive the Master's degree, students must submit a Master's Application Form to the Graduate Coordinator by the first week of the quarter you plan to complete the degree. Please reach out to the Graduate Coordinator for the deadline dates in each quarter or refer to the UCSC Administrative Calendar.
Students are not admitted to pursue only the Master’s degree. However, students may after two years of graduate work at UCSC and upon completion of the following course and research paper requirements (below), may be awarded a Master’s degree as part of their studies for the Ph.D.
Graduate students must submit the Master's Application form to the Grad Coordinator by the deadline set on the academic calendar under Announcing Candidacy for Degree/Apply to Graduate. Students will fill out the top portion of the application and submit it to the Grad Coordinator via email. The form is then submitted to the Graduate Division by the Grad Program Coordinator.
Course Requirements for the Master's Degree
Requirements for the Master’s degree (terminal or non-terminal) will include successful completion of the following courses:
PSYC 204: Quantitative Data Analysis
PSYC 214A: Multivariate Statistics
appropriate two-quarter pro-seminar series
one advanced course within the student’s main area in Psychology
one course in one of the other two areas of Psychology
one TAship (preferably a course that meets the TA requirement)
Master's Research Paper/Project
Students must also submit an expanded write-up of their first-year or second-year project. This paper should reflect additional data collection and/or analysis beyond what was submitted for the first-year project, as well as a more comprehensive literature review and discussion of the theoretical implications of the research than was provided in the first-year project. The final draft of the Master’s research paper must be submitted to the student’s advisor and one other faculty member no later than the beginning of the 7th week of the quarter in which the Masters is to be awarded. The title page (or abstract) should be signed off by both readers with the notation that the paper is equivalent to Master’s level work, and then turned in to the psychology graduate program coordinator, by the stated deadline to complete the degree requirements. A sample title page can be found here.
Title page with advisor and second reader signatures must be submitted to the Graduate Program Coordinator. Docusign and electronic signatures are accepted. After student shares title page with Graduate Coordinator, there is no further action needed from the student. Graduate Coordinator will confirm with the Graduate Division that all requirements for the Department have been met and the Master’s degree may be conferred effective the last day of the quarter of application.
Master's Title Page Sample.docx