Guide to Adding a Master's Degree

Please check out the Guide to Adding a Master's Degree document. The steps are as follows:

Eligibility Before Beginning

Students must have completed the following to be eligible for the Economics MA Plan B:

• Complete at least 30 coursework credits 

• Pass four written preliminary exams at the Master’s level or the PhD level

Once you are eligible, you can submit the paperwork to add an MA. It takes at least a semester to process so please plan accordingly. 

All students can apply for the MA degree, but international students should especially consider it unless they already have a Master’s degree from another U.S. university. A Master’s degree from an American university may help in applying for an H1-B visa, and be useful for the job market.

Complete Add MA Form

Fill out the top portion of the Add a Master’s Degree to Doctoral Program (GPAS) form:

• University ID, University email, Student name

• Current doctoral program: Economics PhD

• Master’s plan type: Plan B

• Last term registered, Term proposed for change to take place

• Applicant signature and date

Submit the form via email to the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) Hannah Trumm, trumm011@umn.edu. The GPC will obtain the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) signature for section 3 and submit the form to GSSP for processing. The form normally takes a week to process. Your MA status will not be active until the term designated on your form.

Update MA Advisor

Once the Master’s is active, you must update your advisor. It can be the same as your PhD advisor or different. Be sure to get approval from the faculty advisor so they are prepared for the MA form processing later on. Email the GPC, trumm011@umn.edu, to request an MA advisor update once you have faculty approval.

Submit MA GPAS

You must designate courses for your MA Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS). GPAS is located in MyU under Academics in the Degree Progress tab. There is a GPAS link at the bottom.

You cannot use courses with K grades or any current courses you are taking. Please reference the Economics MA program requirements in the University catalog for allowable courses. If the class is not on the list of courses in the catalog, the DGS will have to approve a GPAS exception to use the course.

For a full guide on how to submit a GPAS, please check out the One Stop GPAS page.

Assign Exam Committee

After your MA GPAS is approved, you need to assign a final exam committee consisting of 3 faculty members. All 3 members can be from the Economics department, with your MA Advisor serving as chair of your committee.

Once all have figured out your committee, you can complete the online form (https://z.umn.edu/MastersFinalExamCommittee) to record your committee. You will need to know the internet ID or employee ID for all your committee members, which can be found in the University Directory.

Note: There is no formal meeting for the exam process since the department recognizes the written prelims as the work needed for the Economics MA. The theory prelims count as the final exam and the field prelims as the capstone project needed for the Economics MA. The milestones needed to complete the MA are processed without a formal meeting for the oral exam. 

Apply to Graduate

Once your committee is approved, you must apply to graduate. You must apply to graduate no later than the first day of the month of anticipated graduation. Go to the Academics tab in MyU and select the Degree Progress tab. Click on the Apply to Graduate Link. 

The steps to apply to graduate can be found on the One Stop Graduation Steps page. 

Initiate Final Exam Form

Initiate the Masters Final Exam Report form (https://z.umn.edu/FinalExamForm) which the chair of the committee, your advisor, must sign. You need to put down a date for the oral, which there is no formal meeting for. Write in a date 2-3 days ahead. Make sure your advisor knows the form will be emailed to them and that they need to fill it out.

Chair Submits Final Exam Form

Once the chair of your committee, your advisor, has submitted the Final Exam form, you will be notified by GSSP (via Workflow, wfgen-nr@umn.edu) of the results. Make sure you have received the email and have completed all the necessary steps to completing your MA degree.

Diploma

If you want a physical diploma, make sure you have an updated address in MyU. The diploma will be mailed 4-6 weeks after the degree has been awarded. A digital diploma will be available 1-2 weeks after the degree has been awarded. For more information, check out the One Stop Diploma page.

Additional Resources

GSSP page: https://onestop.umn.edu/academics/grad-and-professional 

Degree Completion Steps: Master’s Plan B: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JIRni_T1rwXIjKDpba7Oy-b5_PuJoTJ8oWc2BmtkM_s/edit#heading=h.i5u05j5c106h