The Master of Arts degree in Sociology provides advanced study in sociological theory and methods of research with a variety of subject matter emphases that students plan with a graduate advisor. The program prepares students for doctoral studies, teaching at the secondary or community college level, or working in a professional capacity in government agencies or private organizations. Three Culminating Experience options are offered. Option A requires a thesis;  Option B requires a comprehensive examination; and Option C requires a portfolio.

Admission to the Program

Fall is the admission  term for the MA Program in Sociology. In addition to the university application, students who graduated from a school other than CSULA must submit copies of their official transcripts directly to the Sociology Department. Students will be accepted until the deadlines established by the university for Fall term admissions. The Sociology Department has two admissions requirements in addition to University requirements. One admission requirement is a prerequisite GPA of 3.0 or better in a set of nine specified prerequisite courses or their equivalents.

Prerequisites to admission are course equivalents to SOC 2010 , 2100 , 3100  either 3900  or 3910 , 4120 , and the four other most recently completed, upper-division* sociology courses not including independent supervision courses. Satisfactory equivalents will be determined by  the Graduate Studies Committee in sociology. Applicants must have achieved a grade point average of 3.0 in this coursework. Applicants must also achieve a GPA of 2.75 or above in an additional 24 semester units of upper-division coursework* in the undergraduate program in addition to meeting university requirements for admission to graduate study.

* (If more than 24 additional upper-division semester units of coursework have been completed, those courses least relevant to the Sociology MA Program will be omitted from the GPA calculation).