Application Process
I. Funding Opportunities for Applicants
III. Admission Timetable and Deadlines
I. Funding Opportunities for Applicants
There are no funding opportunities offered directly through the Security Studies program. All applicants must anticipate self-funding their entire education. We realize this places an undue hardship on certain applicants; as such, we encourage these applicants to seek out programs at other universities which are better able to support their students.
There are some graduate funding opportunities offered by the Graduate School and other units at K-State.
II. Admissions Standards
Kansas State University is committed to upholding rigorous admissions standards for the Security Studies graduate degree programs. All applications are subject to approval by a joint History-Political Science admissions committee. Admission to the Security Studies program is highly competitive. Applicants with a GPA under 3.00 on a four-point scale will need very strong qualities in other areas (such as research or professional experience) to gain admission; at the same time, a GPA of 3.00 or above does not provide a guarantee of admission.
Admission is even more competitive at the Ph.D. level (a Masters Degree is required); applicants must clearly demonstrate that they are well prepared for Ph.D. level work. Preparedness is exhibited from a combination of these elements: one’s Masters transcript(s), letters of recommendation from professors at the Masters level, writing sample, and (if desired) GRE scores.
The admissions committee is seeking to admit applicants that already possess, or demonstrate the potential to develop, certain core competencies — including analytical reasoning, verbal and other language abilities, familiarity with social science and humanities methodologies and literature, advanced communication skills, and foreign language ability. All application materials should speak to one or more of those core competencies. The admissions committee will assess each set of application materials as a whole, attempting to balance any particular aspect with all other aspects of the application file.
Ph.D. applicants’ fit with our program: The Ph.D. program receives a very large number of applications and admits only a fraction of applicants. Our program has the capacity to admit only those whose research interests closely align with those of our full-time faculty members. When applying, please include your plans for working with a particular faculty member and discuss your prior correspondence with this faculty member in your Statement of Objectives.
III. Admission Timetable and Deadlines
There are only three application review periods each year, with deadlines in January, May and August. However, depending on your desired academic program and your citizenship/residency status, your application will be reviewed only in certain cycles:
- All international applicants (non-U.S. citizens without residency permits) must apply only in the January period. This is true for both M.A. and Ph.D. applicants.
- All Ph.D. applicants with U.S. citizenship or residency may apply either in the January or the May application periods.
- All M.A. applicants with U.S. citizenship or residency may apply in any of the three application periods. If you intend to apply in August, note that there is very little time between the application deadline and the start of the Fall semester (about two weeks). Thus, all M.A. applicants intending to apply in August should contact the Security Studies program as soon as possible.
All applicants admitted to either the M.A. or Ph.D. program will begin their studies in the following Fall semester. For U.S. citizens or permanent residents, there may be an opportunity to take one or two courses in the Summer or Spring semesters prior to beginning the program in the Fall, but this must be arranged in advance and individually with the program’s administrators.
IV. How to Apply
All of the application materials described below will be submitted in electronic form through the KSU Graduate School's online application system. Note: If you plan to attend courses online via Zoom please use the "online" option on the application form.
See the Graduate School's applications webpage
We request the following materials from all applicants to our graduate degree programs. It is possible for the Graduate Admissions Committee to make a decision based on less than complete materials, but the likelihood of admittance is much greater for those whose applications are complete. For questions about application materials, applicants should email the Security Studies program at securstu@ksu.edu or call Monica Macfarlane in the Political Science Department at 785-532-6842.
1. The "Statement of Objectives" form. Note that Ph.D. applicants are expected to detail their proposed dissertation topics, which faculty member(s) they intend to have direct their dissertation research, and details of the correspondence they have had with said faculty member(s). (Word) (PDF)
2. Three letters of recommendation. At least two of the three letters should be from those who can speak authoritatively to your potential to succeed in graduate studies in an academic context. Ph.D. applicants should include letters from professors in their Masters program in their submissions.
3. An official transcript from each academic institution you have attended (including Kansas State University, if applicable) since high school. A Masters Degree is required for Ph.D. applicants.
4. A writing sample. This should be between ten and thirty pages and representative of your best scholarly work. Term papers, thesis chapters, and copies of published articles are all examples of acceptable writing samples.
5. GRE Scores**
a. M.A. program: Official reports of Graduate Record of Examination (GRE) test scores are recommended but not required. **For applicants with a GPA below 3.0 at the institution at which they earned their bachelor's degree, GRE scores are particularly important in meeting the GPA requirements for admission to the KSU Graduate School.
b. Ph.D. program: Graduate Record of Examination (GRE) test scores are not required. However, they may help provide evidence of readiness for Ph.D. level work, especially when other sources of such evidence (Masters transcripts, letters of recommendation from Masters professors, writing sample) are not univocally positive.
6. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit an official report of their scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). These requirements may be waived for applicants who have earned a degree from a college or university in the United States not more than two years before the time of application.
7. The fee for U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. is $65.00. The program is unable to offer any waivers from this fee.
The fee for international applicants (individuals who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the U.S.) is $75.00. The program is unable to offer any waivers from this fee.
How do I pay my application fee?
On the payment page, you can pay your application fee by debit/credit card or check (note that electronic checks must be from US bank accounts only).
Note: Once payment is authorized, your application is final, and you can no longer make changes to it.
How secure is my payment transaction?
Your debit/credit card information is encrypted during transmission from your browser to our server and during payment authorization. None of your debit/credit card information is stored in our database.
Please be advised that all materials submitted become the property of the Security Studies program of Kansas State University and will not be returned or forwarded.