The Art Department offers a 4+1 program leading to the BA and MA in Art History. This program is intended primarily for outstanding undergraduate majors at Tulane who are eager to continue their study of art history beyond the BA but either do not intend to pursue the PhD or are not yet ready to do so. Students in the program take more advanced courses as undergraduates, and graduate with 126 credits. They then continue as graduate students for the fifth year, writing a thesis over the course of that year. Students in the 4+1 program then emerge with the BA and MA. They may then go to other universities for the PhD but may not pursue the PhD at Tulane.

Application

1. The student must have an undergraduate major in Art History and a minimum GPA of 3.0 overall and 3.25 in the major by the fall semester of their junior year in order to be considered for acceptance. 
2. The student should apply for the 4+1 program by January 10th of the student's junior year. 
3. Applicants complete an online application form available from the Graduate School and submit it along with the application fee. 
4. No GRE scores or official transcripts are required. However, a statement of purpose is required, as are two letters of recommendation and a writing sample, such as a term paper.
5. The student is required to complete the normal course and distributional requirements for the BA. Once the student is accepted into the 4+1 program, their performance in seminar is expected to be at the graduate level, often writing more substantive papers. In the junior and senior years, the student will be expected to take the three required art history seminars at the 6000 level for the BA degree. Two of these higher-level courses may count toward fulfilling the MA requirement.
6. Students will also need to take two additional 6000/7000 level seminar courses in art history that do not count towards the BA degree and graduate with 126 credits. These two courses are then credited toward the MA degree. 
7. The MA requires 30 credits hours (8 courses at the 6000 or 7000 level and 2 thesis-writing independent studies), plus a thesis. The student, having taken 12 credits (4 classes) at the 6000 and 7000 level as an undergraduate, in addition to having graduated with 126 credits, would typically take 3 graduate-level courses and a thesis-writing independent study in the fall semester of the fifth year, one graduate-level course and a thesis-writing independent study in the spring, and finish the thesis. The student will have to satisfy the (slightly different) distribution requirements of both the BA and MA programs.
8. The student must satisfy the graduate foreign language requirement by the end of the senior year. This means that the student should take a translation exam in the area most relevant his or her area of specialization.

Costs

There is no financial aid available for the fifth year of the 4+1 program. However reduced tuition is offered. This amount is found on the tuition and fee schedule for graduate programs in the School of Liberal Arts. 

If you have any questions regarding admission into the 4+1 MA program, please check our Graduate Admissions page or our Frequently Asked Questions section.

To check on the receipt of your application, please email Molly LeBlanc, mleblan7@tulane.edu.

For other questions about the program requirements or application process, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Barbara E. Mundy, bmundy@tulane.edu.

[revised 06/06/2024]