Who should consider an M.A. program in philosophy? Three categories of students who ultimately want to get a Ph.D. and pursue an academic career might benefit from such programs:

(i) students whose undergraduate major was not philosophy;

(ii) students who majored in philosophy at universities with philosophy departments outside the mainstream of the profession; and

(iii) students who majored in philosophy, have a solid grounding in the various areas of philosophy, but who studied philosophy at smaller colleges and universities, or at institutions with weak academic reputations (students should consult their departments to find out whether graduates of their schools have been able to gain admittance to Ph.D. programs of their choice).

Students in each category may be both qualified and able to get into the Ph.D. programs of their choice; but students who fit into one of these categories may be more likely to have trouble getting into Ph.D. programs and may be good candidates to benefit from M.A. programs.

A good M.A. program will provide many benefits: it will allow a student to get a basic grounding in philosophy or expand the breadth of her existing knowledge; to develop increased familiarity with current debates in philosophy; to prepare and polish written work in philosophy that will be useful in the applications process for Ph.D. programs; and to get to know some established philosophers who can then provide meaningful letters of recommendation for Ph.D. programs.

Of programs that offer the M.A. as the highest graduate degree, the top programs (in terms of faculty quality) are:

1.Tufts University

2.University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

2.Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

4.Northern Illinois University

4.Texas A&M University

4.University of Houston

4.University of Missouri, St. Louis

8.Georgia State University

8.Western Michigan University

Tufts, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Northern Illinois have the oldest and perhaps best-known programs. The above ranking is based only on faculty quality. So, e.g., some Georgia State students have complained that there were more religious studies offerings than philosophy offerings in some semesters, despite the strength of the philosophy faculty (something prospective students should investigate).

Let me emphasize, too, that all these programs boast strong faculties. Of the several dozen schools that offer a terminal M.A., these schools have the best (largely) "analytic" faculties with strengths in the "core" areas and/or moral/political philosophy and/or history of philosophy. Other M.A. programs not noted here do have particular strengths, e.g., Colorado State University in applied ethics. But the programs ranked here generally have faculties that compare favorably with existing PhD programs; indeed, the schools ranked 1-8 are probably stronger than any non-ranked PhD program in terms of faculty quality. Students should, however, investigate the success of all MA programs in placing their students in top Ph.D. programs.

Many Ph.D. programs also admit M.A. students. Students should be more wary of the M.A. programs at schools in roughly the top 25 that grant the PhD: often M.A. students take a back seat to the Ph.D. students (in terms of faculty attention), and students with weak philosophy backgrounds may find the pace and level of seminars geared to Ph.D. students daunting. Students considering M.A. programs in top-ranked Ph.D.-granting institutions should investigate the situation of M.A. students at the school carefully before enrolling. However, some Ph.D. programs that are less highly ranked, but still have strong faculties, may in fact turn out to be good choices for the MA.