Thank you for your interest in the Sociology program at UNC Charlotte. We offer a Master’s degree that prepares students for future doctoral work and applied positions. Our areas of expertise include Social Psychology, Education, Social Stratification, Organizations, Health Research, Social Movements, Social Networks, Mathematical Sociology, Evolutionary Sociology, Social Theory, and Public Policy.
We have recruited students from a wide array of disciplines and institutions, including California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, Davidson College, Emory University, North Carolina State University, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Trenton State.
Our graduates have gone on to study in doctoral programs at Albany, Duke University, the University of Delaware, Indiana University at Bloomington, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, Stanford, and Vanderbilt University, among others. Our students have also enrolled in doctoral programs in Organizational Science and in Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Additionally, we have been very successful at placing our students in corporate and governmental research positions.
The relatively small size of our Department allows us to devote substantial energy to our Master’s students. We are accepting applications from highly motivated students who are searching for a stepping stone into a doctoral program or who are interested in a research career outside of academia.
an acceptable score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The average score for students enrolled in the program is 1160 (combined quantitative and verbal) for those who took the GRE using the old scoring system, and 302 for those using the new scoring system. The average Department analytical writing score is 4.1 for both exams.
completed a minimum of 18 hours of undergraduate course work in the social sciences, including social theory; and demonstrated undergraduate competence in research methods and statistics.
The Department offers a limited number of teaching and research assistantships on a competitive basis. We also offer tuition remission to a limited number of students. Some of our assistantships include teaching quantitative analysis and social research methods labs. Lab instructors enhance their teaching skills by developing lab assignments and using their own grading criteria. Instructors also work collaboratively with professors to ensure the lab assignments complement class lectures.
Students can also get involved in research assistantship opportunities, such as working in the Sociology Group Processes Lab, or with the School Reform Research Team. Research assistants in the Group Processes Lab supervise lab operations, which include interviewing and debriefing subjects. In addition, some students have the opportunity to work as a graduate assistant. A graduate assistant helps professors grade exams, maintain records, and even lecture!