MA Linguistics at University of California, Los Angeles

Programme overview

The program as a whole is intended to lead to a PhD degree, and admits only applicants who have this goal. Internally, however, the program consists of two stages, an MA stage and a PhD stage. All students are required to earn the MA degree in Linguistics at UCLA as a prerequisite to doctoral advancement to candidacy, even if the student has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study.

Faculty: College of Letters and Science | Department: Linguistics | Study mode: full-time | Intake: Fall Exceptions only in special cases. | Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States

What you will study

Areas of study: Consult the department. The master's degree requires the completion of nine courses (36 units) in linguistics taken for a letter grade. Each course must be passed with a grade C or better and students must maintain a cumulative ‘B’ (3.0) grade point average in all courses. All students are required to take Linguistics 200A, 200B, 200C and two of 201A, 201B, 201C.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Application deadline: December 10, 2026. GRE: Not required. Letters of recommendation: 3, from scholars under whom the applicant has studied. In addition to the University's minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are expected to submit a statement of purpose that includes their background for graduate study in linguistics and immediate and long-range goals in the field, and a copy of a research paper or other piece of writing in linguistics or a closely related field. Applicants who previously received an M.A. in Linguistics from another department or institution, and matriculate into UCLA's Department of Linguistics graduate program are required to fulfill all the requirements of the UCLA Linguistics M.A. program, including the course work.

Most graduate departments and schools have deadlines in November and early December for the following fall term.

Graduate application fee: $135 for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, $155 for all other applicants, $200 for the Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific, Master of Financial Engineering and MS in Business Analytics; nonrefundable, paid by card with the online Application for Graduate Admission.

Executive MBA: rolling admission for fall entry; Round 1 December 1, 2026, Round 2 February 1, 2027, Round 3 May 1, 2027; application fee $200.

Apply through the official page: https://grad.ucla.edu/admissions/steps-to-apply/

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