Online Master of Arts in Liberal Arts

Total credit hours per program: 36 credit hours

Cost per credit hour: $459

Total cost with fees: $16,524

• Bachelor's degree from a regionally-accredited college or university or the equivalent from a foreign institution*
• Cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 on all undergraduate work (or in the final 60 credit hours) and for any graduate work already completed for regular admission.  GPA between 2.75-3.0 can be reviewed for a probationary admission.
• Resume or CV
• 3 letters of recommendation – professional
  • The recommender should be able to highlight the applicant’s character, work ethic, and professionalism.
  • Written on letterhead and signed if possible.
• No GRE Required.
• Upload unofficial transcripts of all Undergraduate, Graduate or Post Baccalaureate course work in the application if available (Can review on unofficial transcripts).
  • Make sure that you order the official transcripts to be sent to gradtranscripts@lsu.edu 
• Personal Statement
  • Motivation to attend LSU Online' s MALA program, including personal and career goals, your commitment to excellence, and how you believe your prior work experience would attribute to this program.

Additional information about LSU Graduate admission requirements are located here.

Students are free to enroll in any 7000-level course. Students are also free to enroll in any 4000-level course taught by a member of the LSU Graduate Faculty. (For specific guidelines, consult “How the Program Works” below.)

Some students may wish to direct their courses toward a career-focus cluster. If so, consider the following options (please know that the clusters below are only suggestions and can be shifted to suit a student’s interests).

Guidelines

To earn the Master of Liberal Arts (MALA) degree, students must:

• Successfully complete 36 hours of course credit.
• Among those 36 hours, students are required to take two specific courses: LIBA 7000 (offered each First Fall) and LIBA 7900 (offered each First Spring).
• No more than half of the total credit hours may be completed within a single  unit.
• Students may enroll in 4000- or 7000-level courses. However, students cannot take more that 18 hours at the 4000-level.
• All 4000-level courses must be taught by members of the Graduate Faculty. Students can check instructor status here.

Possible Focus Clusters

Some students may want to direct their courses toward a career-focus cluster. If so, consider the following options:

• Leadership (Up to 12 credit hours)
• Sport Management (Up to 12 credit hours)
• Interdisciplinary (Up to 12 credit hours)

As long as the guidelines above are followed, students may take any course for which they are eligible. Please note that some departments may place restrictions on enrollment. If you'd like to give your MALA coursework a particular focus, consider using the suggested Focus Clusters above to guide your course selections.

• Fundraiser
• Public relations specialist
• Human resources specialist
• Training and development specialist
• Writer
• Editor
• Technical writer
• Actuary
• Market research analyst
• Administrator
• Salesperson
• Director of public relations
• Management consultant
• Real estate agent

Students who graduate with a master’s in liberal arts can expect to expand their knowledge around their particular interests and career goals. The program encourages independent-minded students to pursue graduate-level interdisciplinary programs of study, so the curriculum will vary.

Topics covered in this degree could include: 

• Interdisciplinary study in the liberal arts; modes of inquiry in different disciplines, common themes in the humanities and means of integrating these into the whole.
• Major ideas in the liberal arts as reflected in exemplary published studies and student research.
• Principles of workforce education and development programs conducted by business, industry, government and educational institutions at all levels
  Introduction to the theory, methods and practice of organization change and development.
• Policies and practices in the administration of athletic programs in academic settings.
• Examination of the social construction of sport and the systemic issues connected to contemporary sport.
• Data warehousing; use of big data in business; storage and retrieval of data in business; descriptive analytics for business; business intelligence tools.
• Predictive analytics in business; business cases in predictive analytics; data mining use in business; industry solutions for predictive analytics.
• Factors and strategies in contemporary political communication in the U.S.
• Law and social change; evolution of legal institutions; group conflict and law; influence of legal controls and sanctions on human behavior.

Why choose LSU’s online Master of Arts in Liberal Arts?

This online program emphasizes providing individual students with the ability to determine an educational path that best suits them. Because of this, graduates of the degree program will be able to pursue several various careers.

Additionally, we have designed the program to be flexible and convenient, perfect for many types of non-traditional students. With continuous support from our Student Success Coaches and expert instructors, our online master’s degree in liberal arts equips students with the tools for success.