The Master of Arts in Library and Information Science requires 36 semester hours of graduate credit with a grade of 3.0 or above in all coursework applied towards the degree where a letter grade is assigned, and the successful completion of a career development portfolio or thesis.

In order to finish in 2 years, typically, students will take 9 semester hours (s.h.) per semester, which is considered full-time for graduate students.

The 36 semester hours include 15 hours earned in core courses and 21 hours of SLIS elective coursework. With the 21 semester hours, you can choose to specialize in an area of your choosing, be a generalist, and/or get one of our certificates.

The SLIS curriculum is structured in two categories, building from a common curriculum into your chosen area of specialized concentration. You can choose to specialize in a certain area or you can choose more of a well-rounded, general coursework.

The first category consists of five core courses which provide a solid grounding for all successive course work:

For Students who entered the program in Fall 21 or earlier:

  • Cultural Foundations (SLIS:5010)
  • ​Conceptual Foundations (SLIS:5030)
  • Computing Foundations (SLIS:5020)
  • Evidence-Based Practice in LIS (SLIS:6110) OR Organizational Management (SLIS:6170)
  • Information and Inquiry (SLIS:6115)

For Students who enter the program in Fall 22 or after:

  • Cultural Foundations (SLIS:5010)
  • ​Conceptual Foundations (SLIS:5030)
  • Management, Teams, and Leadership (SLIS:6170)
  • Information and Inquiry (SLIS:6115)
  • A computing foundations course, choose ONE of the following
    • Foundations of Computing (SLIS:5020)
    • Digital Environments (SLIS:6140)
    • Metadata Theories and Applications (SLIS:6335)
    • Media Production Workshop (SLIS:6040)

The second category is composed of SLIS elective coursework, allowing you to focus on your area of professional specialization. Select seven courses, or 21 s.h., from the elective category. For a complete list of electives, please download this chart. For course descriptions, please go to the General Catalog descriptions.

For a sample plan of study for your on-campus MA in Library and Information Science, please go to the General Catalog - SLIS page.