Tufts University
Department of Mathematics
Requirements for the Master's Degree
The requirements for the Master's degree consist of:
The residence requirement
This requirements is described in the Bulletin.
The course requirement
Basic Requirement:
To qualify for the Master's degree a student completes an approved program of
at least nine (9) courses numbered above 100. At least seven (7)
of these courses must be numbered 136, 146, 158, or above 164.
Distribution Requirement:
For breadth, these nine courses must include at least one course, or a full pass
on the related PhD qualifying exam, from each
of the following categories:
The course work for this requirement must include at least two courses numbered
between 200 and 251 (unless only one course is used, due to oral exam credits,
in which case it must be so numbered).
Any part of this requirement may be fulfilled by equivalent courses
with prior approval by the Mathematics Department Graduate Committee.
Master's students must complete at least two courses (not counting
thesis) each semester until five courses counting towards the degree
are satisfactorily completed, unless this requirement is waived by
the graduate committee.
The capstone requirement
The Master's degree requirements can be completed via either of two options:
Master's Thesis:
Most students not continuing to the PhD program complete their requirements by writing
an expository paper on a specific topic in mathematics under the direction of a member
of the department, and upon completion presenting it before a committee of two or more
faculty members. The writing of the thesis can be counted as two of the nine courses
for the basic course requirement via numbers 295 and 296.
Exam:
Grades awarded on oral exams are under the core
PhD requirement below : full pass, Masters' pass, or fail.
A student who passes all three of the oral qualifying exams at the full or
Masters' level is not required to write a Master's thesis to obtain a Master's
degree. While this is the normal option for students continuing to the PhD program,
it can also be used to complete the MA or MS degree.