Before enrolling in master's level coursework, students must have successfully completed the appropriate prerequisites. Applicants for most master's programs must have a bachelor's degree and have taken the appropriate Graduate Record Exam. Minimum GPA and GRE scores are also required by schools before you can enroll in a master's program. Depending on the number of specific undergraduate credits or degrees earned, a student may have to complete additional prerequisite courses before enrolling in online programs. Previous coursework should be heavily slanted toward language arts, world and American history and a teaching curriculum, in order to enroll smoothly in a history eduction program.
An online master's program in history typically takes two years of full-time course work to complete. Some condensed and alternative programs can lead students through coursework in as little as 18 months. Master's degree programs in history education include courses in world history, with a heavy emphasis on Western history. Major transformations that have shaped current Western culture, such as the Protestant Reformation and the Industrial Revolution, are common focal points of online study for a master's degree in history education.
A master's degree program culminates as the student writes and defends a thesis. The thesis is expected to add to the current body of knowledge on a subject, and arise from the student's own thinking and research. A master's thesis usually is expected to be 80 to 100 pages in length, and contain at least 30 pages that review current information on a topic before presenting and building a case for the thesis' main conclusion. The thesis is presented before a review panel that questions the student extensively to verify that he has mastered the subject and is qualified to teach it.
The career path most directly related to a master's degree in history education is teaching middle or high school history in public or private schools. The master's degree sets a teacher apart from many of her peers, and will put her at the top of the pile of resumes for job consideration. A master's in history education can also open doors for the graduate to pursue a PhD in history, or history education, which opens the doors to teach at the college level or move toward curating in museums.