The Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) provides graduate instruction in three areas: arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students in the program obtain advanced skills and knowledge in these areas and an ability to approach problems with an interdisciplinary perspective.

The program is open to students who have completed an undergraduate degree with a minimum 3.0 grade point average.

Of Special Interest for Dual-Credit and Community College Instructors Needing to Meet HLC Standards

The MLS may hold special appeal for community college, dual-credit, or other post-secondary instructors who have completed specialized coursework via an IU Online graduate certificate in biology, communication studies, composition studies, chemistry, history, language and literature, literature, mathematics, political science, or Spanish. As many as 18 to 20 credits from these certificates will apply to MLS degree requirements.

The combination of discipline-specific certificate courses, plus the unique interdisciplinary core and capstone experience of the MLS, will help these instructors integrate new concepts and approaches into their teaching, thereby improving the quality of instruction and learning outcomes for their students.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) requires all high school teachers who teach dual-credit or other college-level courses to hold a master's degree in the field, or to have a master's degree in another area, plus at least 18 credit hours of graduate coursework in the discipline. Because this program enables students to complete a master's degree and discipline-specific coursework, it fulfills this requirement.

Additionally, the program allows students to transfer up to 20 previously earned credits from IU graduate certificate programs. Students who have earned credits from a different accredited college or university may transfer up to 6 credits.

This 100 percent online, consortial program is taught by IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast. This consortial model allows you to take coursework from several campuses and learn from a wide range of faculty.

Degree Requirements

To earn the Master of Liberal Studies students will need to complete 34-36 credit hours of graduate coursework and satisfy the following M.L.S. degree requirements. 

1.  M.L.S. Core (12-13 cr.) to include:

• COAS-Q 510 Topics in Information Literacy (1 cr.)* 
• LIBS/LBST D 501 Humanities Seminar (3 cr.)   
• LIBS/LBST D 502 Social Science Seminar (3 cr.)  
• LIBS/LBST D 503 Science Seminar (3 cr.)  
• LBST-D 510 Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies (3 cr.)

 *(Q510 waived for certificate students by petition)  

2.  M.L.S. Electives (12-20 cr.)

Option A:  Four to Five M.L.S. Elective courses selected from 12-15 cr.

• LIBS/LBST D511 M.L.S. Humanities Elective (3 cr.)  
• LIBS/LBST D512 M.L.S. Social Science Elective (3 cr.) 
• LIBS/LBST D513 M.L.S. Science Elective (3 cr.) 

Option B:  Completion of an approved IU Graduate Certificate (18-20 cr.)

1. Certificate requirements are listed separately in this Bulletin

2. Graduate Certificates approved to stack with the collaborative M.L.S. include:  

• English Composition Studies 
• History 
• Biology 
• Chemistry 
• Communication Studies
• Language and Literature
• Literature
• Mathematics  
• Political Science 
• Spanish 

3.  M.L.S. Capstone Experience/Project (3-9 cr.)

Students complete one of the following approved M.L.S. Capstone Experience/Project options: 

i) Formal Thesis (6-9 cr). Original research or analysis encompassing literature from at least 2 different disciplinary perspectives. The thesis must be written in a scholarly format, with the appropriate citation format and extensive references. The literature review developed for the thesis proposal should serve as the initial component of the thesis. Typical thesis length: 50 or more pages.

Required course sequence for Thesis:  

• LBST-D 601 Graduate Project Proposal Seminar or LIBS-D 601 M.L.S. Project Proposal Seminar (3 cr) 
• LBST-D 602/LIBS-D 602 Graduate Project or LBST-D 604 Thesis (3-6 cr) 

ii) Peer-Reviewed Publication. Students may focus their capstone project work on a peer-reviewed publication in a peer-reviewed publication in a professional forum. Examples include articles in professional journals, investigative journalism published in a major newspaper, or a book published by a reputable press. The publication must be accompanied by an explanatory essay encompassing material from at least 2 different disciplinary perspectives. The essay must be written in scholarly format, with appropriate citation format and appropriate references. The literature review developed for the thesis proposal may serve as the basis of the explanatory essay. Typical length of explanatory essay: 20 to 35 pages.  

Required course sequence for Peer-Reviewed Publication:

• LBST-D 601 Graduate Project Proposal Seminar or LIBS-D 601 M.L.S. Project Seminar (3 cr) 
• LBST-D 602/LIBS-D 602 Graduate Project (3-6 cr) 

iii) Creative Project. Students who are focusing their M.L.S. program on a creative field may complete a creative project for their M.L.S. thesis. Creative work may include writing, art, performance, etc. The creative work must be accompanied by an explanatory essay encompassing material from at least 2 different disciplinary perspectives. The essay must be written in scholarly format, with appropriate citation format and appropriate references. The literature review developed for the thesis proposal may serve as the basis of the explanatory essay. Typical length of explanatory essay: 20 to 35 pages.   

Required course sequence for Creative Project:  

• LBST-D 601 Graduate Project Proposal Seminar or LIBS-D 601 M.L.S. Project Proposal Seminar (3 cr) 
• LBST-D 602/LIBS-D 602 Graduate Project (3-6 cr) 

iv) Applied Project. Students may focus their research project on their current place of employment, internship, or practicum. The applied project should be designed to benefit both the student and the employer and can be focused narrowly on a specific issue or problem relevant to the employer. Complete literature review and effectively designed method will support the value of the project. Typical length: 50 or more pages.  

Required course for Applied Project:

• LBST-D/LIBS-D 602 Graduate Project (3 cr) 

v) Public Intellectual Project. The Public Intellectual option offers students the opportunity to work within a learning community made up of other students and led by a faculty facilitator to explore the variety of genre through which public intellectuals communicate, and to create their own portfolio of public intellectual work to be submitted for completion of the M.L.S. degree.  

Required Course for Public Intellectual Project:

• LBST-D 600 Public Intellectual Practicum (3 cr)