Graduate Opportunities

Graduate Study:

Up to twenty midshipmen a year are selected to begin their graduate degree under the VGEP program (Voluntary Graduate Education Program) while they are still at the Naval Academy.  They take graduate courses at local universities during their second semester in 1/C year, then stay on in a TAD status to finish their graduate degree in the fall.  On average, two History majors per year are accepted into the VGEP program.  To be eligible, you need a CQPR of 3.2 or higher with no F's and a military conduct record of B or better in the 2/C and 1/C years.  In addition, you must be ahead of the matrix so that all (or most) of your USNA graduation requirements are completed by the end of your fall semester 1/C year.  For more information see the Senior Advisor in the History Department.

Other Graduate School Opportunities:

The History major at the Naval Academy prepares you to enter a wide variety of graduate programs, quite independent of the formal programs offered by the institution.  Obviously graduate work in History is a possibility for those who are interested (and more than a few USNA History majors have gone on to become History professors, including one who is a professor here).  But in addition, USNA History majors have been successful in Law School, and M.B.A. programs as well as programs in Public Policy, Public Administration, and a wide variety of other graduate programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences.  The combination of analytical skills and writing ability along with your background in technical core courses makes USNA History majors both desirable and successful in graduate programs of all kinds.