Master of Arts in Constitutional Government, Civics, and Law | Center for Constitutional Studies

Apply for an M.A. in Constitutional Government, Civics & Law

Applications submitted by April 1, 2024, for the 2024–2025 cohort are now being reviewed.

Deadlines for the 2025–2026 school year will be posted soon.

Overview

Application for the 2025–2026 cohort will open later this year for for the Master of Arts in Constitutional Government, Civics & Law (MACGCL). Classes begin in June each year, and students can complete the program in as few as 14 months.

Students in the MACGCL program explore either a Teaching or Research Track in specific content areas related to the U.S. Constitution and the American political system. With program support from Oxford University, this degree is for teachers in K–12 schools or researchers preparing for doctoral studies in law, history, or political science.

Teaching Track

Instruction for the Teaching Track is delivered as follows:

Two weeks of in-person, on-campus classes at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah (first-year summer session)
The in-person class (CGCL 6100) meets at UVU in late June–early July. It is 37.5 hours of in-person instruction spread out over two weeks (about 4 hours per day).
Online instruction during the academic year (August–April)
Two weeks of in-person, on-campus classes at Pembroke College, Oxford University (second-year summer session)

The program prepares those on the Teaching Track for success in work by enhancing both their teaching abilities and their professional compensation.

Research Track

The Research track's schedule will mirror that of the Teaching Track except that the Oxford experience will last four weeks instead of two.

The program prepares those on the Research Track for success in work by making them more competitive applicants and more successful doctoral students in J.D. and Ph.D. programs.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 30 credit hours required for completion (21 hours of required courses, 9 hours of electives). Details on courses and a sample degree map here.

Course Descriptions

Find descriptions of specific courses here.

Summer 2024 Course Offerings

See course offerings here.

Tuition

Utah-resident tuition: $11,760* (for the entire 30-credit program)
Utah-nonresident tuition: $19,368* (for the entire 30-credit program)

*Does not include fees. Tuition projections are based on rates for the 2023–2024 school year.

More tuition details.

Application Instructions

To apply for MACGCL, applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 hours of their bachelor’s-degree program, and submit the following application materials:

Graduate-admissions essay
Resume or curriculum vitae
Writing sample (if applying for the Research Track)
Prior-degree transcripts
One to three professional or academic letters of recommendation

Pembroke College Oxford

About the MACGCL

The Master of Arts in Constitutional Government, Civics, and Law (MACGCL) is offered by the Center for Constitutional Studies through the School of Education at Utah Valley University.

The program is also affiliated with Pembroke College, Oxford University, and has two areas of concentration: Teaching and Research.

The Teaching Track enhances an individual’s ability to teach social studies in K–12 public and private schools and in community colleges.

The Research Track prepares individuals to pursue doctoral studies in constitutional law, history, or political science.

Both tracks focus on the foundations of the American political system through close readings of key texts in American constitutional and political history.

Instructor and student at Center for Constitutional Studies