The Stony Brook Linguistics Department, in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a leading center for research and training in all areas of modern linguistics. The Department offers graduate training that leads to the M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics, the M.A. in Computational Linguistics, and the M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
The department has a long-standing focus on theoretical linguistics, with core research areas in syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, phonetics, and language acquisition, and particular strength in Computational Linguistics. Departmental research includes both theoretical issues --- how the human language capacity is organized --- and computational ones -- how language is processed and computed by humans and what the computational complexity of natural language is. In addition to the full range of theoretical and computational areas of linguistics, faculty have expertise in a wide range of languages/language areas including, East Asian, Germanic, Romance, Semitic, Slavic and signed languages.
The M.A. in Theoretical Linguistics is a stand-alone 30 credit degree in all core areas of linguistic theory designed to give students an opportunity to carry out graduate work in linguistics in preparation for a doctoral degree in Linguistics, or other career.
*Price shown is for indicative purposes, please check with institution
August 2025
Stony Brook University
100 Nicolls Road,
STONY BROOK,
New York,
11794, Northeast, United States
*Price shown is for indicative purposes, please check with institution
January 2025
College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Linguistics
Stony Brook University,
100 Nicolls Road,
STONY BROOK,
New York,
11794, United States
For admission to all graduate program in the Department of Linguistics, the following, in addition to the minimum Graduate School requirements, are normally required:
Baccalaureate Degree: Students must present evidence that such a BA or BS degree will be awarded by the time they begin graduate work. A final transcript is required prior to registration.
Minimum grade point average of 3.0: A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (or its foreign equivalent) on a 4-point scale is required.
Recommendations: Three letters of recommendation are required.
Graduate Record Examination (GRE): The GRE is not required for the MA LIN, the MA CompLing, the MA TESOL, and the PhD in Linguistics.
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Writing Sample:
MA LIN and PhD: The writing sample should be a paper written for a previous course taken in linguistics, or if that is not available, a paper on any subject is acceptable.
English proficiency (for students whose native language is not English):
250 (computer), 90 (iBT TOEFL) or 6.5 (IELTS).
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.
Nearly 95 per cent of Stony Brook University’s recent graduates are either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.
Help me Apply
