Department of Linguistics graduate programs emphasize theory and research. Students interested in non-university careers also may take courses in applied linguistics and other fields as an option in the M.A. program.
Iowa's linguistics department has particular strengths in phonology, syntax, and second language acquisition (SLA).
The phonology curriculum emphasizes current theoretical perspectives, including optimality theory, and the collection, description, and interpretation of novel phonological and phonetic data. Courses feature extensive work in data analysis and problem solving, focusing on construction and evaluation of phonological theories, particularly in light of new empirical data.
The syntax curriculum includes the dual emphases of empirical and theoretical perspectives. It offers a variety of foundational courses that build analytic and argumentation skills, as well as specialized course work on current issues in syntactic theory. The courses consist of intensive work in problem solving. They combine discovery and description of new linguistic data with exploration of the implications of such facts in testing and constructing syntactic theories.
The curriculum in second language acquisition includes courses that provide an overview and analysis of current SLA research conducted within the generative framework, with emphasis on explaining the linguistic competence of second language learners in terms of universal grammar (UG), the innate language acquisition device. Work focuses on experimental research investigating the influence of the first language, theories of UG access, and related topics.
The Master of Arts in linguistics requires a minimum of 31-37 s.h. of graduate credit with thesis, or 37 s.h. without thesis. A student's advisor must approve all courses that count toward the degree.
Career Advancement
A master’s degree with TESL emphasis qualifies graduates to teach English as a second language in the United States or overseas. Unique teaching opportunities worth exploring include those with the Peace Corps and Teach for America.
A number of companies, such as Microsoft, Xerox, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and other high-tech firms, regularly hire employees with linguistics degrees. Opportunities also exist for government work, for example, as a special agent linguist for the FBI.
Expected August 2025
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
240 Schaeffer Hall,
University of Iowa,
IOWA CITY,
Iowa,
52242, United States
A U.S. bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or an equivalent degree from another country as determined by the Office of Admissions with a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00.
English Language Requirements:
An IELTS (International English Language Testing System) total score of 7.0, with no sub score less than 6.0.
TOEFL score requirements with score of 81 or higher on the Internet-based version of the test (iBT) and newly admitted graduate students who present iBT scores below 100 on the PBT.
TOEFL score requirements with score of 550 on Paper-based test (PBT) and newly admitted graduate students who present TOEFL scores below 600 on the PBT.
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.