COURSE CURRICULUM

Wichita State University’s graduate programs across counseling, creative writing, criminal justice, data science, economics, earth/environmental sciences, educational leadership, and educational psychology are designed to prepare students for advanced professional roles and further academic study, typically combining rigorous coursework with applied learning experiences such as internships, practicums, capstone projects, research, or theses, depending on the program and chosen track. Most programs follow a structured credit-hour system (commonly 30–60 credit hours) and emphasize both theoretical foundations and practical application: for example, counseling tracks (school, clinical mental health, addiction, and sports) require core training in counseling theory, human development, assessment, group counseling, ethics, psychopathology, and supervised practicum and internship experiences totaling 60 credit hours; the MFA in creative writing (48 credit hours) blends workshops in fiction or poetry, literature seminars, theory, electives, and a final publishable writing project plus a comprehensive exam; the MA in criminal justice (36 credit hours) focuses on research methods, criminological theory, and applied electives with either a thesis or nonthesis option; MS programs in data science and mathematical data science (30 credit hours) integrate machine learning, statistics, databases, and capstone projects with electives in AI, regression, and computing; the MS in earth, environmental and physical sciences (30–36+ credit hours depending on thesis, internship, or nonthesis plan) emphasizes interdisciplinary scientific coursework and research or applied field experience; the MA in economics and quantitative analysis (30 credit hours) includes econometrics, micro/macroeconomics, forecasting, and a required research project plus electives or concentration options such as data analytics; the MEd in educational leadership (30 credit hours) prepares future school administrators through structured coursework in finance, law, curriculum, diversity, and multiple building-level practicums culminating in licensure exams; and the MEd in educational psychology (33–32 credit hours depending on thesis or nonthesis) centers on learning theory, statistics, human development, research design, and electives allowing specialization in areas such as behavioral management, diversity, or program evaluation. Across nearly all programs, admission typically requires a bachelor’s degree, a minimum GPA (often around 3.0), references, statements of purpose, and in some cases licensure or background checks, while GRE requirements are frequently waived; collectively, these programs reflect a balance of academic depth, applied training, and professional licensure or career readiness pathways tailored to education, research, science, business, and public service fields.