STANFORD MASTER OF LIBERAL ARTS

Start your next chapter with a part-time, evening graduate degree in the liberal arts.

Stanford’s Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) Program (through the School of Humanities & Sciences) offers an extraordinary opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary course of study in the liberal arts and earn your master’s degree at one of the world’s great centers of learning. Designed with busy adults in mind, this part-time, in-person graduate degree program holds classes in the evenings and offers a flexible academic schedule.

In the MLA program, students form a close-knit cohort that takes courses taught by Stanford faculty. Areas of study include history of science, philosophy, literature, environmental studies, political science, history, and more. Students will hone their ability to write persuasively and creatively, develop compelling arguments, conduct original research, and integrate thinking from multiple disciplines. For many students, these are ends in themselves. For others, these skills serve them well in their professional lives.

MLA applications are accepted from September through January, with classes beginning in September of the following academic year. For more information on the program and admissions details, please visit: mla.stanford.edu. Information sessions are held throughout the year; visit MLA Admissions for details and to RSVP for a session.

Taking Stanford Continuing Studies courses can be excellent preparation for applying to the MLA program. Each quarter, the MLA program recommends courses that are similar in subject and format to seminars you would find in MLA study.

Please contact us if you have any questions: mlaprogram@stanford.edu

RECOMMENDED CONTINUING STUDIES COURSES: WINTER 2025

• Marcus Aurelius and the Good Life: Lessons from Roman Stoicism
• 20th-Century American Novel Masterpieces
• Shakespeare: Exploring Gender and Power in Five Plays
• 19th-Century Russian Literature: The Short Classics
• AI and Ethics: A Practical Philosophy for Our Uncertain Technological Future

“Education is forever. You don’t have to get an undergraduate degree and be done. You have to figure out what matters to you and pursue it throughout your life. For me, that’s education.” Ken, MLA 2020.