Admission

The MA program in International Studies at IALIIS is known for its academic excellence and uniqueness throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the entire Arab region. IALIIS has marked a new milestone in post-graduate study and research. Thus, admission to this program has been based on a set of prerequisites, including merit, to ensure that the students enrolled are up to the challenge and can learn from as well as add to the program. 

Accordingly, only an average of thirty students from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and abroad (including the Arab region, Europe and the USA) are admitted each academic year. Admissions’ policy is gender sensitive, with an ideal targeted ratio of 50:50. 

It is also a case sensitive policy that can allow for the admission of students with non-political or other relevant academic backgrounds, if they are backed with the necessary skills, academic achievement and excellence as well as the relevant work experience, research or volunteer work. Such students have been admitted in certain cases but have been given specific pre-requisite courses—over and above those normally required in the MA program—to enable them to keep up with their fellow students, who do have the relevant background to take this program. 

Admission to the MA program is subject to certain conditions, one of which is that the student should have a first class university degree from an accredited university. It is also preferable that the student has a major in any of the following fields: social sciences, economics, development or law. But as mentioned above, certain exceptions are made after close study by the admissions board.

Students enrolled in the MA in International Studies are known to come from a diverse background of academic specialties and professional fields. While a large portion of students enter the program immediately after they complete their undergraduate studies, most of them are effectively employed, aging between 25 and 30 years of age. A few of those enrolled are in their forties and in rare cases their fifties. Thus, this program is deemed a young, energetic and active program that is easily malleable and can adjust to any changes over time. 

Generally, and since most of the students are newly employed or in the midst of their careers, they choose to study part-time and accordingly take between a year and a half to two years to graduate. They have 36 credit hours to complete, including certain compulsory courses, which make up 15 credit hours, in the fields of political science, history, economics and law. Students are also given a choice between two tracks: writing a thesis or opting for the non-thesis (or seminar and work experience) choice towards the end of the program.