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Program Overview

The Master of Science graduate degree in historic preservation is intended to prepare graduate students for broad-based careers in the field of historic preservation. Our primary educational goal is the development of long-term professional practitioners with knowledge and training in the appropriate skills to support their careers. Graduate students are offered an intensive, practical, community-oriented, professional experience. Strong emphasis is placed on hands-on, community-based projects through linkages with local, state, and federal groups, organizations and agencies, heritage organizations, museums, and historic sites.

Deep Rigor, Expert Mentorship

Students are expected to research and write well in this program and, to achieve this goal, faculty routinely assign a range of innovative assignments that are thoroughly assessed. Faculty provide substantive comments on papers and regularly work with students on research methodologies. Faculty explicitly outline course objectives in their syllabi so that students are aware of what will be expected of them and what they may hope to achieve. In courses that enroll both graduate students and undergraduates, the graduate students are assessed at a higher level of expectations suitable to prepare them for anticipated careers in the field of historic preservation.

Student Assessment

1. All historic preservation graduate students are required to take a set curriculum of courses that allow them to acquire mastery in architectural history, landscape history, and the history of the built environment; preservation planning, law, and economics; architectural conservation; and project development and management. These are assessed through papers, exams, and projects. (These assessments occur on an ongoing basis. The main faculty members in historic preservation meet regularly to assess student performance.)
2. In addition to course grades, the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Historic Preservation Program requires all its graduate students to demonstrate their mastery of knowledge through rigorous written comprehensive examinations offered to the graduating class together towards the end of the final semester. To help insure objective assessments of student performance as anonymously as possible by historic preservation faculty, students only provide confidential identification numbers on their comprehensive examinations. Faculty review the examination essays and make final decisions as a committee on whether each person has passed the comprehensive examination before the actual student identities are revealed. The results are then shared confidentially with each student and with the graduate college. In accordance with Graduate College policy, the comprehensive examinations must be satisfactorily completed on the first or second attempt in order for a student to receive their graduate degree. The main standard for assessing whether student responses to the comprehensive examination questions are satisfactory is whether there is sufficient evidence of mastery of knowledge to be qualified to enter the professional field of historic preservation.
3. All historic preservation graduate students must complete either a summer internship or a six-credit thesis for the M.S. degree. The internships are assessed by internship supervisors and by historic preservation faculty (through the mechanism of student reports and formal presentations on their internship experiences). Thesis proposals are formally approved by and are subject to a formal defense, according to guidelines developed by the Graduate College. (This mode of assessment is ongoing and the results are recorded by the director of the program.)

Curriculum

Typical Course Schedule

Costs and Funding

A reduced non-resident tuition rate for graduate students enrolled in the   is now in effect. This non-resident alternate pricing tuition rate is $1,200 per credit. Vermont residents may apply for the in-state tuition rate. Residency policy information is available from the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Registrar. Current information on graduate tuition, fees, and estimated expenses is available from ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Student Financial Services. Residency policy information from the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Registrar is available here. 

Other Scholarships

Other scholarship support may be available. For information on current scholarships, fellowships, and assistantship opportunities, contact the Historic Preservation Program by email at histpres@uvm.edu.

Support and Enrichment

To support research travel scholarships and other enhancements, the program has received generous gift contributions from its alumni, supporters, and a number of foundations and agencies, including the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service, Eva Gebhard-Gourgaud Foundation; Cecil Howard Charitable Trust; Patrick Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; U.S. Department of the Interior through the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation; National Trust for Historic Preservation; Vermont Council on the Arts; Vermont Council on the Humanities and Public Issues; New York Community Trust; New Hampshire Charitable Fund; Kellogg Foundation; Windham Foundation and other private and public donors. Some of these funds are invested in an endowment dedicated to program support and enrichment.

Financial Aid and Work-Study Support

Students who satisfy a financial need requirement are also eligible for federal work-study support. The program typically has work-study positions available for all pre-qualified students. Applications for work-study funding must be made through the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Financial Aid office. Please click here for a link to more information and application procedures for financial aid.

Questions? Schedule An Appointment or Visit?

Contact the ¶¶Òõ̽̽ Historic Preservation Program by email at histpres@uvm.edu.