MA: Full form, Admission 2024, Fees, Syllabus, Entrance Exam & Career Scope

The Master of Arts (MA) is a postgraduate degree that emphasizes specific areas of the Humanities, such as Philosophy, Art, English, or a foreign language. Over the course of two or three years, an MA program includes advanced coursework, writing, academic studies, seminars, and debates. MA courses offer specialization in diversified like English, Hindi, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, and multiple other fields. There are multiple career opportunities available after completing the MA degree, including social work, teaching, journalism, project leadership, content writing, art, research associate, lawyer, manager, digital marketing, data scientist, and insurance executive.

The first year of the Master of Arts (MA) curriculum involves the core disciplines, while the second year relates to optional courses.  However, the curriculum for MA degrees will vary significantly based on the specialization and course selected. A minimum of 50% in any field from a BA degree is necessary for admission to the MA program. Admission to MA courses further depends on merit or entrance tests. Some colleges accept students only based on their class 12 grades, whereas others take admission test scores into account. The cost of an MA program in India ranges from 10,000 to 80,000 rupees. 

After completing the MA program, Students can pursue careers in their desired fields and specialized areas of study, with salaries ranging from INR 3 to 15 LPA. Students who want to study more can further go for a PhD Degree. In this guide, we will go into further details about MA(Master of Arts) and explain everything in brief. 

About MA(Master of Arts)

Master of Arts abbreviated to MA is a two-year postgraduate degree program offered to students who want to continue their further studies in special areas of humanities like Art, English, Political Science, and any foreign language. The qualification level to do this course is to graduate with a BA(Bachelor of Arts) in a particular field or and related field. It is one of the most popular and common programs students pursue after graduation. The MA program aims to offer students theoretical knowledge in subjects like politics, management, social science, and others. Along with the theoretical components, this program also emphasizes practical knowledge. To pursue this degree program, students need to be focused and dedicated to the field they have selected to study further. This program is much more difficult as compared to the Bachelor's degree as it demands a lot of research and projects on the selected subjects. 

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Course Overview

Course Highlights

If anyone is willing to do post-graduation in Master of Arts in a particular field and is confused about where to go for it or not, continue reading you will get your answer. From increased career options across disciplines, industries, and sectors to higher levels of skill and knowledge in the subjects that are pertinent. The following are some explanations for pursuing Master of Arts courses:

• Increased Expertise: MA courses provide opportunities for students who want to focus on a particular academic area. Experts with comprehensive expertise in any area are admired for their ability to save expenditures while improving output.
• Better Job Options: MA is a program that opens routes for different job prospects in varied fields. MA allows candidates to gain extensive and deeper knowledge of the desired field and subjects of their interest so that they can become industry-ready and clear any interview easily
• Route to PhD: PhD is a program that demands a master's in a particular field, so if you are planning to do PhD and complete your graduation from BA or related subjects, you need to do an MA and only after that you can do a Ph.D.. Students who get a PhD will have more opportunities to pursue higher-paying professions and promotions in their careers.
• Expanding Employment Prospects: The need for postgraduate degree holders, including those with an MA, has increased over time at many different kinds of businesses and organizations covering numerous sectors and industries.
• Course Variety: As stated before, candidates will have the possibility to choose from a wide variety of subjects and specializations, including economics, psychology, commerce, linguistics and languages, social studies, and a lot more.

Course Subjects and Syllabus

MA offers specialization in different subjects ranging from English, and Hindi to economics, and the syllabus for each subject varies as per the university and the course specifications. In the given below table, the syllabus for MA in Hindi and English is given: 

MA in Hindi

MA in English

Course Specializations In MA

Admission Procedure and Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Completed Under-graduation in BA or related field from any affiliated or recognized college.
• Get at least an aggregate percentage of 50 or above in the graduation. 
• No age restriction to get admission to Master of Arts(MA). 

Admission Procedure

Merit-Based: Some colleges accept admission on the basis of the marks obtained in the BA degree. The only criteria for admission is to clear or reach the marked cut-off of the desired university you are willing to take admission. 

Entrance-Based: Generally admission to a master’s course is based on the entrance. Several well-known universities conduct entrance examinations which are sometimes accepted by all other universities. The most common Entrance exams are CUET PG, BHU PET, IGNOU, and AAT.

Career Prospects

MA is one of the most popular degree programs after graduation. It offers job prospects in almost every desired field a student wishes for as there is a specialization option for almost every field. Some of the most common job prospects include:

• Teacher
• Content Writer
• Lawyer
• Journalist
• Editor
• Project Manager
• Politician 
• Civil Servant(After clearing the Exam)

Top Recruiting Companies

• VIBGYOR High
• Wipro 
• Accenture
• Hindustan Times
• Kotak Mahindra Bank
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• The Times of India 
• Myntra
• Amazon 
• Flipkart

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