Master of Arts in Liberal Arts

Tuition fees are 20,676 USD per year.

This Master of Arts in Liberal Arts program is centered around a Great Books curriculum, a tradition dating back to 1937. Students engage with foundational texts from Western civilization across disciplines such as philosophy, literature, history, and science. The program emphasizes reading and understanding these core works.

Focus areas include Philosophy & Theology, Politics & Society, Mathematics & Natural Science, Literature, History.

For international students, tuition is around the median for US programmes. The institution admits about 44% of applicants.

Close reading, discussion, and inquiry shape the St. John’s College experience. The Great Books curriculum brings students into conversation with about 200 works spanning 3,000 years, from Plato and Augustine to Charles Darwin and Toni Morrison. Study crosses philosophy, literature, the natural sciences, and other disciplines. Classes are taught in a seminar format, with an average class size of 16 and no class larger than 21. Students also study two languages.

St. John’s is the third-oldest college in America, with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Annapolis campus includes historic residence halls named for Maryland Declaration of Independence signers William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Samuel Chase, and Thomas Stone. Their lives connect the college’s setting with the complicated history of Maryland and the American Revolution.

International students join a community of about 1,000 students and study alongside faculty through face-to-face conversation and shared reading. The college offers paid internships for all students, with opportunities connected to fields including environmental research, medicine, journalism, psychology, and science. Need-based financial aid is available to domestic and international students, and merit scholarships can reach the full cost of tuition. Graduate study includes programs in Liberal Arts, Eastern Classics, and Middle Eastern Classics, offered in person at Annapolis or Santa Fe and through a low-residency online format.