Students are admitted into the history department?s graduate programs with or without a master?s or professional degree. Students who do not have a master?s degree in history?will generally?be required to complete that degree in the department before moving on to the PhD; those who have earned graduate or professional degrees closely related to their PhD programs may petition for direct admission to the PhD program. Students who first complete their MA in history at Case Western Reserve must complete an additional 24 hours of course work, pass the qualifying exams required by their program of study, and prepare a PhD dissertation while enrolling in at least 18 hours of supervised dissertation-writing work. Students who have completed their master?s-level work before coming to Case Western Reserve must complete at least 24 hours of course work before taking their qualifying exams and proceeding to their dissertation.