The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History is a fully online, fully accredited, thirty-credit degree program. Following the completion of ten three-credit courses, including Historiography and Historical Methods and the Capstone in American History courses, students are awarded a master’s degree in American history from Gettysburg College.

K–12 educators (including teachers, district supervisors, librarians, museum professionals, and National Park Service employees) who are affiliated with the Gilder Lehrman Institute and possess a bachelor’s degree are eligible for the program. Refer to the Eligibility section at the bottom of the page for more information.

You will need to pass, with a grade of B or higher, ten three-credit courses. Students are required to complete Historiography and Historical Methods and the Capstone course. Historiography and Historical Methods is a prerequisite to enrollment in the Capstone course. It is recommended, but not required, that you take Historiography and Historical Methods early in the program, as it will help you succeed in other courses.

The MA must be completed within five years. If you are unable to complete your degree in five years, you can apply for an extension.

You can access the application on the To Apply page with instructions on what materials to include. Once you have filled out the “Apply Now” form through the Gilder Lehrman website, you will be redirected to the Gettysburg College website to complete the application.

Click here for more information on how to fill in the Gettysburg College application.

All admitted candidates who enroll in the program will become students of Gettysburg College, and will be subject to and must comply with all program, school, and university policies and procedures applicable to students, including but not limited with respect to core course requirements, academic standing, degree requirements, academic integrity, behavioral standards, withdrawal policies, and use of university-provided information technology, as set forth in the Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman Student Handbook.

A link to the student handbook will be provided shortly.

Yes. Graduate participants can take up to four courses (or twelve credits) as non-matriculated students. To attend as a non-degree participant, please select the non-degree option from the program drop-down menu on the online application.

No. Currently, we are unable to offer Advanced Certificates.

Applications are open and are reviewed on a rolling basis until the start of the semester on September 22, 2022. In order to ensure a timely processing of your application and supporting documents, as well as a seamless enrollment, we encourage all students to begin the application as early as possible.

Click here to access the 2022-2023 academic calendar.

A decision is typically made within four to six weeks following Gettysburg College’s receipt of all application materials.

You will receive an email with your Gettysburg College user ID and email address, and a temporary password for your account. Once you access your user ID, your next step is to complete your online checklist in the Dashboard. You must complete the Dashboard at least one week before the start of classes. Completing the Dashboard will take approximately five minutes.

Here is the link to access the Dashboard.

In addition to the onboarding Dashboard, you will also gain access to the MA in American History Orientation and Resource Module on the learning platform Moodle. This module will allow you to become familiar with the online platform you will use while in the MA program.

Registration for the Fall 2022 semester will open July 9, 2022, and close September 28, 2022.

The Fall 2022 semester begins September 22, 2022, and ends December 14, 2022.

You are eligible for a full refund if you withdraw from your course before the add/drop deadline one week into the semester. After that, you are able to withdraw but you will not receive a refund.

The add/drop deadline for Fall 2022 is September 28, 2022.

Each Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman course is led by a professor from the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s network of scholars. These eminent historians create syllabi and reading lists, present lectures, and hold live Q&A sessions.

Each section of a course has an adjunct instructor to guide day-to-day course work and communication. These instructors, referred to as section professors, are well versed in distance-learning best practices and are dedicated to student success. They assess all student work, prompt and moderate discussion boards, and help students with course material and questions.

The typical workload for online courses is five 1– to 2–page response papers, a fifteen-page research paper or project of equivalent length completed in stages during the semester, and weekly posts to course discussion boards. (Note: Students must gain instructor approval to pursue the project option.) Reading assignments are approximately 75–125 pages per week and consist of primary and secondary sources. Participants are also required to attend three of the five live Q&As led by the course’s lead scholar.

Students must complete twenty-four credits before they can sign up for the Capstone course. Email onlinecourses@gilderlehrman.org for instructions on how to register for the course.

Click here to view a video by Dr. Laura Ping for information about the Capstone course and how to prepare for it. Contact onlinecourses@gilderlehrman.org to learn more about the Capstone course.

Lectures are posted to the online learning platform every Thursday and can be viewed asynchronously. Five live Q&A sessions are held with the lead professor over the course of the semester. Students are expected to attend at least three of these.

Each three-credit course costs $750 for the 2022–2023 academic year.

Please see the academic calendar for tuition deadlines.

No. Students are expected to purchase, rent, or borrow books. We do attempt to keep total book costs below $100 per course and post readings to Moodle course sites whenever possible.

Yes. Students can apply for federal financial aid. Additionally, all students in this program may apply for scholarships from the Gilder Lehrman Institute. Students in the program are not eligible for Gettysburg College scholarships.

Financial Aid

You may be eligible for Federal Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loans and private education loans to cover tuition and other education-related costs. Students who apply for federal loans receive their financial aid award letters via mail within two to four weeks of FAFSA submission. Notification times for private education loans vary by lender. Please contact the Gettysburg College Office of Financial Aid for more information.

You can find student loan information on the US Department of Education Federal Student Aid website. To start the process, you will need to file the free application for federal student aid (known as FAFSA) listing Gettysburg College as the school of choice. This can be done online at www.fafsa.gov. The FAFSA school code for Gettysburg College is 003268.

Please note that if you do not receive your FAFSA approval before the registration deadline and you are ultimately approved for financial aid, you can apply the aid toward courses for the following term.

Gilder Lehrman Abraham Lincoln Scholarships

All students in this program may apply for a scholarship through the Gilder Lehrman Institute. We offer one hundred $500 scholarships per academic year. You can access our scholarship application form here. Note: Awards are sent out during the semester; please pay for courses by the tuition deadline or within 24 hours of registration.

Veterans’ Benefits

Eligible students can receive tuition benefits offered by the GI Bill®. For general information about veterans’ benefits, please contact the Gettysburg College Office of Financial Aid.

You should speak to your academic advisor about the academic and financial penalties associated with withdrawing from a course. For directions on how to withdraw from a course, email onlinecourses@gilderlehrman.org.

When withdrawing from courses during the first week of the semester, students are eligible for a 100 percent refund. There will be no refund for courses dropped after Week Two.

Yes. Gilder Lehrman online graduate courses are generally eligible for CEU and PDP credits, but it is your responsibility to verify eligibility with your school administration or state PD office prior to enrolling in a course. If you need more information to determine eligibility than is available on the course information page, please email us at onlinecourses@gilderlehrman.org.

Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman online courses are on the Moodle learning platform. When you enroll, you will receive a username and password for both your Gettysburg College email and your Moodle account. That account will stay valid for all subsequent courses, but you may be asked to change your password from time to time.

You should be comfortable using your computer for email and web browsing. There is an asynchronous new-student webinar that will open before courses begin. This webinar will teach you to use Moodle as well as Gettysburg College and Gilder Lehrman Institute databases.

Note: This webinar is accessible online throughout the semester.

Most recent computers with a good Internet connection can be used to access the courses. You do not need any special equipment to participate in the course. You will need headphones or onboard speakers to listen to and watch the lectures. In order to participate in the live Q&A sessions, you will need a webcam or, at least, your computer’s onboard microphone.

Note: Almost all computers have an onboard microphone. If you do not have a webcam or onboard microphone, and cannot attend Q&A sessions as a result, you will be able to complete a separate assignment in lieu of participating in Q&A sessions.

K–12 educators (including teachers, district supervisors, librarians, museum professionals, and National Park Service employees) who are affiliated with the Gilder Lehrman Institute and possess a bachelor’s degree are eligible for the program.

No. In order to pursue graduate credit through the Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman MA program, participants must already have an undergraduate degree.

In order to be eligible for the Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman MA program, applicants/students must maintain their affiliation with the Gilder Lehrman Institute as a K–12 educator. In the event that a student individually or through their employer discontinues their Gilder Lehrman affiliation, such individual will no longer be eligible to participate in the program following completion of the semester in which the student is enrolled at the time of cessation of the GLI affiliation.

If you are a K–12 educator who is not affiliated with a particular school (for instance, if you’re a retired, substitute, temporary, or part-time teacher), please email onlinecourses@gilderlehrman.org. You may be eligible to participate in this program.

Yes. You will need to apply to Gettysburg College. You can access Gettysburg College’s application portal by clicking the “To Apply” item on the navigation menu.

Yes. All matriculated credits (and up to twelve non-matriculated credits) earned with a grade of B or better through the Pace–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History will be accepted into the Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History.

Yes. All matriculated credits (and up to 12 non-matriculated credits) earned with a grade of B or better through any Gilder Lehrman MA program will be accepted into the Gettysburg College–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History.

Credits earned through other institutions will be considered for transfer on a case-by-case basis.

If you have not yet begun your Capstone, you may enroll in Gettysburg College in order to complete it and receive your degree.