I think Dawn Scher Thomae's advice is good. What is most important is that you select a program that is right for you, that provides the best fit with your educational and career goals. I advise students to both look closely at programs to find a good fit, and also start looking at job ads for their "dream job" to see what the educational requirements are. The Museum Studies Program at the University of Kansas is a two-year, non-thesis Master of Arts program. We require 18 credits in museum studies classes, 18 in an academic specialty (American Studies, Anthropology, Biology, Geology, History, or Indigenous Nations Studies), and a 6 credit hour professional internship. There are about 100 graduate degree granting museum studies programs in the US. I recommend you check two publications: Adams, R. (editor). 1999. Guide to Museum Studies Training in the United States 1999-2000. American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C. Schwartzer, M. 2001. Graduate Training in Museum Studies: What Students Need to Know. American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C. Most of the museum studies programs have web sites that will help you learn a lot about the program and the institution. Check these, too. Good luck to you, John John E. Simmons Collection Manager, Natural History Museum and Coordinator, Museum Studies Program University of Kansas Dyche Hall 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561 Telephone 785-864-4508 FAX 785-864-5335 [log in to unmask] www.ku.edu/~museumst/ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).