Overview

Women's Studies explores the intersection of identity, social power, and privilege. Concerned with how societies “construct” inequality and social bias, Women’s Studies analyzes every aspect of our lives through a critical lens, without filtering out impacts of socio-political inequalities, and lived experiences of women and their families. With cross-listed courses in Anthropology, Communications, Government, History, Psychology, Sociology, Women’s Health and more fields, students can approach Women’s Studies from almost any direction.
Alongside the U.S. history of women and feminist movement, “transnational” feminism offers a wider comparative study of: constructions of gender across cultures; the legal and political standing of women and marginalized populations; the nature and impacts of gender-based violence, mass migration, militarization, climate change, food insecurity and other contemporary challenges on the physical, social and political wellbeing of women around the globe.
The focus of this Women's Studies program at Pennsylvania State University is on feminist analyses of women's lives, of women's social, cultural, and scientific contributions, and of the structure of sex/gender systems.
The interdisciplinary and inclusive nature of the field is reflected in a curricular structure that includes courses cross-listed with a wide variety of departments, courses that deal with aspects of women's lives throughout history, and courses that recognize the diversities of culture, race, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

Careers

Women’s Studies graduates from Penn State work in a wide variety of professions and industries. You will find us in the legal profession (one alumna runs her own legal firm, serving lower-income clients and gender-based discrimination cases).
Others work in communications, marketing and advertising, business, banking and human resources. Activist students find their way into non-profits, advocacy groups, government, human development, journalism and communications.
Women’s health is a dynamic field—medical care, nursing and research positions are out there, as well as health administration. Teaching attracts many of our graduates.

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Debates in Contemporary Feminism
Contemporary Feminist Analysis
First-Year Seminar in Women's Studies
Women's and Gender Studies
Representing Women and Gender in Literature, Art and Popular Cultures
Research Project

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 48 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-08-24 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-06-15 00:00:00 , International
Starting 2027-01-11 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-10-01 00:00:00 , International
- Apply before 2026-12-01 00:00:00 , National

Language

English

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120

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IELTS

6.5

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Credits

123 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

University Park, United States

Disciplines

Area & Cultural Studies Gender & Sexuality Studies View 807 other Bachelors in Area & Cultural Studies in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

Duolingo English Test

120

Take A Free Practice Test!

TOEFL^® IBT

Schedule TOEFL®

IELTS

6.5

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

Application
Official secondary school records
Official test scores: SAT or ACT
English language proficiency, if your native language is not English

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

43290 USD / year

≈ 43290 USD / year
Out-of-State

41790 USD / year

≈ 41790 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

20644 USD / year

≈ 20644 USD / year

Living costs

University Park

United States

1000 - 1500 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

About

Overview

Careers

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Credits

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic

Living costs

University Park

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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