Students may enter the Ph.D. program with an M.A. from another university or from Lehigh. Applicants should have a minimum 3.60 grade point average for their M.A. work and submit a historiographical essay or research paper with their application. Students who earn the M.A. at Lehigh and wish to continue for the Ph.D. must also have a 3.60 GPA for their M.A. course work.
The most important elements of the application file for the review process are:
--The personal statement which details the student's interest in pursuing graduate study in History.
- The applicant's academic record, with special emphasis on their performance in history and related subjects.

- Recommendation letters from two or three faculty mentors who can speak to the applicant's potential for graduate work in the discipline. One of these letters may come from a former employer or non-academic mentor if they can speak to related skill sets the applicant may possess.

- GRE scores are required, though they are rarely the determining element in an application file. A strong performance on the Verbal section of the GRE is what is most important.

- The ability to write clearly and intelligently as demonstrated by a relevant writing sample, perhaps drawn from a seminar or research paper completed for a recent course, or a chapter or section of a thesis. Please limit submissions to about twenty pages maximum (excluding notes and bibliography). **All materials are to be uploaded on the online application.