The M.A. Degree is a two-year program typically requiring thirty hours of graduate coursework. (UNM is on a semester calendar. A course usually carries three hours of credit. A normal course load for a graduate student intending to finish the M.A. requirements in two years is nine hours per semester.) Twelve of those hours (four courses at the graduate seminar level) must satisfy distribution requirements in the history of philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, and the theory of knowledge. At the end of his or her period of study each M.A. student must pass an oral M.A. exam, focused on a paper of 30-40 pages.