What Happened with Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s Doctorate?

The Democratic governor of Maryland, Wes Moore (who is also a potential 2028 presidential candidate), has a tendency to embellish. The Free Beacon compiled a long list of strange inconsistencies related to his studies at Oxford University: “The problems start with confusion — which neither Moore’s staff nor Oxford’s registrars were willing or able to clear up — about when Moore completed his studies, when he received his degree, whether he submitted his thesis, and what the title of the work was,” the article states. Moore simultaneously claims to have graduated from Oxford with a master of letters (MLitt) degree in 2003 and 2004, while the university says he completed the program in 2005. The governor also claims that his thesis was titled “The Rise and Ramifications of Radical Islam in the Western Hemisphere,” although the university’s certificate says it was called “Radical Islam in Latin America in the late 20th Century and its Middle Eastern Roots.” Perhaps the biggest discrepancy, however, is that Moore claimed in his White House fellowship application that he was a “Doctoral (DPhil) Candidate,” which is Oxford’s equivalent of a Ph.D. — yet the Free Beacon notes, “There’s no evidence he was ever a doctoral student.”

Since I’m a recent recipient of an MPhil degree from Oxford, I know that the MLitt is currently a specific type of master’s degree that functions as Oxford University’s consolation prize to a student who is deemed unsuitable for a doctorate. Oxford’s handbook for the Department of Politics and International Relations clarifies that transferring to an MLitt is an option when “the work presented was not suitable for transfer to DPhil. status” but when “the assessors felt it was strong enough for the lower award which is a less demanding and shorter time-scale research degree.”

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Abigail Anthony

Abigail Anthony is a staff writer at National Review.

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The Democratic governor of Maryland, Wes Moore (who is also a potential 2028 presidential candidate), has a tendency to embellish. The Free Beacon compiled a long list of strange inconsistencies related to his studies at Oxford University: “The problems start with confusion — which neither Moore’s staff nor Oxford’s registrars were willing or able to clear up — about when Moore completed his studies, when he received his degree, whether he submitted his thesis, and what the title of the work was,” the article states. Moore simultaneously claims to have graduated from Oxford with a master of letters (MLitt) degree in 2003 and 2004, while the university says he completed the program in 2005. The governor also claims that his thesis was titled “The Rise and Ramifications of Radical Islam in the Western Hemisphere,” although the university’s certificate says it was called “Radical Islam in Latin America in the late 20th Century and its Middle Eastern Roots.” Perhaps the biggest discrepancy, however, is that Moore claimed in his White House fellowship application that he was a “Doctoral (DPhil) Candidate,” which is Oxford’s equivalent of a Ph.D. — yet the Free Beacon notes, “There’s no evidence he was ever a doctoral student.”

Since I’m a recent recipient of an MPhil degree from Oxford, I know that the MLitt is currently a specific type of master’s degree that functions as Oxford University’s consolation prize to a student who is deemed unsuitable for a doctorate. Oxford’s handbook for the Department of Politics and International Relations clarifies that transferring to an MLitt is an option when “the work presented was not suitable for transfer to DPhil. status” but when “the assessors felt it was strong enough for the lower award which is a less demanding and shorter time-scale research degree.”