B.S. / M.S. Program
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About
The Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program is a unitary program leading a student to a bachelor of science degree and to a master of business administration, master of engineering, or master of science degree. The purpose of the Combined Bachelor’s/ Master’s Program is to give WPI undergraduates an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from WPI concurrently in less time than would be required if the student were to complete work on the bachelor’s degree before beginning work on the master’s degree. To gain the full benefit of this program, a student should apply for the Combined Program well before the bachelor’s degree is completed. Application at the beginning of the junior year is recommended.
For the master of science and master of engineering degrees, the Combined Program typically allows a student to complete requirements for both degrees in about one more year of full-time study than would be required to earn the bachelor’s degree. With careful planning, a student can obtain a similar reduction in the amount of time required to earn an M.B.A.
Application
The application for the five-year B.S./M.S. program consists of an application form for admission to the WPI graduate school, three recommendation forms, and a list of four courses that the applicant proposes to count toward both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. In most cases, the list consists of courses that the applicant will take in his or her senior year. Applications will not be considered if they are submitted prior to the second half of the applicant's junior year. Ideally, applications (including recommendations) should be completed by the first week of the last term (usually D-term) of the junior year.
Students who intend to pursue this program must obtain an application form from the Office of Graduate Studies. This form must be filed in the Office of Graduate Studies before a student enrolls in any undergraduate course which is to be used for graduate credit, in order that the professor or department may impose special requirements. Copies of the application will be sent to the academic advisor, to the Registrar, and to the head of the department granting the graduate degree.
In cases where the areas of the undergraduate and graduate degrees differ, the masters granting department may require that the undergraduate Major Qualifying Project relate in some way to that departments discipline. It may also make other requirements as it deems appropriate in any individual case. Hence, each student should come to an agreement in writing on such matters with a designated representative of the graduate department. Students taking full advantage of this program may ordinarily expect to complete the work of the masters degree within one calendar year after receipt of the bachelors degree, or in some cases after only two academic semesters. In many instances, this accelerated approach to education will not be the most desirable route, and the student will benefit more by broadening the undergraduate experience before undertaking graduate study. The best approach will be determined by each student in conjunction with the academic and project advisors.
Financial Aid
The primary financial advantage of the B.S./M.S. program is that by paying only one additional year of tuition, a student can obtain a master's degree that would ordinarily take two years to complete.
In addition, both research and teaching assistantships are available on a limited basis to outstanding graduate students in the fifth year of their B.S./M.S. programs. Research assistantships are awarded to graduate students by individual faculty members with adequate external funding. Students requiring financial aid are urged to discuss the possibilities of obtaining research assistantships first with their MQP advisors, and then with any other faculty member with whom they might be interested in working. For those students unable to obtain research assistantships, teaching assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis to fifth-year B.S./M.S. graduate students for a maximum of one academic year. Decisions regarding teaching assistantships will not be made until the second half of the applicant's senior year.
Program Requirements
Only registered WPI undergraduates may enter the Combined Program. To enter, a student must apply to the WPI Graduate Program. Admission to the Combined Program is made by the faculty of the program that awards the graduate degree. A student in the Combined Program continues to be registered as an undergraduate until the bachelor’s degree is awarded.
While in the Combined Program, a student may continue to take courses or projects toward the undergraduate degree; the student may also register for graduate courses, projects, directed research or thesis credits toward the master’s degree.
To obtain a master’s degree via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all requirements for that master’s degree, including any requirements of the graduate degree- awarding program for satisfactory completion of specified courses or a master’s thesis. To obtain a bachelor’s degree via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all the requirements for that bachelor’s degree, including distribution and project requirements.
A student in the Combined Program, may, within the program limit and with prior approval, use the same courses toward the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The limitation is computed from the graduate credit hours for each course. Courses, whose credit hours total no more than 40% of the credit hours required for the master’s degree, and which meet all other requirements for each degree, may be used to satisfy requirements for both degrees. Such courses are recorded on the transcript using the credit hours/units and grades appropriate at the graduate or undergraduate levels. For students in the Combined Program, approved undergraduate courses are assigned graduate credit with a conversion rate of 1/3 WPI undergraduate unit = 3 credit hours, while graduate courses applied toward the undergraduate degree are awarded undergraduate credit with a conversion rate of 1 credit hour = 1/9 undergraduate unit. There are some academic departments that allow only 30% or 3 course double counting of credit. Check the graduate catalog for rules pertaining to your program.
Students in the Combined Program may use advanced undergraduate courses to satisfy graduate degree requirements. The department decides which courses may be used in this way. Faculty members teaching these advanced undergraduate courses may impose special requirements, appropriate to an undergraduate course being used for graduate credit, on Combined Program Students.
In many cases, including if the programs awarding the bachelor’s and master’s degrees are not the same, the program awarding the graduate degree may require that the student’s Major Qualifying Project relate in some way to the graduate program’s discipline. The graduate program may also make other requirements as it deems appropriate in any individual case. These requirements take the form of a written agreement (obtain Course Selection Form from the Office of Graduate Studies & Enrollment) between the student and the graduate program, which must be completed and filed with the registrar before the student may be matriculated in the Combined Program.
The Combined Program is a full-time program of study. Once admitted to the Combined Program, a student must register every fall and spring semester until the graduate degree is completed. A student in the Combined Program who, during the fall or spring semester, has no registered activities is automatically terminated from the Combined Program, and may only be readmitted to the Combined Program by the Committee for Graduate Studies and Research via petition showing extenuating circumstances. Termination from the Combined Program does not affect a student’s ability to continue toward the bachelor’s degree.
Some graduate-degree-awarding programs impose additional restrictions on students in the Combined Program. Consult the degree requirements of individual programs for details.
Questions relating to the program should be referred to the discipline department heads or to the Office of Graduate Studies & Enrollment.
