Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs

David R. Colburn, Provost and Senior Vice President

Each year our freshman class improves in quality. For the past three years, we have had one of the top ten entering freshmen classes among all public universities in the United States. Many freshmen come to UF with outstanding academic records and college credit toward their undergraduate degrees. The high scores of our entering freshmen open the door for them to explore new academic opportunities. One such opportunity is to participate in one of our many combined bachelor’s/master’s programs. The combined program allows an undergraduate student to take graduate-level courses prior to completion of the bachelor’s degree and to count 12 graduate credits towards both degrees.

I would like to ask for your assistance in two areas. First, we need your help in identifying and encouraging students who you believe have the potential to succeed in graduate courses and who might not be aware of combined degree opportunities. Students can now also do combined degrees across colleges, for example, with the College of Business MSM degree or the College of Agriculture MAB degree. Secondly, if you do not already have a combined degree program in your department, I would like to ask you to consider establishing one.

The process for establishing new combined degree programs has recently been simplified by the Graduate School and no longer requires Graduate Council approval. All that is required is for the Graduate Coordinator and the Undergraduate Coordinator to agree on a set of courses, which may be used to satisfy both the undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. Or you may encourage your Department to set up a more formal plan of study for this program. Newly created combined programs must require at least a 3.2 UFGPA for participation and allow a maximum of 12 graduate credits to apply to both degrees. Admission to the graduate school will require an 1100 GRE. (Combined degree programs established prior to January 1, 2003 may have other requirements.) You can find additional information on the combined degree programs and answers to many of your questions (see Frequently Asked Questions) on the website at http://www.isis.ufl.edu/cdp1.html .

If you have questions regarding this program, contact Associate Provost Sheila Dickison at 392-1519 or the Graduate School at 392-6622.