The University Scholars Program offers particularly gifted and highly motivated students the opportunity and the challenge of integrating their undergraduate and graduate courses of study in a single continuous program culminating in both a baccalaureate and a master’s degree. The total number of hours for the combined program may be as many as 12 fewer than the total required for both the bachelor’s and the master’s degrees separately. The requirements for the bachelor’s degree are unaffected.

An application to the program should be submitted at the end of the student’s junior year. Applicants should have completed at least 90 credit hours of work toward the bachelor’s degree, or be eligible for senior standing in the semester they are admitted to the program. The master’s program should be in the field of the undergraduate major, and the undergraduate grade point average must be at least a 3.5 in the applicant’s major field and 3.2 overall.

Applicants to a University Scholar’s program must fill out and have signed a University Scholar’s application form, which is available in The Graduate School Admissions Office and below. This form should be returned along with the standard Graduate School application form. The Dean of the Graduate School or his appointee will make admission decisions. Students must register in the Graduate School for all work taken following admission to the University Scholars’ Program. University Scholars may take no more than 16 credit hours per semester, except by recommendation of their director of graduate studies and by approval of the Dean of the Graduate School. Students must have an undergraduate advisor and a graduate advisor. A jointly planned program must be prepared for each student.

University Scholars Application Form (PDF file, requires Adobe Acrobat)