Example: An accelerated graduate degree that combines a traditional 120-credit bachelor’s degree with a 30-credit master’s degree and that permits the maximum amount of both forward and backward credit sharing. The credit array over five years leading to both degrees might look like this:
Fall Semester
| Year | Bachelor’s Credits (U level work) | Bachelor’s Credits Shared Forward (G level work) | Total Master’s Credits (G level work) | Master’s Credits Shared Backwards (G level work) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 2 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 3 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 4 | 9 | 6 | – | – |
| 5 | – | – | 9 | 6 |
Spring Semester
| Year | Bachelor’s Credits (U level work) | Bachelor’s Credits Shared Forward (G level work) | Total Master’s Credits (G level work) | Master’s Credits Shared Backwards (G level work) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 2 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 3 | 15 | – | – | – |
| 4 | – | – | 9 | 9 |
| 5 | – | – | 6 | 0 |
In this example, a student in a bachelor’s program takes 6 credits of graduate-level courses in fall of the fourth year. After admission to the Graduate School in time for spring of the fourth year, those forward sharable credits will be transferred into the master’s degree. During and after spring of the fourth year, some of the credits taken for the master’s degree will be backward shared to fulfill remaining requirements for the bachelor’s degree. By the end of the fifth year, the student will complete both the bachelor’s (in fall) and the master’s (in spring) degrees.
Programs also may adopt a simpler version of the accelerated graduate degree that utilizes only forward credit sharing to allow advanced undergraduates to get a head start on earning graduate credit. Because students in such degrees will complete their bachelor’s before admission to the Graduate School, these arrangements are significantly simpler to design and administer, but they do not permit the completion of both degrees in five years. For example, a spring semester senior may take two U/G courses at the graduate level, and later, after being accepted into a master’s program, could transfer those courses into the master’s degree. The limits on forward credit sharing expressed in this policy apply.