The Bachelor's to Master's Accelerated Program allows eligible undergraduates to leverage up to 12 credits taken during undergraduate studies toward a master’s degree within the Rossin College (or any of Lehigh's colleges.) In addition, the accelerated program allows students to enroll in graduate-level (400 level) courses during their junior and senior years. Classes taken during junior and senior years are included in the Lehigh undergraduate tuition, which effectively allows students to save up to 40 percent on the cost of a traditional master’s degree. Often, this enables students to complete the credits for a master’s degree in one additional year of study at Lehigh beyond their four-year degree.
Master’s degrees are becoming increasingly common in the workplace, and graduate study allows students to build new skills or expand existing ones. Students may elect to continue in their undergraduate discipline or change fields. Opportunities for study also exist in programs that reside outside of the traditional engineering departments—including building professional credentials in energy, healthcare systems, technical entrepreneurship, structural engineering, or data science.
Requirements
Students interested in the Accelerated BS-Master's Program must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 by the end of the fifth undergraduate semester. Please note that courses that will be counted toward the master’s degree must be above and beyond the undergraduate degree requirements.
Interested students will need to first contact Mark Snyder (masn00@lehigh.edu), Associate Dean for Graduate Education, or their department’s graduate director.
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Students looking to enroll in one (1) graduate course as an undergraduate should complete a petition to the Committee on the Standing of Students (SOS) and forward to Derick Brown (dgb3@lehigh.edu), Associate Dean for Undergraduate Educartion.
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Students planning to enroll in two (2) graduate courses in a semester will need to complete the same petition, which would be reviewed by both SOS and SOGS.
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Students may also need to overload to 19 or 20 credits (only allowable with 300-level courses or below). This petition should be forwarded to Robin Armbruster (rma2@lehigh.edu), and should include a statement that the student is pursuing an accelerated degree (BS/Master’s).
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Finally, students will need to formally reserve the credits.
In the final undergraduate semester, students are required to submit an application for graduate study to formally matriculate into the master’s program. It is recommended that students submit their graduate application by June 1 if they are interested in fall admission or November 1 for spring admission. Students who are interested in starting their graduate program during the summer should consult with the department/program they are applying to in order to confirm that this is an option. GRE is automatically waived and no formal letter of recommendation (LOR) is needed.