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B.A./M.A. Accelerated Degree Program

For students at the Claremont Colleges:
Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Pomona, Scripps, and Harvey Mudd

The accelerated Bachelors/Masters program offers significant benefits in obtaining a graduate degree on an accelerated track. Regardless of your career path, a graduate degree can open many doors and enhance professional options.

Benefits:
 - Earn an M.A., M.S., or M.B.A. degree in half the time
 - Save a year of tuition (and a year of your life)
 - Maintain continuity with faculty and research facilities
 - Gain a competitive edge in the marketplace and increase your earning potential

Fellowship Funds:
- As an accelerated degree program student, you may be eligible for fellowship funds, which are available for the year of graduate study at CGU.  Information and applications can be obtained through individual academic department offices at CGU. (If you are a student at Claremont McKenna College, please see Brian Dennis in Bauer Hall.)

About the Application Process:
- You should apply to the program in your Junior year so that you can begin coursework at CGU in your senior year.
- Applications are available through the CGU Office of Admission and Records (located in Harper East Hall on Tenth Street between Dartmouth and College), on the CGU website as well as through the CGU academic departments.


Helpful hints about the application form:

• Please state on your application that you are applying to CGU for the semester that follows your graduation (that is the semester you will be considered a full CGU student). 

• On the application, there is a place for you to circle your undergraduate campus; this indicates that you are interested in the Accelerated Program. 

• Your application fee is waived because you are a student within the Claremont Consortium.

• You will need to provide the following documents in with your application:
    - Official (in-progress) transcripts
    - Official GRE/GMAT scores (if you have taken the test) 
    - Three letters of recommendation (including at least one from 
      your current academic faculty)
    - Your résumé
    - Statement of purpose

• Students should turn in applications to the CGU Office of Admission and Records, located in Harper East, on Tenth Street between Dartmouth and College. Note: Claremont McKenna students interested in the Robert A. Day 4+1 program (B.A./M.B.A.) should seek advisement from and turn in applications to the Robert A. Day Program, located in Bauer Hall.

• You will receive official notification of your admission to the program from the CGU Office of Admission and Records. If you are offered admission, you will also be sent a decision card for you to complete and return. This will confirm your attendance.

Changing from the master’s to the doctoral program:
If a student enters the accelerated program and is subsequently admitted to the Ph.D. program in the same field, the upper division undergraduate courses originally counted toward the masters may in turn be counted as part of the units required for the Ph.D. Remaining units must completed at CGU and have approval of faculty advisors and the dean of the school.

Applying units to your Masters degree:
Once you begin the program, you can apply up to 16 units of approved coursework to your master’s degree. Approved courses are usually those which would also fulfill requirements for a bachelor’ degree.
All courses are evaluated on a case-by-case basis by CGU faculty. Students must maintain of B or better.

 

Program Accepted units  Total for degree
Applied Women’s Studies Up to 8 units 36 units
Archival Studies Up to 12 units 48 units
Art & Cultural Mangmt. Up to 16 units 48 units
Cultural Studies Up to 12 units 36 units
Economics Up to 12 units 48 units
Education Up to 8 units 30 units
English  Up to 16 units 40 units
Financial Engineering Up to 16 units 48 units
History  Up to 12 units 48 units
Information Science Up to 12 units 44 units
Management Up to 12 units 60 units
Mathematics  Up to 16 units 30-60 units
Museum Studies Up to 12 units 36 units
Music Up to 12 units 36 units
Philosophy Up to 16 units 40 units
Politics & Policy Up to 16 units 48 units
Psychology Up to 8 units 48 units
Religion Up to 8 units 48 units
Teacher Education* 

Up to 4 units -
* 300G course 

36 units



“As a student earning a Liberal Arts degree, the accelerated program offered an opportunity to pursue a more focused degree without a two-year commitment.”
 
—Emily Jaksa, MBA, CGU, 2005; B.A. in French language Scripps College, 2004

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Program Timeline

Junior Year:
Fall semester

Speak to both your faculty advisor and a CGU admissions advisor to ensure that all prerequisite and degree requirements can be met.

By January
Complete and submit application to the CGU Admissions Office.

Mid-March/Early April
Receive notification of admission decision from CGU.

Mid-April/Early May
Pre-registration for fall semester begins. Look online for CGU course you want to take, then obtain instructor permission and register at your undergraduate campus in the same manner you register for your other classes.

Senior Year:
End of August
Begin taking courses at CGU.

Early February
CGU Financial Aid applications are due. You may also be eligible for fellowship funds for the year of full-time study at CGU. Meet with a financial aid counselor and speak with your academic department to explore all funding options.

Following Graduation
Summer or Fall semester
Begin full-time enrollment at CGU


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Want to learn more?
We are happy to answer your questions, give you a tour of campus, arrange a meeting with an academic department, or even arrange for you to attend a class or meet with a faculty member. Contact the Director of Recruitment
Phone:
909-607-3689
Email: information@cgu.edu
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