Earn your BS and MSIS in only FIVE years!
- Earning a Bachelor of Science degree in the School of Computing and Information?
- Realizing that you want to expand your skills and knowledge in the Information Science area with a graduate degree?
- Want to earn that graduate degree, the Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS), in the most efficient way possible?
To earn a bachelor's degree, you must successfully complete 120 credits. To earn the MSIS degree, you must successfully complete 36 credits of graduate coursework. To earn the two degrees separately, you should plan on 6 years (4 for undergraduate and 2 for the graduate degree). With the Accelerated BS/MSIS program, you can complete both degrees in only 5 years because you can count 15 credits of coursework to both the undergraduate and graduate degrees.
This accelerated program is designed for extremely motivated and well-prepared students. It requires that you plan ahead to ensure that you can complete in 5 years, as scheduling your courses appropriately is important. But, at the end of only 5 years, you will have earned 2 highly-sought-after degrees!
How the Program Works:
You must be accepted and enrolled in one of the Bachelor of Science degree programs in the School of Information Science. You must successfully complete all of the requirements for your undergraduate degree:
- BS Computational Biology
- BS Computational Social Science
- BS Computer Science
- BS Data Science
- BS Digital Narrative and Interactive Design
- BS Information Science
In your junior year, you complete your application for the accelerated BS/MSIS program.
If you're accepted, in your senior year, you will take a series of courses that will be counted towards both your BS degree and the MSIS degree. The 15 credits of coursework in your "cross-over" year can be either MSIS courses that will be designated as "free elective credits" in the BS program. Or, they can a mixture of up to 6 credits of upper-level (approved courses numbered 1100 and higher that will count as BS electives) and the remaining credits in graduate-level INFSCI courses (2000+).
Then, in year five, you take your MSIS coursework! With planning and determination, you will graduate with both the BS and Master of Science in Information Science at the end of your fifth year!
Pease note that you MUST meet any course requirements of both degree programs (the five MSIS core courses, for example).
You will work with advisors from the SCI undergraduate degree program and advisors from the MSIS program to ensure that you can successfully complete both degrees in this expedited fashion.
Admissions
The accelerated BS/MSIS program is open to all students currently enrolled in SCI Bachelor’s degree programs.
- Students who have asked for the Information Sciences Guarantee (please see the Guaranteed Admissions Programs website) are eligible for the accelerated program. Upon application, a submission of their guaranteed admissions letter is the only requirement.
- Students who have not asked for the Information Sciences Guarantee must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and submit a single letter of reference.
A student’s application for the accelerated BS/MSIS program must be submitted during the Junior year to allow time for processing prior to the cross-over year.