Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Program Policy

Effective June 1, 2025

• Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Programs are established with distinct undergraduate and graduate degree programs and must be approved through the University governance process.
• Bachelor’s and master’s degrees must be conferred sequentially.
• Students must submit a master’s application to the graduate admissions office of the school or college offering the master’s program before the conferral of the bachelor’s degree. Typically, students apply to the Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Program during their junior year.
• Students must complete all bachelor’s degree requirements before enrolling as a master’s student, although they may take graduate courses while enrolled as an undergraduate student.
• Students must register for and earn a minimum of 24 units while enrolled as a master’s student.
• Master’s programs may apply up to 8 units from the undergraduate degree toward the master’s degree. Courses must be 500 level or above. In rare cases, a master’s program that requires more than 40 units may be approved, via the University curricular review process, to count up to 12 units from the undergraduate degree toward the master’s degree in a Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Program.
  • As a reminder, during the period of time the student is enrolled as an undergraduate, financial aid cannot be used toward graduate-level courses, unless they also count toward their undergraduate degree requirements. Financial aid can only be used for coursework meeting degree requirements, and once those requirements are met, regardless of the student’s status, financial aid cannot be granted. For example, if a student only has 4 units required for their undergraduate degree completion but they enroll in 12 units, financial aid can only be applied toward the 4 units.
• Upon written approval from the relevant graduate admissions office, students may defer entry to the master’s portion of the program for up to three academic years. After this time, students must reapply as a master’s degree student. If admitted to the standalone master’s program, they may not count toward the master’s degree any courses that were counted toward the undergraduate degree.