Every undergraduate student who has a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and above is urged to consider this opportunity which allows for earning a master's degree in an accelerated manner. Once the student is classified as a graduate student, he/she is eligible to hold a graduate assistantship. The rules of the program are as follows:

• Students are eligible to apply for the combined bachelor's/master's degree program during the first semester of their junior year (or 64-80 hours earned) and can begin taking graduate courses during the second semester of the junior year (or after 80 hours earned). They also must have completed half of the departmental hours required for the major.
• Students must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.25
• A maximum of six (6) hours can be double counted for the bachelor's and the master's degree, but the full number of hours required for the master's degree must be taken. Students must complete all University, Divisional, and Departmental requirements for the Bachelor's degree with the caveat that six hours of graduate credit can be double counted with Departmental permission.
• Students will remain classified as undergraduate until they have completed 128 hours; at the time the Graduate School will reclassify them as graduate students, if they have maintained an overall GPA of 3.25 and have earned a 3.0 average in all graduate courses. If they have not maintained eligibilty to continue, they will be dismissed from the combined program and will complete their undergraduate degree.
• Students in the combined program are eligible to hold a graduate assistantship or graduate grant-in-aid upon being classified as a graduate students.
• Students may receive both degrees simultaneously. If they complete the combined bachelor's/master's program within six years of their initial registration as full-time first year students, they will receive a transcript notation of that effect.
• Students who choose to receive the bachelor's degree in a term prior to finishing the requirements for the graduate degree lose the ability to double count six hours towards both degrees.
• Only full-time students are eligible for this program

For further inquiry, please make an appointment with Dr. Douglas Coffin, Graduate Program Director, in the Paper and Chemical Engineering Department. You can call (513)-529-0760, or stop by the office 64 in the Engineering Building