Accelerated-Degree Program (BA/MPA) (BA/JD)

BA/MPA Accelerated Degree Program

Earn a BA plus a Masters in Public Administration in as few as five years.

Rutgers University-Camden offers Political Science majors accelerated degree option in which highly motivated, career-minded students can earn a BA in Political Science as well as an MPA from our Department of Public Policy & Administration (DPPA) on an accelerated basis. After reading the description below, interested students should download and complete an application from the following link and submit it to the Department Chair

Advantages

  • Undergraduates take four graduate classes (12 credits) that count toward both their BA and their MPA. Double counting these classes accelerates attaining the MPA degree. These 12 credits are billed at the undergraduate tuition rate.
  • Students in the accelerated BA/MPA are not required to take the GRE or any other standardized admission test in order to formally apply admission to the DPPA masters program.
  • Earn an MPA from a nationally accredited degree program.

Admission Requirements

  • A 3.0 GPA in Political Science and overall.
  • Students must have completed at least the first semester of their sophomore year (45 credits) with a minimum of one year (30 credits) at Rutgers
  • Students must be admitted and begin the program no later than the beginning of their senior year (after completing a maximum of 96 credits)

Standard Program

Fall/Junior Year: Students apply for admission to the BA/MPA program. Interested students are encouraged to meet with Dr. Harris, who also teaches in the DPPA.

Spring/Junior Year: The Associate Dean for the Graduate Studies sends the student letters of acceptance into the accelerated degree program before the April pre-registration period. The letter specifies the conditions for the program, maintaining a 3.0 GPA and taking a maximum of four graduate courses (12 credits) while still an undergraduate. A copy of this letter is sent to Admissions, to the Records Division of the Registrar’s Office and to the DPPA Chair.

During pre-registration advising on the student’s senior year schedule, using a special permission number, the student is registered for TWO graduate courses in fall of the senior year. These courses are taken along with his/her regular undergraduate courses. The undergraduate tuition rate is charged for them, and the credits are double counted (i.e. they are part of the 120 credits required for the BA and are also counted toward the MPA).

Fall/Senior Year: Following the registration procedure described above, the student is registered for TWO additional graduate courses to be taken in the spring semester of the senior year. These classes are also counted toward both the BA and the MPA.

Spring/Senior Year: The student formally applies to the Graduate School, following all normal procedures. The student is awarded the Baccalaureate degree. Having been formally admitted to the graduate school, the student may begin taking regular MPA courses in either the summer or the fall after graduation. Upon entering graduate school, the student will already have completed four of the courses required for the Master’s degree.

No student will be classified as a graduate student and coded school 56 until the baccalaureate degree has been awarded.

Rutgers Law School 3+3 (formerly known as BA/JD Dual Degree Program)

3+3 Program: Bachelor’s/JD Dual Degree

The BA/JD Dual-Degree Program enables accomplished students to complete both a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor in six years, rather than the usual seven.

Students participating in this accelerated “3 + 3” program enter the Law School and complete their first year of law school courses during their fourth year as undergraduates. To prepare for this fourth year, they must complete all undergraduate course requirements in General Education and in their chosen major and compile at least 91 credits during their first three years in the School of Arts and Sciences in Camden. The 29 credits completed during the first year of law school count toward both degrees. 

Normally, BA/JD students are awarded their bachelor’s degrees at the end of their fourth year and are eligible to participate in the School of Arts and Science’s graduation ceremonies at that time. The Juris Doctor is typically awarded after two additional years as a full-time law student, on successful completion of the required course credits in the Law School and of all other J.D. requirements.

For more information, visit the 3 + 3 page at the Rutgers Law School.  

 

Contacts

For further information, contact Rutgers Law Admissions, 

The Pre-Law advisor for the Department of Political Science is Dr. Anthony Grasso