5 Year BA/MPA Program

A Fast Track to Public Service Careers

Earn an undergraduate degree plus a masters in just 5 years.

• Rutgers University-Camden introduces an accelerated degree program in which highly motivated, career-minded students can earn a BA in Political Science as well as a Masters from our Graduate Department of Public Policy & administration in just five years!

• A 3.0 average in both undergraduate and graduate courses, completion of three prerequisite courses, and a formal application to the Graduate Department guarantees admission to the Masters Program!

• Fall/Junior Year:
  

Students are identified, informed about the program, and referred to the Graduate Directors.  Interested students may also meet with the Graduate Director to determine eligibility.

Spring/Junior Year:
1.  The Graduate Program Director sends the student a letter of acceptance into the dual degree program before the April pre-registration period. A copy of this letter is sent to Admissions, to the Records Division of the Registrar’s Office and to the Associate Dean for Graduate  Studies.

2.  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 or BS and are also counted  toward the MA or MS).

Fall/Senior Year:
Following  the registration procedure described above, the student is  registered for TWO graduate courses to be taken in the spring semester of the senior year.

Spring/Senior Year:
1.  The student formally applies to the Graduate School, following all normal procedures.

2.  The student is awarded the Baccalaureate degree.

Having been formally admitted to the graduate school, the student may begin taking 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.  He/she will also have saved  approximately $3400 in graduate tuition.

NOTE:

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

Questions about this option should be directed to the appropriate graduate program director.

• Contact Dr. Maureen Donaghy  or Dr. Michael Fortner for more details regarding this exciting opportunity!

A NATIONALLY AND REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED GRADUATE PROGRAM

• Earn a masters degree in a program with extensive alumni connections in all levels of government as well as the non-profit and voluntary sectors in the South Jersey Region. Our department regularly places graduates in the Federal Government's highly selective Presidential Management Intern Program!

• The Graduate Department has received national acclaim for its unique career track in International Development, run in conjunction with the Peace Corps and now celebrating its tenth anniversary. This track has attracted students to Rutgers-Camden from such diverse and prestigious institutions as Yale, Princeton, Brown, Spelman, and Wisconsin!

• In addition to several scholarships and other forms of financial aid, the Graduate Department offers capable students the opportunity, through the Forum for Policy Research and Public Service, to earn money while working on important social and political issues!

• Students who qualify for admission will spend their undergraduate years in small classes taught by a liberal arts faculty with outstanding accomplishments in academic publication, nationally supported research and the performing arts.

• The major for this combined degree program is Political Science, many of whose faculty hold joint appointments in the Graduate Department!

• The Political Science major includes an active internship program which regularly places students in political or government service positions and a strong honors program that affords ample opportunity for closely supervised study and research with individual professors!

• While not for everyone, this five year degree program prepares students to move directly into professional careers in government and public service!

• Making a difference in society today requires a mix of strong technical, analytic, and ethical tools combined with practical experiences. Rutgers-Camden's accelerated degree program put these tools in your hands and helps you to develop them through real work applications!