Baccalaureate/Master’s (all BS/MS variants), Baccalaureate/PhD and dual-degree programs

These accelerated and dual-degree programs permit undergraduates to earn course credits toward a master's degree or a doctoral degree while being enrolled as an undergraduate student. Students in BS/MS normally take 6 credits of graduate course work starting in their junior or senior year. Exceptional students with a cumulative GPA higher than 3.5 may take 9 credits of graduate course work. All other students will require a min CGPA of 3.0 to double-count up to 6 credits. These credits may be counted toward both a bachelor's degree and a following master's degree. Students are encouraged to pursue graduate study immediately following the completion of the bachelor's degree. Students who may wish to start pursuing a graduate degree later should keep in mind that courses expire after seven (7) years. The graduate advisor will determine the graduate-level courses taken for the NJIT undergraduate degree that will also count toward the graduate degree.  Graduate study may be completed full or part-time.

Full-time undergraduate students become eligible to apply for program acceleration after they complete at least five courses in their major and have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or better. Students in the Albert Dorman Honors College are pre-approved for the BS/MS program at the time of admission to NJIT but will receive letters about activating their status in BS/MS if their GPA is still above 3.0 and have earned between 57 and 110 undergraduate credits. The activation letter will instruct Honors College students about contacting the academic department undergraduate advisor. Applicants must satisfy all university requirements for admission to graduate programs (they must eventually submit an application to Admissions).

Exceptional students may seek to go into an NJIT doctoral program directly through the BS/PhD program and must have a record consistent with university criteria for doctoral study (3.5 GPA or better). GRE scores are required for doctoral admission.

Several other combinations of Bachelor’s-graduate degree acceleration exist, including dual-degree programs. The number of dual-use credits for these combinations may exceed 6 credits in accordance with specific program requirements. Two examples are the B. Arch/MS and the BS/MBA programs, which allow 12 dual-use credits. The entire suite of accelerated and dual-degree programs are listed on the Admissions web site.

MS-MS & MS-MBA Program Options

The MS-MS and MS-MBA dual degree program options allow students to pursue a second NJIT graduate  degree upon completion of the first and to count two courses (6 credits) or four courses (12 credits), respectively, from the first degree toward the second.   Most students continue their studies for the second graduate degree as soon as they finish with the first. Students who may wish to start pursuing their second graduate degree later should keep in mind that courses expire after seven (7) years. The second program’s academic advisor will determine the graduate-level courses taken for the first NJIT degree that will also count toward the second degree. The approval of the advisors of the two programs is required to pursue a dual degree program option. The MS/MS program option is not intended for students who have left the doctoral program without completion of the degree. Up to 6 credits may be transferred to the second Master's degree from outside NJIT. Thesis, project, pre-doctoral research, independent research and similar courses may not be used.

Several other Master’s degree combinations can allow more than 6 credits to count toward both degrees. In general, these apply to situations in which the first or the second degree programs requires considerably more than 30 credits. Examples are the Master of Architecture and the Master of Business Administration programs. The allowable dual counting of credits for the Master of Architecture in combination with other programs is described in the catalog sections on Architecture and Infrastructure Planning. Subject to specific course approval and the two year time limit for MS/MS as described above, up to 12 credits from a previously completed NJIT MS program in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Engineering Management may be applied toward completion of the 36 credit Master of Business Administration degree program. Subject to course approval, up to 18 credits may be used from a previously completed NJIT MS program in Management toward the completion of the 36 credit Master of Business Administration degree program. Subject to approval, up to 15 credits from a previously completed NJIT MBA can be applied toward the completion of the 30-credit MS in Management program.

The Collaborative Doctorate

The Collaborative Ph.D. program is designed for engineers, executives, scientists, military personnel, state and federal government employees, and educators who want to pursue a Ph.D. degree part-time while continuing full-time employment. The admission and academic requirements are the same as for NJIT’s regular Ph.D. programs but the collaborative nature of the program allows participants to draw on the combined expertise and resources of the university and their employer. The dissertation research of students in the collaborative Ph.D. is expected to produce original contributions to science, engineering, technology or management and satisfy all quality criteria set by the dissertation committee. The student’s main dissertation advisor is an NJIT faculty member while the research may meet the needs of the student and employer in advancing knowledge in the chosen discipline.

To apply to the collaborative Ph.D. program, candidates must have been employed in their specified field for at least a year. NJIT’s standard criteria for admission will be applied but prior work-related research activity, publications, and honors will also be considered in evaluating prospective participants.

More information about the program is available at https://catalog.njit.edu/graduate/academic-policies-procedures/collaborative-doctorate/.