Registrar's Office

Office of the Registrar
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5256 USA
(269) 387-4300

Accelerated Graduate Degree Programs

The Accelerated Graduate Degree Programs allows students to begin accumulating credits towards the completion of a master’s degree while still enrolled as undergraduates. Undergraduate students admitted to an AGDP with senior standing can take up to 12 hours of designated 5000 and/or 6000 level courses for graduate credit which can be used in both the Bachelor’s degree and the Master’s degree. The Accelerated Graduate Degree Program Course Approval form should be completed when admitted to the AGDP.

View the Accelerated Graduation Degree Program Course Approval form
Accelerated graduate degree programs mean that the masters is accelerated, not the bachelor’s degree. Students in AGDPs are considered undergraduates for tuition purposes until they receive their bachelor’s degree.

Up to 12 hours of graduate credit can be double counted in both the bachelors’ degree and the master’s degree. The AGDP course approval form must be completed and submitted to the Registrar’s Office before the student takes graduate courses to be double counted.

Those graduate courses, which are double counted, will appear on the student’s graduate transcript and will be part of the graduate GPA. The hours that are double counted will be added to the undergraduate transcript and the grades will be included in the undergraduate GPA. This will be done manually when the student completes the graduate degree.

It is important that both the application and the letter of acceptance from the department clearly indicate that the student is in an AGDP.

Admission

  • The student follows the departmental Accelerated Graduate Degree Program application process.
  • The student applies for graduation by completing their undergraduate audit with college advising office staff and returning the audit to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office staff will update the Banner degree screen (SHADEGR) with the anticipated graduation date for the bachelor’s degree. The semester following that anticipated graduation date will be effective term of the graduate admission.
  • The student’s undergraduate program and degree code will remain the same until completion of the bachelor’s degree. For example, a student in Mechanical Engineering will maintain the undergraduate ABSEMCH-MEGJ program code until the bachelor’s degree is awarded.
  • The student completes the online graduate application and within the application selects the application type “Accelerated degree seeking – only available to current WMU undergraduate student.”
  • The department approves a conditional admission to the accelerated master’s program and sends a copy of the departmental conditional admission letter to the Office of Admissions. Both the departmental admission form and letter should indicate that the student has been accepted to the accelerated master’s program.
  • Admissions staff confirms the entry term based on anticipated graduation term on SHADEGR, and admits the student to the master's for the term immediately following the anticipated graduation term. The student’s admission will be provisional pending completion of the bachelor’s degree.
  • The student will be considered a graduate student the first semester after the bachelor’s degree is awarded and will assessed graduate tuition from this point forward.

Registration

  • The department advisor will meet with the student to complete the AGDP Course Approval form. This completed form must be sent to the Registrar’s Office to become part of the student file.
  • When the undergraduate student needs to enroll in 5000 or 6000 level courses for graduate credit (as listed on the AGDP course approval form) the student will need to process the registration in the Registrar’s Office. The AGDP course approval form must be on record in the Registrar’s Office before the student enrolls in courses for graduate credit.