Five-Year Track For BS/MA in Psychological Sciences

The goal of this 3 + 2 track is to offer highly qualified NAU students the challenge of graduate study earlier than is usually the case. The B.S./M.A. program attracts a small number of students (1–3) each year who are academically capable and committed to the field of psychology.

The program is structured so that students will carry a full-load of graduate course work in the Fall of their fourth year. Because the B.S./M.A. students learn at an accelerated pace and actively engage, they are allowed to count 6 graduate credits toward both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. In all other respects, students must complete established degree requirements as documented in the NAU catalog. To complete both degrees within 5 years, students will need to enroll in at least some summer and/or winter courses. We encourage students to utilize summer and winter for liberal studies and minor courses (9 summer/ winter courses over 3–4 year period = 27 credits).

Once in the program, each semester the program supervisor will monitor the grades and progress of the BS/MA students. If students perform consistently below the grade of “B” in their courses or experience so much difficulty with their research that they are falling behind the pace of regular undergraduate majors in psychological sciences, they will be asked to drop the BS/MA Program and instead concentrate on their undergraduate degree before beginning graduate study.

Admission to the Program:

Students are required to apply February of their third year of study to the 3 + 2 program. The application form is equivalent to that used for admission to the standard graduate program. The deadline for application is February 1st. This application requires a nomination by a faculty member from the department of psychological sciences who will agree to serve as the student’s thesis advisor (see below).

In order to apply to the program the following is required:

• Completing 45–90 credits including PSY 101, 230, 302W.
• A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 for all course work and 3.5 for courses in psychology will be required for admission to the joint program.
• The student must have written agreement by a faculty member from the psychology program to serve as the student’s mentor. This mentor will normally be the student’s advisor for the master’s thesis.
• Application requirements and criteria are the same as for the MA.

6 credit overlap: Students are able to count 6 graduate credits toward their undergraduate degree. Students complete 120 credits for their undergraduate degree (6 of the credits are actually graduate credits) and all graduate degree requirements (36 – total required credits varies by the degree program).

The progression template can be downloaded from here.