Five-Year Accelerated BA/MA Program in Applied Sociology
An accelerated five-year BA and MA program is available for UMass Boston eligible students interested in applied sociology. By entering this program students can earn both a bachelor's degree in their field of interest and a master's degree in applied sociology in less time than earning these degrees separately would require. Students are accepted into the full time master's degree program in their junior year, begin taking graduate courses in their senior year and complete the requirements in the fifth year. Upon completion of all requirements, students will be awarded both bachelor's and master's degrees. Students who do not complete the entire program, or do not have the required GPA to be awarded an MA degree, may choose to apply appropriate credits toward the bachelor's degree. This program consists of 140 credits (104 undergraduate and 36 graduate level credits or their equivalents), which can be completed in five years. Students may choose to carry less than a full course load and complete the program at a slower rate.
Admission Requirements:
- Students should apply to this program when they have completed at least three courses in sociology, but no later than the second semester of their junior year.
- Applicants must have completed 80 credits overall, including 30 credits at UMass Boston.
- Applicants must have a minimum 3.2 overall grade point average. Conditional admission may be granted to students with a lower GPA upon the recommendation of the graduate program director. Conditional status will be reassessed no later than the completion of twelve credit hours. A grade point average of 3.2 or better in courses completed is required for removal of conditional status.
- Applicants must have earned final grades of B or higher in Social Theory (Sociol 341), Research Methods (Sociol/CrmJus 351L), and Statistics (Sociol 350 or Psych 270).
- Admission decisions follow the same procedures and standards used to evaluate graduate applicants to the MA program. The GRE or MAT are not required and only two letters of recommendation are required.
- Students considering this program will need to complete all other UMass Boston undergraduate degree requirements within the 104 undergraduate credits (e.g., First Year and Intermediate Seminars, Quantitative Reasoning, Distribution Requirements, Diversity Requirements, and Writing Requirements).
Course Requirements:
- All requirements for the BA in Sociology including a course in statistics (Sociol 350 or Psych 270 or an equivalent course); OR
- All requirements for the BA in the Joint Major in Social Psychology including a course in statistics (Sociol 350 or Psych 270 or an equivalent course); OR
- All requirements for the BA in Criminal Justice including a course in statistics (Sociol 350 or Psych 270 or an equivalent course); OR
- A minor in Sociology including a course in statistics (Sociol 350 or Psych 270 or an equivalent course) and any major in the College of Arts and Sciences;
AND - All requirements for the MA in Applied Sociology. The degree requirements for the MA in Applied Sociology are the same for all students in the program regardless of their undergraduate majors.
Sociology majors in the five-year BA/MA program do not need to complete a separate capstone course for their undergraduate major.