Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program

The Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s (ABM) program gives you the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years. Four graduate courses (12 credit hours) can be taken while you are an undergraduate student and can be double-counted towards both your bachelor’s and master’s degree. This allows you to get a non-thesis MMSE degree or a thesis-based MS degree within a year of completing your B.S. degree.

Degree Options

	MS Degree Requirements	MMSE Degree Requirements
MSE Coursework	15 hrs of MSE graduate-level courses	18 hrs of MSE graduate-level courses
Additional Coursework	9 hrs of graduate-level courses from technical disciplines	12 hrs of graduate-level courses from any combination of MSE, chemistry, physics, math, or other engineering courses**
Research	6 hrs of MS thesis research*	Not required. Research projects cannot be used to fulfill MMSE degree requirements.
Thesis	Required	Not required
Total Hours	30	30

*ABM students choosing the MS degree must identify a faculty member willing to provide and supervise a suitable master’s research project. This faculty member will become the chair of the student’s MS thesis committee and will serve as the student’s academic advisor.

**subject to approval by the student’s academic advisor

Application Eligibility

• Students may apply once they have completed a minimum of 75 credit hours in their undergraduate programs, including credits earned from advanced placement, but prior to the completion of their bachelor’s. Students typically apply the fall of their junior year.
• Transfer students must have completed a minimum of 24 hours as a full-time student at NC State.
• Students must have a minimum overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.500 at NC State at the time of admission into the ABM program.

Student Eligibility Requirements

Typical ABM Program Schedule

	FALL	SPRING
B.S. Junior Year	Apply to Graduate School*	1 double-counted course
B.S. Senior Year	1 double-counted course	MSE 580 + 1 double-counted course
Master’s Year (MS)	3 hrs of MSE 695 thesis research + 6 hrs of graduate-level courses	3 hrs of MSE 695 thesis research + 6 hrs of graduate-level courses
Master’s Year (MMSE)	9 hrs of graduate-level courses	9 hrs of graduate-level courses

*Application Procedure

Interested students that meet the GPA requirement should schedule a meeting with the Undergraduate Student Coordinator and Director of Graduate Programs to discuss eligibility, graduate program options, and to develop tentative academic plans for the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs (this is called the ABM Plan of Work). 

While still an undergraduate, students must submit the standard application for admission to the Graduate School including an application fee and other documents/standardized test scores required by individual programs. An approved ABM Plan of Work form is required to admit a student into the ABM program.

There are three steps to the admission process:

1. Admission into the ABM program with a planned graduate program track (MS or MMSE) while an undergraduate student.
2. Receive a grade of B or better in the double-counted graduate-level courses while maintaining a 3.500 GPA. Courses with a grade of B- or below cannot be double counted between the two degrees.
3. After completion of the bachelor’s degree, ABM students are formally accepted and matriculate into the graduate program.

Notes:

• All double-counted courses must be completed before the undergraduate graduation date.
• Students in the ABM must receive the bachelor’s degree prior to entering graduate status.
• Any deviations from the approved ABM Plan of Work form, require that the updates be approved by the Directors of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs as well as the Graduate School.

Allowable Course Substitutions

Students admitted to the program may substitute up to four 400-level undergraduate courses (12 credits) for graduate-level courses: 

Course Title	Undergraduate	Graduate
B.S. Required Course
Materials Forensics	MSE 480	MSE 580
Electives*
Nuclear Materials	MSE/NE 409	MSE/NE 509
Processing of Metallic Materials	MSE 440	MSE 540
Ceramic Processing	MSE 445	MSE 545
Polymer Technology and Engineering	MSE 455	MSE 555
Composite Materials	MSE 456	MSE 556
Microelectronic Materials Science and Technology	MSE 460	MSE 560
Introduction to Nanomaterials	MSE 465	MSE 565

*Depending on the concentration chosen, MSE curricula also include three or four elective slots that can be used to complete the other two double-counted courses. These can be chosen from the list above, other MSE graduate-level courses, or from graduate courses in other disciplines that also satisfy the MS or MMSE degree requirements.

Application Procedure, Requirements, Continuing Eligibility, and Withdrawal

• Student Eligibility Requirements
• Application to the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program
• Withdrawal

Download the ABM Plan of Work: NC State ABM Plan of Work  (PDF)   |    NC State ABM Plan of Work  (DOCX)