Fast-Track (4+1) Graduate Program

Program description, goals, and benefits

The Technology FastTrack program at DSU provides a unique opportunity for high achieving undergraduate students to obtain both a Bachelors and a Master’s degree in five years. This is accomplished by allowing these students to take selected graduate courses during their senior year. These courses will also count towards their undergraduate course requirements thereby fast-tracking their completion of a graduate program. The structure of the program provides distinct advantages to our undergraduate students and can provide a valuable recruiting tool for both the undergraduate and graduate programs. In effect, students will be able to:

• Leverage their presence on campus to complete some of the requirements of the graduate program during the last semesters of their undergraduate degree, thus reducing completion time by at least one semester. In effect, obtaining a BS and a MS degree in five years.
• Save on tuition cost by taking up to 9 credits of graduate course work that will count towards undergraduate and graduate program requirements.

Specific Undergraduate and Graduate Programs for Fast Track Requirements

The fast track programs are specifically for the Masters of Science in Information Assurance, Information Systems, Computer Science and Health Informatics graduate programs in the College of Business and Information Systems.

Undergraduate students in:

• Information Systems (INFS) would select the MSIS program;
• Network and Security Administration (NSA) would select the MSIA program;
• Cyber Operations (CO) would select either the MSIA or MSACS programs;
• Computer Science (CS) would select either the MSIA or MSACS programs
• Health Information Administration (HIA) would select the MSHI program.

Admission requirements

Students with a major in INFS, CO, NSA, CSC or HIA may be admitted to the Fast Track program upon completion of their junior year. Accordingly, they can apply to the program in the last semester of their junior year. To be considered, the student will have to meet the following requirements:

• Have senior status by the time they commence their joint undergraduate/graduate program.
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher after grades have been posted from their junior year.
• Have declared the Center of Excellence in Computer Information Systems minor (except HIA students).

Application requirements

A 4+1 application can be picked up in the College of Business & Information Systems Office, the Office of Graduate Studies & Research, or on the graduate website. A completed application package is required once a student has earned his/her BS degree. See program information for specific application requirements.