Since the Pratt School of Engineering’s 4+1 BSE/Masters Program was reintroduced last Fall, some undergraduates have used it to save tuition money on graduate school by earning a masters degree with just one additional year of study.
The 4+1 program allows students to complete a Bachelor Science of Engineering and Masters in Science in five years. Although the program has not yet gained large popularity, it is continuing to make progress, Pratt Dean Tom Katsouleas said. With the economic decline and difficult job market, the program should continue to become a more attractive option.
“In the competitive market and the global world, this program is the way you can tilt the shift towards your favor and have a competitive advantage over other engineers from different places,” Katsouleas said. “It’s a perfect complement for your undergraduate degree.”
Pratt’s 4+1 BSE/MS Program offers an option to acquire higher engineering degrees in a shorter length of time. Students can choose courses of study across all engineering departments.
One of Pratt’s primary goals has been to provide a multitude of options that cater to students’ unique needs, Jeff Glass, professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering and director of engineering management and entrepreneurship, wrote in an e-mail.
“The differentiation that a bachelor’s degree provides is not as strong as it was in the past, so the master’s degree becomes more beneficial,” Glass said. “The 4+1 program should be one of those options for students who have accelerated their undergraduate course work in some way and want to continue on for a master’s degree.”
William Gardner, Pratt ’09, is now on track for a doctorate after he completed the 4+1 program. He said he was originally unsure whether he planned to pursue a Ph.D., and he used the program as a stepping stone to see if he would still be interested in delving deeper into the field.
“With the economy as it is, it was an easy choice to pursue a master’s degree,” Gardner said. “It just felt easier to commit one year to it, and I was also considering doing a Ph.D. at that time. It gave me an option while I was testing the waters.”
Although Gardner found his experience in the program beneficial, Katsouleas said many students may not have heard of the program because it has not been widely advertised, adding that he is smoothing out problems within the program.
“Some current difficulties [include] lacking courses during the summer,” Katsouleas said. “There are financial difficulties right now that we are working through. We are currently dealing with them on an individual basis.”
Gardner can easily testify to the difficulties within the 4+1 program. As one of the handful of students enrolled in the program, he said he encountered some issues that took a while to resolve.
“There’s a lot of red tape,” Gardner said. “I think 4+1 students aren’t really classified as graduate students. You are labeled as a graduate student, but the administration and financial grant officers don’t seem to view us like that. It took about two or three months to get this financial issue resolved.”
Katsouleas and other Pratt administrators are still in the process of fine-tuning the 4+1 program. The necessity to do so is greater than ever because a “four-year undergraduate degree won’t be the standard for engineers anymore,” Katsouleas said.
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