Accelerated Bachelor of Science to Master of Arts Marine Science Program

The Accelerated Bachelor of Science to Master of Arts Marine Science Program provides the opportunity for highly motivated and academically qualified undergraduate students to begin taking graduate courses during their senior undergraduate year with the intent of graduating with bachelor’s and master degrees in five years.

Major Requirements

The curriculum of the Accelerated Bachelor of Science to Master of Arts Marine Science (ABM) Program includes the following requirements:

Criteria for admission

The admission requirements which allow Marine Science BS majors to begin taking approved Marine Science graduate courses are contingent on these requirements:

1. Students must have completed a minimum of 75 semester hours in their undergraduate program prior to submission of the ABM Program application.
2. Transfer students must have completed a minimum of 75 semester hours and at least 30 semester hours at Jacksonville University.
3. Students must have a minimum overall undergraduate GPA of a 3.0 and a minimum GPA of 3.2 in the Marine Science major. If a student completes the bachelor degree requirements with an accumulated GPA of less than 3.0, then he/she is no longer eligible to apply the credit hours towards both degrees (i.e., the student can only apply the credit hours towards completion of the bachelor degree) and is automatically terminated from the ABM program.
4. The student must meet all graduate admissions requirements, including completed application form, statement of research interests, official copies of all transcripts or date they were requested, submission of official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores (Combined Verbal and Mathematics GRE scores of 1000 preferred), and three letters of recommendation.
5. Students applying with non-Marine Science majors will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Admission process

The application process consists of submission of ABM Program application and upon review, approval by the Marine Science Review Graduate Committee. The student would then be admitted into the Master of Arts program and can then begin taking graduate-level courses.

1. A prospective ABM student who meets the eligibility requirements must schedule a meeting with his/her undergraduate and graduate advisors to develop a degree plan for his/her bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The degree plans must clearly indicate the courses (a maximum of nine graduate semester hours at either the 500 or 600 level) that will be applied to both the bachelor and master degrees. Undergraduate courses cannot be used to meet graduate degree requirements.
2. The prospective ABM student must submit an ABM Program Application. The application must be approved by the Marine Science Graduate Review Committee.

Note:

Should a student later choose to change from a Master of Arts to a Master of Science in Marine Science, then the student could petition the Marine Science Graduate Review Committee. Such a change would require the student to take longer than five years to complete the program.

Application checklist

• A completed graduate admission application form
• An official copy of all non-JU transcripts
• Submission of official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores
• Three letters of recommendation

Requirements for participation and graduation

1. Students must complete the bachelor’s degree. Students in the ABM may not elect to by-pass the bachelor degree. However, conferring of degrees will occur at the time that the student completes the MA requirements.
2. Students must receive a grade of “B” or better in each of the graduate level courses that are being applied to both degrees. Any graduate course in which a student receives a passing grade of “B-“ or lower may be used to satisfy the BS degree, but not the MA degree. In this case, the student will have fewer than nine hours shared between degrees and will be required to take additional graduate courses as needed once he/she is pursuing the MA degree full-time.
3. No more than nine hours of graduate work (500-600 level) may be counted towards the bachelor’s degree and these can only be taken during the senior year (minimum of 90 earned credits). Nine hours of graduate coursework may be shared between the BS and MA degrees. Of these, six hours will be mandatory with two courses chosen from the four core graduate classes: MSC 501, MSC 502, MSC 503 or MSC 504 depending on course rotation, and three hours will be chosen from MSC 500- or 600-level electives.

   Notes:

   1. Students must have completed MSC 310WR prior to taking MSC 501 and it may be necessary for students to enroll in summer sessions to complete both degrees within the five year period.
   2. Students who take: 1.) MSC 502 would not need to take MSC 340, 2.) MSC 503 would not need to take MSC 306, or 3.) MSC 504 would not need to take MSC 308.
4. A student may at any time withdraw from the approved ABM program by informing the undergraduate and graduate advisor(s) in writing. For a student who withdraws from the ABM program prior to completing their BS degree, a student can petition the Department of Biology and Marine Science to apply any completed graduate credits towards their undergraduate degree. If a student elects to be re-admitted to the graduate program after completing their bachelor degree, the student would need to re-apply to the graduate program. Graduate courses that had been applied to their undergraduate degree cannot be applied for graduate credit.

Financial Aid

1. Students who are enrolled in the ABM program are not eligible for graduate assistantship positions until they complete the bachelor’s degree.
2. Students are required to consult with Financial Aid to determine any potential ramification during the change from undergraduate to graduate standing.