Outstanding undergraduate students can earn a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree concurrently, and in less time than would typically be required to earn each degree separately by allowing up to 12 graduate credits to be counted towards both degree requirements. Undergraduate students can pursue a Bachelor's/Master's program, in which the Bachelor's degree is awarded in any major offered at WPI and the Master's degree is awarded as the MS-AI. Students enrolled in this joint Bachelor's/Master's program must satisfy all the program requirements of their respective bachelor's degree and all the program requirements of the MS-AI degree.
In consultation with their academic advisor, the student prepares a Plan of Study outlining the selections chosen to satisfy the Bachelor's/Master's program degree requirements, including the courses that will be double-counted. This Plan of Study must then be approved by the AI program.
Students may double-count courses towards both their undergraduate and graduate degrees whose credit hours total no more than 40 percent of the 30 credit hours (equivalent of 12 graduate credits) required for the MS-AI, and that meet all other requirements for each degree. These courses can include graduate courses as well as undergraduate 4000-level courses as long as (1) the undergraduate course covers similar material as a graduate course, (2) this corresponding graduate course satisfies the MS-AI degree program, and (3) the academic unit offering the graduate course also allows this corresponding undergraduate course to be used for BS/MS credit to satisfy this graduate course. Other 4000-level courses not meeting the above criteria and 4000-level independent study courses may be approved for double-counting for the Bachelor's/Master's MS-AI degree only through a petition and approval from the AI Program Committee.
For the relevant 4000-level courses, two graduate credits will be earned towards the joint Bachelor's/Master's degree if the student achieves grade B or higher, or otherwise with the instructor’s approval. In addition, faculty may offer, at their discretion, an additional 1/6 undergraduate unit, or 21 equivalently a 1 graduate credit, for completing additional work in the course. To obtain this additional credit, the student must register for 1/6 undergraduate unit of independent study at the 4000-level or a 1 graduate credit independent study at the 500-level, with permission from the instructor.