Graduate Programs > Guidelines for students interested in a BS/MS Program in CNS

Students should be interested in pursuing a dual degree within Departments in the College of Natural Science.

  The BS and the MS do not have to be from the same Department although in most cases they are.

  Students who are being considered for a dual degree program should have approval for admission from the department to the respective graduate program and a minimum GPA (overall and in CNS courses) of 3.0 (Students must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits.). The department/program should submit the following packet to the Office of the Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs:

• A memorandum indicating that the department/program is willing to accept the student into the dual degree program
• A completed MSU graduate application
• A check for the application fee
• A completed and signed "Student Information Form for the BS/MS Program."

Upon approval of the packet, the Assoc. Dean"s office will enter the BS/MS tracking code and forward the completed application packet to the Office of Admissions. This will authorize Admissions to process the application even if the student is only entering his/her junior year.

  Students must submit their MS Plan of Study to the Registrar's Office and the Dean's office for Student and Academic Affairs by the first semester in which they enroll for graduate applicable credits. The Registrar keeps a separate record of the student's BS and MS Programs. The purpose of this is based on the fact that students are held to different academic standards for their BS and MS Programs.

  Credits cannot be used to count toward both degrees.

  For financial purposes, students in the BS/MS program are considered undergraduates and therefore pay undergraduate tuition rates even for graduate credits up to, and including, the first 120 credits.

  Following the semester in which the student completes the 120th credit, the primary level is changed from UN to GR to allow the student to be eligible for a Graduate Assistantship. During a semester in which a student has a "mixed" enrollment of credits (some below 120 and some above) for the bachelor's degree and the master's degree, the student will be coded as an undergraduate.

  For students receiving graduate assistantships, the tuition waiver will only apply to credits greater than 120.

  Students in the BS/MS program cannot receive a graduate assistantship until the semester in which they are coded GR.

  Students enrolled for two undergraduate degrees are considered undergraduate until they have reached 150 credits. They will need an additional 30 credits for the MS and courses cannot be double counted. Students pursuing a second major are considered undergraduate until they reach 120 credits plus additional credits, if any, that would reasonable be required for them to complete the second major. Documentation of the additional credits should be on file in the Dean's office.

  Students may not receive their MS until all requirements for the BS have been completed.