This program allows outstanding undergraduates interested in Political Science to complete their B.A. and M.A. at UH in five years.  This program saves students a year of time and tuition, and gives them a graduate degree that can help them be more competitive in the job market and on their applications to grad school and law school.

To be eligible for the program, students must maintain a minimum of 3.33 GPA. 

Interested Juniors should submit a preliminary application by April 15.  If admitted into the program, students would begin taking graduate-level courses in the Fall of their Senior year.  

Shared Course Credit

The most important feature of the program is that 6 semester hours of graduate-level courses can be used as dual credit for both the B.A. and the M.A. degrees.  All other requirements for the degrees must still be fulfilled.

Application

Preliminary Application: this application consists of the preliminary application form, a statement of purpose, unofficial transcripts, and one letter of recommendation. The application would be evaluated by the Graduate Committee in the Political Science department. Since the student is an undergraduate with remaining upper-division coursework, acceptance into the Accelerated Program does not constitute automatic admission to the graduate program.

Full Graduate Application: Interested students should apply normally to the Political Science department in February of their Senior year. The details for application can be found here:

http://www.uh.edu/class/political-science/graduate/admissions/index.php

Capstone Seminar Paper

The capstone project consists in a qualifying paper.  This paper should be of sufficient quality to be presented at an academic conference or to be submitted for publication.

Degree Plan

See the “Forms” section ( click here) for degree plans for the BA and MA as part of this program.

Sample Schedule