Introduction

The 4+1 accelerated Master's program in Political Science is an expedited program of study that allows students to complete a Bachelor's degree in International Studies and a Master's degree in Political Science in as few as 5 years. Students will follow the undergraduate curriculum for International Studies and work closely with their faculty advisor to begin taking Political Science graduate level coursework as they complete their undergraduate degree. They will complete no more than 15 credits as an undergraduate that will apply to both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students may officially declare their intent to complete this program in either their junior or senior year, and may apply to the graduate program during their senior year. Application requirements may differ from the traditional 2-year MA, which is why students need to work closely with faculty advisors and the political science graduate program director for more information and to ensure they are following the best track to complete coursework so that they only have one year after completing the undergraduate degree, to complete the graduate requirements.

Please click here to see International Studies program information.

Please click here to see Political Science department information.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring this Program

Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

The INTS 4+1 BA/MA program is open to any INTS major who has reached junior-level status (completed 60-credit hours of coursework) with a GPA greater than 3.0. Students eligible to declare the INTS BA/MA degree program must be active CU Denver students who have competed at least one semester in residence at CU Denver, including at least two CU Denver PSCI courses.

In order to declare the INTS 4+1 BA/MA program prior to completion of the BA degree, interested students should consult with both the INTS undergraduate and PSCI graduate advisors. Students must complete a 4+1 BA/MA degree intent form to formally declare this program, as they work very closely with undergraduate and graduate advisors to ensure they are on track and completing requirements as necessary. Completed 4+1 degree declaration forms are submitted to CLAS Advising for processing.

All students who have declared the 4+1 degree program option as undergraduates must submit a formal application through the CU Denver Graduate Admission’s online application system during their final semester of undergraduate coursework. The department’s preferred application deadlines are April 1 (summer term), May 1 (fall term), and November 1 (spring term).   

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major and graduate advisors and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Curriculum
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Students will follow the undergraduate curriculum for International Studies and work closely with their faculty advisor to begin taking Political Science graduate level coursework as they complete their undergraduate degree.
2. A minimum of 48 undergraduate credit hours in the International Studies program and 33 graduate credits hours in Political Science must be completed to earn both an undergraduate and a graduate degree through this 4+1 program.
3. Up to 15 graduate level credit hours in Political Science may be taken by International Studies undergraduates accepted to the 4+1 program, and these credits will count both towards completion of the International Studies undergraduate degree, and the graduate degree in political science, if the student is later accepted into the graduate program. No more than 15 credit hours may "double-count" for the M.A.. Elective courses must be in accordance with Graduate Education Policies, therefore, meeting with an advisor regularly is recommended. 
4. Students must complete a minimum of 24 upper-division (3000-level and above) credit hours and all graduate level credits with CU Denver faculty.
5. Students should officially declare their intent to complete this program by their junior year and apply to the graduate program during the semester they intend to graduate with their BA.
6. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all undergraduate major courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.5.
7. Students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in any graduate level course for it to later be counted towards graduate degree requirements.
8. No course taken as P+/P/F or S/U may be counted.
9. To secure admission to the Political Science graduate program, submit formal graduate application during the senior year.
10. Application requirements may differ from the traditional 2-year MA, which is why students need to work closely with faculty advisors and the political science graduate program director for more information and to ensure they are following the best track to complete coursework so that they only have one year after completing the undergraduate degree, to complete the graduate requirements for Political Science.

To learn more about the learning outcomes for the International Studies undergraduate program, please visit our website.

To learn more about the learning outcomes for the Political Science graduate program, please visit our website.