College of Engineering
Engineering Bldg. (13), Room 266
(805) 756-2131

The "4 + 1" Program is an accelerated route to the professional degree. In many evolving technical areas, four years is not enough time for the formal education of an engineer about to enter a lifelong career of professional practice, even when the individual is committed to life long learning.

The college offers an accelerated program for directed and motivated students. The "4 + 1" program allows General Engineering students to progress toward the terminal applied masters degree in bioengineering, mechatronics or manufacturing, as offered under the MS Engineering, while still undergraduates. The program enables students to earn both a B.S. and an M.S. degree in five calendar years.

Students are formally eligible to apply to this program after the first quarter of their junior year. Participation in the program is based on prior academic performance and other measures of professional promise. Students are selected by interdisciplinary faculty committee, chosen on the basis of the student's area of interest. Students are awarded their B.S. degree and their M.S. degree at the completion of the program, when all requirements for both degrees have been met. The thesis serves to complete the senior project requirement in addition to fulfilling the requirement for the M.S. degree, reducing total unit requirements. The program allows the student to complete a more meaningful capstone experience, linking the classroom experience to thesis work. Furthermore, this arrangement increases a student's possibilities for industrial interaction in their professional program.

In addition, the General Engineering "4 + 1" student is allowed to earn graduate credit for several of their senior electives, effectively decreasing the summed unit requirement for the two degrees. The scheduling flexibility provided by the "4 + 1" program enables students to complete their degree in the most efficient manner. An example "4 + 1" curriculum is provided on the following pages.

Additional information may be obtained from the College
of Engineering.

In this example, a student chose to focus on biomaterials aspects of the field.