SOE Shared Credit Program

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

The School of Engineering offers Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Programs designed to allow students to complete a B.S. and M.S., or a B.S. and M.Eng. degree in five years (depending upon the student’s mathematics preparation upon entering UNM as a first-year student). To accomplish this, some courses are counted towards both the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Students must have already been admitted to a baccalaureate program in the School of Engineering, and will apply during the junior year of the baccalaureate program after completing 75 credit hours applicable to the B.S. degree. Admission to the graduate portion of this program is provisional, and is not finalized until the student satisfactorily completes the requirements for the B.S. degree.

School of Engineering courses that can be shared between B.S. and M.S. degrees fall into two categories: 1) courses that are designated variously as technical electives, track electives, engineering electives, management electives, or advanced science electives; in the shared-credit degrees program, these courses are be replaced by 500-level graduate courses that count towards both degrees, and 2) courses that are double-numbers at both the 400- and 500-levels; students in the shared-credit degrees program take some of these courses at the 500-level with the course counting towards both the B.S. and M.S. degrees.

This program is intended to facilitate both disciplinary and interdisciplinary B.S. and M.S. degree programs. The exact curriculum for each student is determined by the director of undergraduate studies for the student’s B.S. degree and the director of graduate studies for the student’s M.S. degree, and is approved by the School of Engineering Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Students pursuing an interdisciplinary Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees program may be required to take prerequisite courses for the graduate level courses in the M.S. program. Thus, an interdisciplinary Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees program may require more than the nominal five years to complete. Because the mathematics requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Construction Management (B.S.C.M.) do not match those for engineering or computer science degrees, no interdisciplinary shared-credit degrees programs are available to those students who are pursuing the B.S.C.M.

Eligibility Checklist for B.S.Ch.E Students

Students in the B.S.Ch.E. degree program must meet each of the items on the list below in order to be eligible to apply to the Shared Credit Program.

  1. Student must be admitted to the B.S.Ch.E. degree program (i.e., not in Pre-Chemical Engineering status).
  2. One or more of the following B.S.Ch.E. degree requirements must still need to be completed: CBE 486: Introduction to Statistics and Design of Experiments, or one or both Technical Electives.
  3. Student must be currently taking or have already successfully completed CBE 311: Introduction to Transport Phenomena with a "C-" or better.
  4. Student must have a minimum degree GPA of a 3.0 after the semester in which their passing grades of "C-" or higher for CBE 253: Chemical Process Calculations II and CBE 302: Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics have posted (4th semester in the program, end of sophomore year/2nd year in the program).

Application Deadlines

FALL- April 1

SPRING - December 1

Application Instructions

  1. Download and complete the Shared Credit Application found in the Student Forms section of the CBE website here. Do not leave any area blank.
  2. Download your LoboTrax Degree Audit using the instructions are found here and include it in your application. Please reach out to your CBE academic advisor if you have any questions.
  3. Download a copy of the Shared Credit Worksheet for your intended graduate degree program from the Student Forms section of the CBE website here. On the worksheet, indicate when you plan to complete each of the requirements for your proposed graduate program. Be sure to indicate which courses you plan to take while you are an undergraduate student and which courses you plan to apply toward your BSCHE degree program. NOTE:  Students who choose the thesis option must already have support from a faculty member that is willing to work with them on an MS: Thesis option.
  4. Write a personal statement indicating the reasons for your interest and suitability for the shared credit program.
  5. NOTE: This last step (5) is only required if your degree GPA is less than a 3.5 but greater than a 3.0.  Request one letter of reference from a CBE faculty member.  The faculty member may submit the letter of reference directly to your CBE academic advisor or the faculty member may provide it to the student directly.   If the faculty member provides the letter directly to the student, the student must attach it to their application packet.   If the faculty member provides the letter directly to an academic advisor, they will attach it to the final application packet.
  6. Compile all of the documents from the above steps to create a complete application packet and submit it to your CBE academic advisor via email. Your academic advisor will review your packet and, if it is complete and accurate, will submit for faculty review. Once your application packet has been reviewed, you will be emailed an admission decision and further instructions on what to do next. Incomplete packets will not be sent to faculty for review