>

Special Degree Programs

More information about special degree programs can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog. When considering such degree programs, students benefit from advanced planning and careful counsel with their academic advisers. 

  • College of Arts and Science

    Departmental Honors

    Nearly every major in the College of Arts and Science offers an honors option for their most high-achieving students. Candidates are nominated by their department in their junior year and must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.300 and a minimum major GPA of 3.300 (departments may raise these GPA minimums as their discretion). Beyond the major requirements, students conduct independent honors research and are required to demonstrate some degree of originality and maturity in the methods of independent investigation, analysis, and criticism, and skill in the written presentation of independent work. To earn departmental honors, students write a thesis and present an oral defense to the faculty in second semester of their senior year. Students that successfully complete the program can graduate with the distinction of “Honors” or “Highest Honors” in their major.

    Combined BA/MA (4+1) Programs

    The College of Arts and Science’s 4+1 programs give students the opportunity to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just five years. The following programs are available:

    Undergraduates with a strong academic record may apply for admission to the program through the relevant department after the first semester of their junior year.

    Teacher Licensure

    College of Arts and Science students may combine their academic majors with appropriate education programs through Vanderbilt’s Peabody College to satisfy various licensure requirements for teaching.

  • Blair School of Music

    Five-Year B.M. in Musical Arts/Master of Business Administration

    The five-year joint program between the Blair School of Music and the Owen Graduate School of Management allows interested musical arts degree students to overlap their undergraduate course work with work toward the MBA. By combining three and one-half years in Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music with one and one-half years of study in the Owen School, students may obtain both the bachelor of musical arts degree and the master of business administration in five years. Students must apply to the Owen School for admission to the five-year program during their junior year.

  • Peabody College of Education and Human Development

    Early Start Master’s Programs

    Peabody’s Early Start master’s programs allow current Vanderbilt juniors and seniors to begin taking graduate-level courses before receiving their bachelor’s degree. Many programs can be completed in as little as one year after your undergraduate degree, and many include internships in professional settings and/or research experiences that can set you up for success. Four+1 programs can be earned with one additional year of study (if some classes are taken in the summer). Four+1.5 or 4+2 programs may require one or two years of additional study (with summer study potentially needed).

    4+1 Programs

    • Applied Behavior Analysis (30 hours)
    • Community Development and Action (30 hours)
    • Elementary Education (33 hours)
    • Innovative Design and Technology in Education (33 hours)
    • Multilingual Education (30 hours)
    • Organizational Development for Social Innovation (30 hours)
    • Quantitative Methods and Data Analytics for Human Behavior (30 hours)
    • Reading Education (30 hours)
    • Secondary Education: Music, Math, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages (30 hours)

    4+1.5 and 4+2 Programs

    • Child Studies (36 hours)
    • Cognitive Psychology and Developmental Psychology in Context (36 hours)
    • Education Policy (36 hours)
    • Higher Education Administration (36 hours)
    • Integrated Early Childhood Education (36 hours)
    • International Education Policy and Management (36 hours)
    • Secondary Education: English (36 hours)
    • Special Education (30-60 hours)

    Peabody Scholars Program

    Peabody Scholars is the college-wide honors program for Peabody. The program is designed to attract Peabody’s brightest and most intellectually engaged students across all Peabody departments, to provide them with a community of like-minded scholars and numerous opportunities for academic and social enrichment.  Students apply to Peabody Scholars in the fall of their first year and, if accepted, begin the program in the spring semester.

  • School of Engineering

    Integrated Bachelor and Master of Engineering

    On the basis of recommendations containing favorable appraisals of professional promise, undergraduate students in the School of Engineering may be accepted into an integrated Bachelor of Engineering-Master of Engineering program. This program is currently available in chemical, civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering.

    Bachelor’s and Master’s in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Construction Management

    Undergraduates in civil engineering who want to fast track their professional career may choose to spend a fifth year to earn a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering with a concentration in construction management. Students should meet with the director of graduate studies in the department for more information.

    Accelerated Graduate Program in Engineering

    Students who enter Vanderbilt with a significant number of credits (20 to 30 hours), earned either through Advanced Placement tests or in college courses taken during high school, may be eligible for the Accelerated Graduate Program in Engineering. Through this program, a student is able to earn both a bachelor’s degree and an M.S. degree in about the same time required for the bachelor’s degree or slightly longer.