Accelerated Graduate Placement

The Accelerated Graduate Placement (AGP) opportunity at DBU provides a means for highly motivated individuals with clearly defined career goals to demonstrate knowledge and skills from both undergraduate and graduate courses in the same semester, earning credit for graduate work while completing their undergraduate degree.  Accelerated Graduate Placement credit earned may be applied when the student begins his or her graduate program at DBU, allowing the student to shorten the time to completion of a master’s degree.

Permission to Pursue Accelerated Graduate Placement Credit:

Students wishing to earn Accelerated Graduate Placement credit must meet the following requirements:

• Completion of 80 undergraduate semester hours. A minimum of 12 of these hours must be upper-level hours completed at DBU with a minimum institutional GPA of 3.0.

• Completion of Intent to Pursue Accelerated Graduate Placement signed by the student, undergraduate advisor and graduate advisor or Dean of the appropriate college/school.

• Completed application for admission to the master’s program. 

Note:  Neither completion of the graduate application nor submission of application for AGP credit guarantees admission to the Master’s program.  All requirements for admission to the Master’s program must be met.

Policies and Procedures for Pursuing Accelerated Graduate Placement Credit

When students who have fulfilled the requirements above enroll in one of the 4000-level courses from the table below, they may notify the professor of the course that they intend to complete the graduate-level requirements listed in the syllabus for Accelerated Graduate Placement credit for the corresponding 5000-level course in the table below. The student must complete this notification in writing within two weeks of the start date of the course.

AGP-eligible course syllabi include graduate-level Learner-Centered Outcomes that correspond to the learning outcomes of their paired graduate course as well as additional assignments the student must complete satisfactorily to demonstrate graduate-level competency.  Within four weeks of completing an AGP-eligible undergraduate course, students who meet all of the requirements for graduate-level competency, including earning a minimum grade of B for the undergraduate class in which they are enrolled, may submit documentation to the Graduate Programs Office for inclusion in their AGP file.

Documentation Required:

• Transcript showing completion of the undergraduate paired course with a minimum of a B.

• Signed Attestation of Graduate Competency Achievement confirming that the student has fulfilled the graduate-level learner-centered outcome(s) and successfully produced one or more artifacts demonstrating graduate-level knowledge and skills.

When the student completes his or her undergraduate degree and is accepted into the graduate program, he or she will complete the AGP Credit Approval Form. The Graduate Programs Office will confirm that the student has fulfilled all requirements for AGP credit and has demonstrated sufficient competency for the graduate-level Learner-Centered Outcomes identified.  Upon confirmation of the student’s meeting all requirements, the Graduate Programs Office will provide this form as confirmation of graduate competency to the Registrar’s Office for the appropriate graduate course(s) and the student will be granted AGP credit for the course(s).

The following policies apply to all AGP credit:

• AGP credit may only be earned for identified paired courses from the table below.

• No course substitutions are permitted for the earning of AGP credit at the undergraduate or graduate level.

• AGP credit may only be applied toward graduate program completion if the paired graduate course applies to the graduate program degree plan. 

• No course credit substitutions based upon AGP credit may be applied to a graduate program.

• AGP credit can only be applied to graduate programs of greater than 30 credit hours.

• AGP credit can only be applied for the number of graduate hours required in excess of 30 for the graduate program.

• A minimum of 30 independent, non-AGP semester hours successfully completed at the graduate level are required to complete any graduate program.

• Determination of the student’s successful demonstration of graduate competency may only be made by a qualified faculty member with a terminal degree in the field.

• The student must begin the graduate program within two years of undergraduate commencement in order to apply for AGP credit on the graduate program.

• It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that courses for which he or she seeks AGP credit will apply to the graduate program he or she intends to pursue. Careful review of specific graduate program requirements for each degree plan should be conducted before the student elects to pursue AGP credit. Regular consultation with the graduate program advisor is strongly recommended.

TABLES OF PAIRED COURSES BY COLLEGE