Duquesne University offers undergraduate students with exceptional promise and academic backgrounds the opportunity to take graduate coursework as part of their undergraduate experience. Permission to take graduate courses is granted on a course-by-course basis by the appropriate graduate program director. Students must meet all academic requirements for enrollment in graduate-level courses. Students may be allowed to apply the graduate credits they earn while undergraduates at Duquesne towards a Duquesne graduate degree in one of two ways: 1) by being officially admitted into a non-entry-level combined or joint-degree bachelor’s/master’s degree program or 2) by request when students are admitted into a master’s program at Duquesne.

  1. Students officially admitted into non-entry-level combined Bachelor’s/Master’s degree programs may earn the combined bachelor’s/master’s degrees at an accelerated pace—typically within five years—by counting up to 15 credits of graduate-level courses taken while an undergraduate student towards the master’s degree. A combined bachelor’s/master’s program involves provisional admission to graduate standing so that both degrees may be earned as a result of a planned program of study. Provisional admission to combined bachelor’s/master’s degree programs typically occurs at the end of the junior year. Full admission to the master’s degree program occurs once the bachelor’s degree is awarded. No more than one graduate degree can be earned as a combined degree.
  2. Students who have earned a bachelor’s degree at Duquesne and subsequently apply to and are admitted into a Duquesne master’s degree may request that up to 15 credits of graduate-level courses completed while undergraduates be counted toward their graduate work. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis by graduate program directors.

Credit Hour Requirements

Although students may apply up to 15 credits of graduate-level courses taken while undergraduate students towards the master’s degree, they must still complete the Pennsylvania Department of Education's minimum requirement of 150 semester hours to earn both degrees; at least 120 semester hours are required for the bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 30 semester hours at the graduate level for the master’s degree.

Undergraduate courses may not be used to fulfill graduate degree requirements. When enrolling in cross-listed undergraduate/graduate courses, students must adhere to the Policy for Cross-listed Undergraduate/Graduate Courses.