Two birds with one stone: NGU’s combined graduate degree program
Samantha Meyeres, Staff Writer
“You will never again have the opportunity that you have right now.”
These are the words of Martin Jones, the associate dean over the college of business and entrepreneurship’s graduate and online programs at North Greenville University. He said this in reference to the combined graduate degree program, also known as the CDGP or combination degree.
The combination degree is a unique opportunity offered to undergraduate students at NGU where they can take graduate level courses while they are still working on their undergraduate degree. This allows them to get a master’s degree in five years.
Jones said, “the goal is to get our undergraduate students into graduate programs and to sort of better equip them for their careers.”
Having a Master’s of Business Administration, or MBA, can be helpful in obtaining a job in the business world after graduation.
“The MBA sets a resume apart in the sea of job applicants,” Jones said. “It not only prepares people at a different academic level for a career, but it also makes them much more sellable from a marketing perspective.”
The program does not add extra coursework to students’ schedules, but rather allows them to substitute some of their undergraduate classes for online master’s classes. The majority of students that begin the program are seniors looking to get their MBA. They take two eight-week graduate courses per semester. This means graduating with 12 masters credits.
Jones oversees the CDGP and is working to promote and raise awareness of it so that individuals who meet the requirements will see the value of being a part of the program.
In order to apply for the combination program, a student must have at least 75 credit hours and a minimum 3.0 career GPA.
The program is open to any NGU students, but there are prerequisite business and accounting classes that must be taken, and it is generally the most beneficial to business students.
The timeframe of the program is set up the same for all students: four master’s courses while they are pursuing their undergraduate degree and then one year after graduation to finish their graduate degree. If they did not do the program, it would take at least 18 months after graduation to obtain a master’s degree.
The program is also more cost effective than most master’s programs. A graduate credit costs just slightly more than an undergraduate credit, and financial aid and scholarships still cover it.
Though most students go on to finish their graduate degree the year following graduation, it is not required to complete the program immediately or even to finish it at all.
Jones said the fact that completing the program is not required should be even more incentive for students to do it. They never lose the master’s credits that they earn during undergrad, so they can come back and finish their master’s degree when and if they choose.
The application for the combination program is a simple process. There is a digital application form which, once filled out, then goes through the administrative coordinator and the student’s academic advisor.
After this, the application gets sent to the associate dean of the undergraduate program and finally to Jones as the associate dean of the graduate program.
The process can take anywhere from 24 hours to two weeks, but Jones said it generally is a quick turnaround between applying and being accepted into the program.
Once accepted into the program, students are enrolled in a set of eight-week graduate courses. The classes are entirely online and taught by NGU professors. A handful of the professors also teach undergraduate courses and are therefore on campus, but some are adjunct professors who only teach master’s classes.
The courses require a high level of work from the students but do not tend to be unreasonably difficult.
“One of the things that we say to students is, being realistic, this is a master’s level program, and so you can expect to be challenged more than you might at your undergraduate level,” Jones said.
The shortened length of the courses lends itself to a heavier workload, but the online nature of the classes allows students a greater flexibility in their schedules.
Senior business management major Kealee Brinkley and senior marketing major Avery Carter are both in the combination program and agree that it has been beneficial for them. Both had a class with Jones and heard about the program from him.
Brinkley said that doing the program is allowing her to be able to graduate on time, where previously she would not have been able to. Right now she is not intending to continue on in the program after graduation but doesn’t see this as a reason not to do it during undergrad.
“I probably won’t finish my master’s,” she said, “but you can’t ever lose the credit, so if you decide not to finish it, it doesn’t hurt you. And if a company wants me to have it, and they’ll pay for me to get it, I’ll already have a third of it completed by time I graduate.”
Carter is in a different situation, but she also articulated the benefit of the program.
“I just enjoy the accelerated program to get it done faster. I feel like there’s only an advantage, and it does give more flexibility in your schedule, which I appreciate,” she said.
Carter is working part time at Biltmore Farms as the marketing coordinator and said she would not have been able to do that if it weren’t for the combination program.
She works Monday and Wednesday in person and remotely on Fridays. The CDGP allows for her to only have two in-person classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays alongside her master’s classes, giving her the opportunity to work on the other days.
By offering this combination degree, NGU stands out from other schools. Jones said that although other schools and colleges have similar programs, their programs either don’t allow their students to take up to 12 credit hours, take a longer period of time or cost more.
If a business student is considering pursuing a graduate degree and has a desire to join the program, they can talk to Jones or their academic advisor about applying.
