By Mel Dikert
Many students around campus have heard of the combined degree programs that Drew offers. These programs have been developed so that students can receive advanced degrees in certain subject areas that they are interested in pursuing. Most of these programs are created through partnerships Drew has with other colleges and universities, allowing students to complete their undergraduate studies at Drew in three or four years and then earn their graduate degrees somewhere else, spending less time and money than these degrees usually require to complete. For example, Drew offers a Business Management degree that allows a student to complete their Bachelor’s degree at Drew in the typical four years and then attend Wake Forest University where they will spend 10 months in their Business Management Graduate program.
Other combined degrees and partnerships that Drew has available to students include: Engineering with Columbia University, Environmental Management as well as Forestry with Duke, Law with New York Law School and/or Seton Hall, Medicine with Rutgers, Software Engineering with Stevens Institute of Technology, and Teaching with the Caspersen School of Graduate Studied here on campus.
Recently, two new combined degrees have been added to this list, making the total offered 11. “We are known for many very strong science and science research programs; this is just building out the options that are available to our students,” said Debra Liebowitz, Provost and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, on Drew’s website. Both of the new programs are in partnership with Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“I think this can only be good for the school. Giving future students this option will give them more of a reason to attend the school,” says Psychology major Jessica Ruotolo (‘21). She continued, “I am all for it and hope many students take advantage of this opportunity to accomplish their careers faster and at an overall cheaper cost.”
According to the website, the nursing partnership allows students to “earn a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science in nursing in just five years” by completing their undergraduate studies at Drew for the first four years and then going to Drexel to “earn their BSNs [Bachelors of Science in nursing] in 11 months of accelerated full-time study.”
For those students who want to become registered dietitians, they can decide to go through with the nutrition combined degree, “which examines how biochemistry, physiology and biology affect nutritional needs,” says Drew’s website. Students who are able to take part in this program can earn their bachelor’s and master’s of science in human nutrition in either five or six years. If they prefer the five-year program, they complete their undergraduate studies in three years and one semester at Drew and then finish off their degree in 18 months at Drexel. If they prefer the six-year program, students stay the typical four years at Drew and then finish earning their degree in two years at Drexel.
For more information on these combined degrees, visit http://www.drew.edu/academics/undergraduate-studies/majors-and-minors/combined-degree-programs/.
Photo Courtesy of Drew.edu
