Admissions, Processes, and Policies
JHU undergraduates interested in pursuing a WSE master’s degree concurrently should check with the prospective graduate program to determine its application deadline, application requirements, and degree requirements for the combined degree program. Please visit the Homewood Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs website to review policies regarding applications and programs for combined BS/MS programs.
NOTE: Whiting/Krieger School alumni who pursue a WSE master’s degree are granted many of the same benefits as those in the combined bachelor’s/master’s degree program (i.e., financial aid and the opportunity to double-count coursework, which is at the department’s discretion).
Combined bachelor’s/master’s students will earn graduate student status and receive a Dean’s Master’s Fellowship, covering 50 percent of tuition, when they have full-time, resident status in a fall/spring semester, have been admitted to a full-time WSE master’s program, and have completed eight full-time semesters of study at JHU.
(NOTE: Requirements are slightly different for those alumni who have completed their degree, but did not maintain continuous enrollment at JHU. More information about the Dean’s Master’s Fellowship can be found on the Graduate Financial Aid page. To change this status, a Change of Classification Form for Concurrent Students must be filed through the Office of the Registrar on behalf of the student. (See “Status Change Procedures” below.)
Combined bachelor’s/master’s students who have not yet completed eight full-time semesters at JHU and have retained undergraduate status are eligible to continue to apply for undergraduate financial aid through the Office of Student Financial Services. (Transfer students are treated differently; see below.) Alternatively, they can apply for graduate student status, earn health insurance benefits, and apply for federal financial aid (through the Office of Student Financial Services), but they cannot earn a Dean’s Master’s Fellowship until they have completed their eighth semester of full-time study at JHU.
Once a student attains graduate status, they no longer are eligible to receive undergraduate financial aid, including the Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal SMART Grant, Federal Parent PLUS loans, the Bloomberg Scholarship, Hodson Scholarship, and/or Westgate Scholarship.
Loan limits for the federal student loan programs change when a student’s classification switches from “undergraduate” to “graduate.” For further financial aid information, please visit the website for the Office of Student Financial Services.
Transfer students are evaluated upon entry and awarded either sophomore or junior class standing. A transfer sophomore is eligible for six semesters of undergraduate financial aid and is eligible for graduate status (including health insurance benefits and access to federal financial aid through the Office of Student Financial Services) after having completed either:
(1) the requirements for a bachelor’s degree, or
(2) six semesters of full-time study at JHU, whichever comes first.
However, in order to become eligible to earn a Dean’s Master’s Fellowship, a transfer sophomore must complete six semesters of full-time study at JHU.
A transfer junior is eligible for four semesters of undergraduate financial aid and is eligible for graduate status (including health insurance benefits and access to federal financial aid through the Office of Student Financial Services) after having completed either:
(1) the requirements for a bachelor’s degree, or
(2) four semesters of full-time study at JHU, whichever comes first.
However, in order to become eligible to earn the Dean’s Master’s Fellowship, a transfer junior must complete four semesters of full-time study at JHU.
Once a concurrent student’s status switches from “undergraduate” to “graduate,” the undergraduate transcript is closed and a graduate transcript opens. These are two separate documents. If a concurrent student takes any more courses to be applied to the undergraduate degree, beyond the point that his/her status is switched to “graduate,” these courses will appear on the graduate transcript only (and thus, not be factored into the cumulative GPA on the undergraduate transcript).
Likewise, courses ultimately applied to the master’s degree but taken before the student’s status is switched to “graduate,” are found on the undergraduate transcript only (and thus, unintentionally factored into the cumulative GPA on the undergraduate transcript). Undergraduate students are not eligible to receive graduate student tuition support; therefore, a concurrent student cannot retain undergraduate status in order to leave open the undergraduate transcript and receive a graduate tuition waiver at the same time.
In order for a student’s status to change from “undergraduate” to “graduate,” a Change of Classification Form for Concurrent Students must be completed. For students whose status change is due to completion of eight semesters of full-time undergraduate studies at JHU (or the equivalent for transfer students), it is the responsibility of the program coordinator in the student’s chosen graduate program to sign the form and forward it to the Office of the Registrar.
For students whose status change is due to completion of undergraduate degree requirements prior to the eighth semester of full-time undergraduate study at JHU (or the equivalent for transfer students), it is the responsibility of the program coordinator in the student’s undergraduate program to sign the form first. It then goes to the student’s graduate program before it is received by the Office of the Registrar.