Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis has announced several new accelerated degree programs that will help students graduate earlier and save money in the process.

Students who enroll in the new accelerated programs will be able to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years instead of six, saving an average of $7,000 in tuition and fees for Indiana students and $18,000 for out-of-state enrollees.

The accelerated degree programs that have been developed or are under development currently include:

• B.S. in health science and M.S. in health informatics;
• B.S. in tourism, convention and event management and M.S. in informatics;
• B.S. in informatics and Master of Jurisprudence;
• B.S. in public health and M.S. in health informatics;
• B.S. in marketing and M.S. in informatics;
• B.S. in informatics and M.S. in criminal justice;
• B.S. in biology and M.S. in bioinformatics.

Informatics is the application of information technology to other fields.

“The accelerated five year degrees aren’t designed to turn everyone into a computer scientist or technologist,” stated Karl MacDorman, associate professor in human-computer interaction and associate dean of academic affairs in the School of Informatics and Computing. “We want students to be able to follow their passion, and informatics can help them do that.”

Students in the accelerated five year programs forgo taking undergraduate elective classes. They instead start taking master’s classes that apply to their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The intent is that students will be better positioned for in-demand, well-paying jobs thanks to the accelerated programs.

“This is an accelerated program that will, like the other B.S./M.S. programs, dramatically increase the employment prospects of individuals receiving the degrees,” said MacDorman.

Source: IUPUI