Accelerate Your Graduate Journey With Shared Credit Programs

A shared credit program allows you to share credit hours in the last year of your bachelor's degree with graduate level courses that can be applied to a master's degree. Anderson offers shared credit programs for highly motivated students interested in fast-tracking your college journey and making yourself more competitive in the job market. Overall, these programs reduce your cost and time to graduate with a master's degree. All undergraduate students at UNM, regardless of degree, can pursue an Anderson shared credit program. Space is limited—connect with us at andersongrad@unm.edu today and start your path to graduate success!

We offer four ways to earn master's credit during your bachelor's degree:

4+1 Project Management Program
4+1 Cybersecurity and Business Analytics Program
4+1 Accounting Program
GPA Rule for General Master's Credit for MBA and Online MBA

Benefits of a Shared Credit Program

Fill Your Electives: Fill up to 9 credit hours of electives with master's classes
Share Credit: Master's classes taken during a bachelor's degree can be counted as undergraduate elective credit and master's credit, as long as a grade of "B" or better is earned in the master's course
Pay Less for a Master's: Use your undergraduate scholarships and funding to pay for up to 9 credit hours of graduate classes, reducing the cost of your master's degree
Accelerate Your Master's: Earn your master's degree in one year after graduating if attending full time, or take classes part time and finish at your own pace
Advance Your Career: Earning a master's degree helps you advance in your career faster and makes you more attractive to employers

4+1 Project Management Program

The 4+1 Project Management Program is for students interested in pursuing the Master of Science in Project Management during their bachelor's degree. Every UNM bachelor's degree qualifies for admission to the 4+1 Program, if you have a 3.0 GPA by the time you apply — no need to be a business major. Project management offers high-paying roles in many sectors, so you will have many jobs to choose from after graduation.

Steps to Apply

Years 1 - 3: Pursue your undergraduate curriculum, including General Education requirements and degree requirements. Save 9 credit hours of electives until your final year of study.
Year 3, second semester: Apply for admission to the MS in Project Management program for the semester you want to start taking master's coursework. You can begin graduate courses in your final two semesters before graduation, but no earlier. Your cumulative GPA must be 3.0 or higher at time of application for admission consideration.
After admission: Fill out the Level Restriction form using the steps below to request access to the approved courses, which will be immediately added to your schedule upon approval.
Year 4: Take 9 credit hours of master's classes for undergraduate electives while finishing your bachelor's degree requirements.
Year 5: Finish the remaining 21 credit hours of the MS in Project Management program, or take classes part-time and complete the degree at your own pace.

4+1 Cybersecurity and Business Analytics Program

The 4+1 Cybersecurity and Business Analytics program is for students interested in pursuing the Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Business Analytics during their bachelor's degree. Students must have a declared business, economics, engineering, computer science, or related technical degree to apply. Cybersecurity and Business Analytics are growing fields with many meaningful jobs available to graduates.

Steps to Apply

Years 1 - 3: Pursue your undergraduate curriculum, including General Education requirements and degree requirements. Save 9 credit hours of electives until your final year of study.
Year 3, second semester: Apply for admission to the MS in Cybersecurity and Business Analytics program for the semester you want to start taking master's coursework. You can begin graduate courses in your final two semesters before graduation, but no earlier. Your cumulative GPA must be 3.0 or higher at time of application for admission consideration.
After admission: Fill out the Level Restriction form using the steps below to access the approved courses, which will be immediately added to your schedule upon approval.
Year 4: Take 9 credit hours of master's classes for undergraduate electives while finishing your bachelor's degree requirements.
Year 5: Finish the remaining 24 credit hours of the MS in Cybersecurity and Business Analytics program, or take classes part-time and complete the degree at your own pace.

Application Requirements

3.0 cumulative GPA at time of application
Declared major in business, computer science, engineering, economics, or related technical field
Recommended: Completion of MGMT 330, ECE 131L, CS 152L, or CS 151L with a B or better prior to application

4+1 Accounting Program (also known as the BBA-MACCT Integrated Program)

Start your Master of Accounting through the 4+1 Accounting Program before you graduate with your bachelor's degree. Every UNM bachelor's degree qualifies for admission to the program if you have a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the time you apply. There is no need to be a business student. You are allowed to take up to 9 credit hours of master's classes for undergraduate electives.

Steps to Apply

Years 1 - 3: Pursue your undergraduate curriculum, including General Education requirements and degree requirements. Save up to 9 credit hours of electives until your final year of study.
Year 3, second semester: Apply for admission to the Master of Accounting program for the semester you want to start taking master's coursework. You can start taking graduate courses in your final two semesters before graduation (usually within 36 credit hours of graduating), but no earlier.
After admission: Fill out the Level Restriction form using the steps below to request access to the approved courses, which will be immediately added to your schedule upon approval.
Year 4: Take up to 9 credit hours of master's classes for undergraduate electives while finishing your bachelor's degree requirements.
Year 5: Finish the remaining 21 credit hours of the Master of Accounting Program or take classes part-time and complete the degree at your own pace.

GPA Rule for General Master's Credit

Request to take master's courses as an undergraduate from the MBA and Online MBA program following the steps below.

If Your GPA is 3.0 - 3.49

You can request to take up to 6 credit hours of master's classes if you are within 10 credit hours of finishing your bachelor's degree. These courses cannot be counted as undergraduate electives and you would pay master's tuition for them. A grade of "B" or better must be earned in the course to qualify for master's credit.

If Your GPA is 3.5 or Higher

You can request to take up to 6 credit hours of master's classes if you are within 10 credit hours of finishing your bachelor's degree. These courses can be counted as undergraduate electives and you would pay undergraduate tuition for them. A grade of "B" or better must be earned in the course to earn master's credit.

Steps to Request Courses Using the GPA Rule

Fill out the Level Restriction form using the steps below to request access to one or two approved courses.
Courses will be approved two weeks before the semester begins, if there is still room in the course.
If approved, courses will be immediately added to your schedule.

How to Fill Out the Level Restriction Form

Visit the Registrar's Office forms page. You may need to sign in with your UNM NetID.
Click the button to open the form.
From the first dropdown menu, choose "Level Restriction/Graduate Credit."
Fill in the Student and Course Information sections.
Check the box labeled "This class is being taken for shared credit" at the bottom of the course information section.
If you are admitted to the 4+1 Programs, select "UG taking Grad course for UG credit" from the Course Credit Level dropdown menu.
If you are using the GPA Rule, select "UG taking course for Grad credit" from the Course Credit Level dropdown menu.
Enter andersongrad@unm.edu as the advisor and the course instructor email.
Courses will be approved no later than two weeks before the semester begins, if courses still have available seats.