Program Overview

Program Overview

The Five-year BS/MS program offers high-performing undergraduates a seamless way to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. This accelerated option is ideal for students who want to deepen their technical skills, engage in advanced research, and strengthen their career prospects—all in less time than earning both degrees separately.

Program Details

Aerospace Engineering

This program combines the solid fundamentals of undergraduate study with graduate-level depth in areas such as aerodynamics, propulsion, orbital mechanics, and aerospace structures. Students can participate in research alongside faculty and collaborate with industry leaders and government labs like NASA and the UT Space Institute. Earning your master’s just one year after your bachelors boosts your qualifications for competitive roles in aerospace engineering and opens doors for doctoral study or leadership in industry.

Mechanical Engineering

The department offers a five-year BS/MS Mechanical Engineering Program for qualified students who may take up to nine hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. Students in the five-year program often engage in research with faculty, collaborate with partners like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and graduate with enhanced skills that make them more competitive in the job market or better prepared for doctoral study.

Program Requirements

• Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 hours of required course work while full admission is granted after completing 96 hours of required course work with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4 in required course work.
• Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit.
• Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School.
• Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.