USC Marshall graduates can take away a lot from their education: a bachelor’s degree from a top business school, the Trojan network, and four years of memories. In addition, more and more undergraduates are adding an unlikely item to that list: a master’s degree.
“USC provides a unique opportunity to our undergraduates with progressive degree programs,” said DEAN GEOFF GARRETT. “By crafting their education to their interests and ambitions, Marshall students can create unique pathways designed to meet their educational and career aspirations.”
USC’s PROGRESSIVE DEGREES PROGRAM(PDP), provides students the opportunity to pursue master’s degrees in six different fields in parallel to completing their undergraduate degree requirements. The PDP option has been around for nearly a decade, but just this year, the program has soared in popularity. More Marshall students than ever are seizing the opportunity to acquire a valuable graduate degree in addition to their bachelor’s. In fact, 20% of the incoming students in Marshall’s master’s programs with a PDP pathway are undergraduates.
“A master’s has great value for the students,” said RAMAN RANDHAWA, senior vice dean for academic programs. “At Marshall, our students have a lot of flexibility in the curriculum both in the courses they can take and in terms of the credits they can bring in. To leverage this flexibility, on one side they can add breadth, they can take another major or do a minor. On the other side, they specialize through a PDP master’s program.”
Starting in their junior year, students who meet the eligibility requirements can apply for enrollment in PDP. Though these accelerated degrees often require fewer credits, students who embark on a PDP pathway take on a new curriculum with higher expectations and more rigorous coursework.
“Adding a PDP is not like adding a minor to your undergraduate degree,” said STEPHANIE GERMAN, the progressive degree coordinator at Marshall. “It really is adding a second degree objective with all the expectations that come with pursuing a master’s degree. For PDP students, they’re treated like regular master’s students, so the expectations are the same.”
In the last three years, enrollment in Marshall’s PDPs has practically quadrupled. According to internal statistics compiled by the Marshall master’s programs, in 2020 just five percent of incoming master’s students included undergraduates pursuing a progressive degree. In 2023, however, that number rose to 20 percent. In all, approximately 140 out of a Marshall graduate class of 700 are “PDPers,” a staggering increase.
Before working as associate vice dean for MS programs, RAHSAN AKBULUT served as the academic director for the master of science in finance program. She witnessed the inception of PDPs within Marshall.
“We started small,” Akbulut said. “But now Finance is the program that has the highest PDP student percentage.” Today, around 40 percent of the MS in Finance program’s enrollment come from undergraduates pursuing a progressive degree.
What accounts for the increase in the program’s popularity? For Akbulut, it’s about two things: awareness and opportunity.
Within the last two years, Marshall program faculty and staff worked to increase the visibility of the PDP pathway, encouraging motivated students from across USC to consider applying. The progressive degrees provided a unique value-added opportunity to undergraduates to leave their USC experience with not just a bachelor’s, but also a master’s.
“Many students realize they will need a graduate degree. This is an efficient way to get it when it comes to both time and money,” Akbulut said. “Leaving a job can have a huge opportunity cost. This doesn’t have that.”