Integrated Bachelor's and Master's in ISyE
Prepare for a rewarding career in the area of Analytics by earning both a Bachelor's in ISyE and a Master of Science in ISyE (Analytics track) in just five years through ISyE’s integrated B.ISyE/M.S. in ISyE program. Students in the integrated program can save both time and money without sacrificing any aspect of the undergraduate or graduate experience.
Benefits of the Integrated Program
The integrated program offers streamlined early admission to the MS program and the possibility of early completion of the MS degree.
ISyE undergraduate students are eligible to apply to the integrated program as early as spring of their junior year and receive an admission decision by that summer. Admitted students can start earning course credit toward their graduate degree during their senior year. Students who begin their freshman year with credit for three or more Bachelor’s courses can often complete both the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees within five years (10 semesters). This would typically take at least 11 semesters for students not enrolled in the integrated program.
Completion of the Analytics track M.S. degree allows students to broaden and deepen their knowledge of analytics (optimization, operations research, data analysis, computation, and statistics) considerably beyond what is covered in the undergraduate curriculum. The Analytics track of the M.S. program includes rigorous coursework as well as an industry-sponsored capstone project. Further information about the Analytics track of the ISyE M.S. program is available here.
With the integrated program, students have the opportunity to save money and time. Instead of following a traditional three-semester path to earn the Master of Science, students may be able to complete the Analytics track in two semesters. Savings from one less semester in graduate school are estimated below using the University of Minnesota's Cost of Attendance calculator.
| Single Semester Savings for Resident Student | Single Semester Savings for Non-resident Student |
|---|---|
$20,328.00 |
$25,212.00 |
Integrated Program Curriculum
Students in the integrated program must satisfy all requirements of both the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Credits cannot be shared between the two degrees; double counting of courses is not allowed.
Students are required to have at least 122 course credits for the Bachelor's degree, and at least 30 additional credits for the Analytics track M.S. degree. Among the 30 M.S. credits, 24 are required course credits and 6 are approved elective credits.
The sample program below provides an example of how a student who entered the university as a freshman with three liberal education courses completed can earn the B.ISyE and M.S. in ISyE degrees in five years (10 semesters). Such a student could complete most technical elective courses during the junior year, and begin completing M.S. courses during the senior year. With this plan, the student would graduate with the B.ISyE degree at the end of the 4th year of study, and would graduate with the M.S. degree at the end of the 5th year of study.
The plan below is just one example; the integrated program curriculum is designed to be flexible for students with different combinations of credits from AP, PSEO, etc. Students who entered the university without any credits are also eligible to apply to the integrated program, but they may need an additional semester to complete the Master’s degree.
Sample Fourth- and Fifth-year Course Sequence
This plan is not a contract and is subject to variation. The following sequence assumes that 11 credits of undergraduate technical electives are completed by the end of year three. Modifications of the sequence are allowed for those who have completed a different number of undergraduate technical electives.
Courses marked with asterisks count toward the M.S. degree and cannot also be used as technical electives for the B.ISyE degree.
4th Year Fall Semester
- IE 3553—Simulation
- IE 4511—Human Factors
- IE 4541W—Project Management
- STAT 5302—Applied Regression Analysis*
4th Year Spring Semester
- IE 4041W—Senior Design
- Undergraduate Technical Elective
- IE 5561—Analytics and Data-driven Decision Making*
- CSCI 5521—Machine Learning Fundamentals* OR CSCI 5523—Intro to Data Mining*
Graduate with Bachelor's in ISyE at end of Year 4
5th Year Fall Semester
- IE 5773—Practice Focused Seminar*
- IE 5531—Engineering Optimization I*
- IE 5801—Capstone Project Course*
5th Year Spring Semester
- IE 5545—Decision Analysis*
- Approved M.S. Elective*
- Approved M.S. Elective*
Graduate with M.S. at end of Year 5
Additional Notes
No course may be counted toward both degrees. Credits from any individual course may be counted toward at most one of the degrees. Double counting of credits is not allowed.
The requirements of the B.ISyE degree in the integrated program are the same as those in the standard B.ISyE program.
For credits counted toward the B.ISyE degree, students in the integrated program should follow the same course plan/schedule as students in the standard B.ISyE degree program.
The coursework requirements for the M.S. in ISyE (Analytics Track) degree in the integrated program are the same as those for the standard M.S. in ISyE (Analytics Track) degree with one exception: the integrated program requires IE 5545—Decision Analysis in place of IE 5532—Stochastic Models in the Analytics Track set of required core courses.
A list of approved M.S. electives can be found here.
STAT 5302, CSCI 5521 or 5523, IE 5531, IE 5561 must be taken before or concurrent with IE 5801.
Students who enter the integrated program must complete the B.ISyE degree by their Expected Graduation Term.
The undergraduate degree must be awarded before the graduate degree.
The integrated program is available only for the Analytics track of the ISyE M.S. program (not the Industrial Engineering track or the Systems Engineering track).
Application Requirements
Several conditions must be met for students to be accepted into the integrated Bachelor's and Master's in ISyE program. Those include:
- Must be enrolled in the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Bachelor's in ISyE program.
- Minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.4 or a strong letter of recommendation from an ISyE faculty member.
- Must have completed the following courses: IE 1101, IE 2021, IE 3011, IE 3521, IE 3522, IE 4011, IE 4551.
- Completed Graduate School application for admission to the Analytics track of the ISyE M.S. program. (Integrated program applicants are not required to submit GRE Scores. The integrated program is not available for the Industrial Engineering track or Systems Engineering track of the M.S. program.)
Application Deadline
Applicants for fall semester admission to the integrated program should submit their applications by June 15 of the year planned for fall enrollment. The deadline for spring admission to the integrated program is November 15 of the previous year.
Questions? We’re here to help.
If you need further clarification on undergraduate degree requirements, please reach out to Katie Sharpe at Student Services at isyeundergrad@umn.edu or (612) 624-1582.
For assistance with applying or clarification on our graduate program, please contact Graduate Program Coordinator Amy Bolis at isyegradinfo@umn.edu or (612) 625-4909.
More information about the graduate admissions process can be found by visiting: