Accelerated Graduate Degrees

Qualified Peabody undergraduates have the option of applying to complete a master’s degree in one additional year of study after completion of their bachelor’s degree. The selection process takes place at the end of the third year of study. Applications are due by May 1. The admission process includes academic and performance elements as well as recommendations from faculty members. Students selected for the program maintain their merit scholarship in the fifth year. However, any need-based aid (including the Cummings Scholarship and El Sistema award) will be re-evaluated upon entering the fifth year's master’s program and is not guaranteed. Transfer students who will complete the BM in fewer than four years are ineligible for five-year programs.

The selection process for both the BM/MM and BMRA/MA programs is managed by the Office of Academic Affairs. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, in consultation with faculty and the administration, makes the final decisions about admittance to the five-year programs. Because the selection process considers the results of the 309 jury, the final decisions are not announced until all spring grades have been recorded.