Early Career Program and 4+1 Program for Duke Students
Recent graduates of a Duke University bachelor’s degree program can apply for the MEM/MEng Early Career Program up to five years after graduation. Admission must be approved by the department/program in which the master’s degree is sought and by the Pratt School of Engineering. Students may apply to either residential or online MEM/MEng programs.  Students enrolled in the Early Career Program will follow the standard application deadlines. Applicants are not required to take the GRE and are not charged an application fee.
Advanced Duke undergraduates may participate in a 4+1 Program where both a bachelor’s degree and a MEM/MEng degree may be completed in 4.5 to 5 years. To be considered for the 4+1 program, undergraduates may apply for a MEM/MEng admission decision during the standard admission cycle for entrance. Applicants are not required to take the GRE and are not charged an application fee. Students should consider the following guidelines when submitting materials:
apply in the spring of the student’s junior year for admission in the fall semester of the student’s senior year; or
apply in the fall of the student’s senior year for admission in the spring semester of the student’s senior year.
Admission decisions will be made and communicated to the student following the published admissions decision calendar. Although an admission decision may be made before or during the student’s senior year, matriculation into the MEM/MEng program will not occur until the undergraduate degree has been earned. Matriculation will occur in Summer Session 1 after the spring semester of the senior year unless a student opts for the 4+1 deferred enrollment option. The 4+1 deferred enrollment option allows a student to defer enrollment for up to 3 years.
MEng students will pay undergraduate tuition for the first four years of study and will pay per-semester MEng tuition for the fifth year of study (one to two fall or spring terms, depending on time required to complete the master’s graduation requirements).  If a MEng 4+1 student requires a third graduate term to complete their requirements, they may elect to pay per-credit in that term. MEM Students will pay undergraduate tuition for the first four years of study and will pay MEM Program tuition for the fifth year of study.  MEM students will pay per-semester tuition for the first semester of study (fall or spring) and if a second semester is required to complete the MEM graduation requirements, students may elect to pay per-credit in that term.
Recent graduates and 4+1 students who have unused graduate-level (at the 500 level or above) elective credits as part of their undergraduate degree can transfer credits to their graduate program.  These courses cannot have been used to satisfy any undergraduate degree requirements, must satisfy a graduation requirement for the master’s degree, and the student must have earned a B or better in the course. Restrictions on the number of courses being transferred will apply depending on your prior academic program and your new academic program.
MEM/MEng courses are not typically available to undergraduates. After admission, 4+1 students work with the Student Records Coordinator to register for master’s level courses while an undergraduate. Not all graduate-level courses are available to undergraduates. If a 4+1 student desires to take graduate-level elective classes that are not available to undergraduates, a 4+1 student should take these courses in the fifth year of study. 4+1 student registration in graduate courses will occur after current master’s level student registration has started.
To transfer course credit, an Early Career Program or 4+1 student should complete the Pratt Credit Transfer Form and obtain approval from their academic dean in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and the DMS for the student’s MEM/MEng degree. Please note that the undergraduate course credits transfer to the MEM/MEng degree, but the grade earned will remain part of the student’s undergraduate GPA and will not be used to calculate a MEng GPA.
For 4+1 students in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, preparation for success in a graduate engineering program may require that additional undergraduate courses must be taken as prerequisites. These prerequisite courses would be in addition to the 30 course credits required for the MEM/MEng degree. It is suggested that 4+1 students discuss their program of study with the DMS to understand the expectations in earning the degree. Depending on the extent of the prerequisite courses required, it may not be possible to complete the MEM/MEng degree in only one additional year.