New Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program

College Approval Deadline: December 1 (Fall) or September 1 (Spring). Effective term is for the subsequent academic term. For example, if you submit a proposal and receive college approval by December 1, your proposal will be effective the following Fall (in the next calendar year).  

Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Scholars programs are combined bachelor’s and master’s programs at SJSU. Sometimes they may also satisfy the requirements for a credential. Students in these programs pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree simultaneously. These programs allow students to earn graduate credit while in their junior and/or senior year, reducing the number of semesters required for completion of a master’s degree.

Before you consider developing a SAGE program, please review information found in our Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Handbook [pdf] for students and advisors. Contact Jeff Honda if you have any questions.

Proposal Process

• Review and Satisfy the Requirements
  • 1. Ensure the bachelor's and master's degree audit/progress are accurate in PeopleSoft. Please contact the e-Advising Team to confirm. The degree audit/progress tool will need to be fully functional because it is used to determine when the student reaches the 120 degree applicable units, at which point the student must transition to graduate standing.
       
       Until the degree audit/progress is determined to be fully functional to determine the 120 degree applicable units, the SAGE Advisor (or other department approved advisor) will be responsible for monitoring the 120 degree applicable units using a Major Form. 
       
       
    2. Review the CSU Coded Memorandum AA-2012-01, University Policy F19-1 [pdf], and the SAGE Scholars Application [pdf].
       
       
    3. Notify the Curriculum Office: Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Curriculum and Academic Program Analyst.
• Submit a Proposal

  • Submit a New Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program Proposal in Curriculog (instructions linked), including a detailed roadmap (Blank SAGE Roadmap Template [docx]).

• Approval Process

  • The New Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program Proposal in Curriculog will be routed for recommendation of approval as follows: 

    1. Department Curriculum Committee/Chair
       (should occur prior to department chair approval in Curriculog. It is the responsibility of the department chair to ensure the department faculty approve curricular decisions)
    2. College Curriculum Committee/Associate Dean
    3. Undergraduate Studies (UGS) Committee and Graduate Studies & Research (GS&R) Committee
    4. Curriculum and Research Committee
    5. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies
    6. Provost

    After campus approval is completed, the Chancellor's Office Notification is submitted. The university will be required to wait to implement the program until formal acknowledgment from the Chancellor's Office is received. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What is the difference between a SAGE, Blended, Combined and 4+1 Program?

  • They are different names for the same degree objective. Toward the end of their undergraduate degree at SJSU, a student can apply to pursue a SAGE Program (this is the correct name to use) in which the student seamlessly transitions from undergraduate (Bachelor’s) to graduate standing (Master’s) without having to apply through CalState Apply.

• Why might my department want to develop a SAGE program?

  • Your department might want to develop a SAGE program to:

    1. Provide an accelerated route to a graduate degree;
    2. Provide students the opportunity to earn graduate credit during their junior and/or senior year. Additionally, those SAGE programs that allow double counting may also benefit students by decreasing a program’s total unit requirements, thus further decreasing student cost and time towards degree completion; 
    3. Provide a seamless process whereby students can progress from undergraduate to graduate status without having to pay additional fees for graduate admission;
    4. Allow students to double count up to 12 units and/or possibly integrate their senior project with their graduate thesis/project; and/or, 
    5. Develop a stronger mentor/mentee relationship earlier in a student’s academic career.
• Can the bachelor's and master's program double count units?

  • The bachelor's and master's degree may double count up to 12 units. While up to 12 units in a given SAGE program may be double counted, determining which courses to double count (if any) may be more nuanced than simply eliminating electives. SAGE programs are approved on the condition that their students successfully complete graduate-level courses which assume that the more fundamental content has been taught at the undergraduate level, or that they pass graduate courses that cover undergraduate course content thus assuring that the integrity of the degrees are maintained. Please indicate the courses to be double counted and explain how the double counting of your assigned courses will continue to meet either of these criteria. For more information regarding double counting, please contact the College of Graduate Studies.

• What are the application procedures?

  • Departments wanting to propose a new SAGE program should follow steps 1 and 2 above.  The student application is the SAGE Scholars Application.

• What are the minimum admissions requirements?
  • 1. Students must successfully complete a minimum of 60 undergraduate degree applicable units and not more than 120 undergraduate degree applicable units at the time of admission into the SAGE program.
    2. Students must be enrolled in or have completed the undergraduate Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (Area Z/100W/GWAR prior to admission into the SAGE program).
    3. Students must have a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of admission into the SAGE program. Note that there may be SAGE programs that require a higher GPA admission standard
• What are the minimum requirements to transition to graduate standing?

  • SAGE students in the undergraduate career must have completed all lower division courses (designated as 0-99, including lower division general education courses and American Institutions courses) BEFORE transitioning into the SAGE graduate degree objective status. Students who have completed 120 degree eligible units but not completed all lower division courses will be removed from the SAGE program and will complete the standalone undergraduate degree. Students may then enter the standalone masters program, but will have to apply to the graduate program separately and are subject to graduate admissions requirements at SJSU. Additionally, any graduate courses used to meet undergraduate degree requirements may not be used in the graduate program.

• When do students start paying graduate level tuition?

  • A student will be assessed the undergraduate State University Tuition Fee only during the time in which the blended-program student has earned fewer than 120 semester units applicable to the blended bachelor's and master's degree programs.

• Are there any approved SAGE programs?

  • Yes, see the MyRoadmaps Catalog SAGE Scholars section. For a list of SAGE Scholars programs currently under development and review: Log into Curriculog (All Proposals tab - using the "Advanced Filter", you can search by Proposal Type: "Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program Proposal" and then click "Filter Proposal." 

• Where can I find addtional information?

  • Students and Faculty advisors can find more information regarding the application process and requirements by accessing the Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Handbook [pdf].