Five years, two degrees, and a leg up in your career

With GPS’s Concurrent Degree Program, UC San Diego undergraduates can save time and money by getting a master’s degree with just one additional year of school

Despite advances in science and technology, time travel remains impossible. But with UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), there is a way to shrink six years down to five.

The Concurrent Degree Programs allows you to accelerate your education and receive both a bachelor’s degree within participating departments as well as a master’s degree from GPS. The program is offered in collaboration with UC San Diego’s International Studies Program, the departments of Economics and Political Science, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

If you’re early in your undergraduate academic career at UC San Diego and are looking to fast-track a career that helps serve the public good in the U.S. and around the world, read more about why this could be a great fit.

Skills to supplement your bachelor’s

By adding on a Master of Public Policy (MPP) or Master of International Affairs (MIA) from GPS, you’ll gain many new skills that will make you stand out to employers.

It starts with the undergraduate component. In the International Studies Program, for example, students learn about the geopolitical and economic dynamics that shape current events while gaining language skills and regional expertise.

One of the biggest strengths of a master’s from GPS is the training you’ll receive in quantitative skills, including through the Quantitative Methods series of courses, the first two of which are taken by all GPS students. By being able to precisely analyze data and perform statistical modeling, you’ll stand out to employers who are looking for hires who are able to translate trends and theories into actionable, numbers-based data.

“Since my undergraduate training was more qualitative, this added a new analytical lens to how I approach international affairs,” said Camarynne Chanthavong, a 2026 master’s candidate in the BA/MIA program.

Additionally, you’ll work with classmates and faculty in projects and capstones that draw on what you’ve learned to develop solutions to real-life scenarios across the realms of policy and international affairs — going a step beyond the theoretical learning you pursue for your undergraduate degree.

“In my undergraduate studies, I learned many advanced and interesting economic theories, but there wasn’t any chance to use them in real-world applications,” said Jeremy Pearson, a 2026 master’s candidate in the BA/MPP program. “Graduate coursework allowed me to immediately apply the economic theories I learned to practical policy questions, supporting what I had learned in undergrad rather than moving on and forgetting it.”

A career head start

Beyond the relevant materials you’ll learn in the classroom at GPS, you’ll have access to career resources that only a professional school can provide. This includes access to graduate-level career services, internships, career fairs and employer networks.

[Read: How the GPS Career and Professional Development team is supporting students in uncertain times]

The advantages keep coming. You’ll enter the job market a year earlier than other students who pursue a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree followed by a two-year master’s program. That’s an extra year you don’t have to spend in school, which you can use instead to get going on your career and start earning money.

With a master’s degree from GPS, you’ll have the skills and connections to pursue a career at government agencies, NGOs, consulting firms, global businesses, research institutes or tech policy teams. The truth is, there are as many unique career paths as there are GPS graduates.

“Completing both degrees has…helped me clarify my interests, specialize earlier and better understand the range of sectors available to me.”

Camarynne Chanthavong, 2026 BA/MIA candidate

“Completing both degrees has made me feel far more prepared than I would have after graduating in four years,” Chanthavong said. “The biggest advantage is that it helped me clarify my interests, specialize earlier and better understand the range of sectors available to me.”

Challenging, but not overwhelming

You’re excited about the value and career possibilities that Concurrent degrees from GPS — great! But you might still be concerned that adding graduate coursework to your undergraduate studies will be too difficult or create undue stress.

Don’t worry: Current students in the program say that it isn’t as bad as it sounds, even if the academics are more demanding.

Anna Feuer, the director of the International Studies Program and a GPS faculty member, emphasized that the program’s curriculum is designed to prepare students to engage with the master’s-level curriculum at GPS.

“The major gives students the foundational skills and subject matter knowledge they need to jump straight into the advanced training provided by the Master of International Affairs program,” she said.

Students said that these underlying skills they gain from their undergraduate education help make the curriculum for a master’s degree more doable.

“I was surprised by how manageable the workload is,” Pearson said. “Obviously, it isn’t easy, and the transition from undergraduate work to graduate work can be a shock. But the program is created in a way that makes it feasible.”

“I was surprised by how manageable the workload is. Obviously, it isn’t easy…but the program is created in a way that makes it feasible.”

Jeremy Pearson, 2026 BA/MPP candidate

Chanthavong agreed: “The program is absolutely worth it and far less intimidating than it seems at first. Instead of feeling burned out or comparing myself to peers on a traditional timeline, I remain excited to keep learning and move toward my career goals.”

Accelerate your future: Learn how concurrent degree programs help UC San Diego students earn two degrees in five years. If you have any specific questions about academic requirements, please contact GPS Student Affairs.