{"id":105016,"date":"2019-10-23T08:21:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T18:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=105016"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:12:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T04:12:28","slug":"bachelors-masters-degree-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/23\/bachelors-masters-degree-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivated undergrads get a head start on master\u2019s program"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_42360\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EAhq0YiPnRc?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Motivated undergrads get a head start on master\u2019s program\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>A master\u2019s degree wasn\u2019t in <strong>Bree Soma<\/strong>\u2019s original plans at the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a>. Soma, a senior and redshirt softball outfielder, was on track to graduate early with a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics and initially planned to pursue law school. But when her academic advisor told her about the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/bam\/\">Bachelor\u2019s and Master\u2019s (BAM) degree pathway<\/a>, the prospect of graduating on time with a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree felt like a great opportunity, even with the increased workload.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I\u02bbve always known what it\u2019s like to be a student-athlete,&rdquo; said Soma. &ldquo;Going home and doing homework and balancing that with softball practice and all my other responsibilities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>BAM pathways are accelerated programs that encourage high-performing <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa undergraduate students to commit to a master\u2019s program early and take graduate-level classes in their senior year. This gives them a head start on their graduate studies, which reduces the overall amount of time spent on their degrees. In most cases BAM students can graduate with both degrees in five years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_105030\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105030\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-athletics-soma-b-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-105030\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-athletics-soma-b-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-athletics-soma-b-2-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-athletics-soma-b-2-630x353.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-athletics-soma-b-2.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-105030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bree Soma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The program also reduces the total cost of education. BAM students pay for graduate classes taken as undergraduates at the undergraduate tuition rate.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The BAM program benefits students who are thriving in their majors and are ready to start a master\u2019s degree,&rdquo; said <strong>Krystyna Aune<\/strong>, dean of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.manoa.hawaii.edu\/graduate\/\">Graduate Division<\/a>. &ldquo;Some of our pathways are focused within individual disciplines while others are cross-disciplinary. For students who have the drive to attain a bachelor&#8217;s and a master&#8217;s degree, this is a great opportunity!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/bam\/\">There are currently 14 BAM pathways<\/a>, with plans to increase and expand to other disciplines. <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate programs have consistently received national recognition including high rankings in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/03\/12\/uh-manoa-graduate-school-rankings\/\">2019 <em>U.S. News and World Report<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Graduate school is really a wonderful opportunity to deeply engage in the subject matter of the student\u2019s choice,&rdquo; said Aune. &ldquo;It opens up the door to many job prospects that aren\u2019t available with just a baccalaureate degree. Higher education and graduate school affords an individual typically higher salaries. Also interestingly, life satisfaction, health, wellness and well being are also associated with higher educational attainment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.economics.hawaii.edu\/\">Economics Professor <strong>Nori Tarui<\/strong><\/a> believes the BAM program provides students a solid foundation for their futures.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This five-year <abbr>BA\/MA<\/abbr> in economics can be challenging for students,\u201d said Tarui, &ldquo;but at the same time, this will lead to lots of job opportunities because more and more companies need work force with strong data analysis skills today. Our BAM program trains students with solid economics and quantitative skills. All students are welcome!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>For Soma, who still plans to attend law school, it\u2019s an unexpected, exciting opportunity. &ldquo;It\u2019s going to be tough,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but it\u2019s definitely doable, and I\u2019m excited!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>For more information contact <a href=\"mailto:manoabam@hawaii.edu\">manoabam@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;By Heidi Sakuma<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_105056\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105056\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-economics-soma-b-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105056\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-economics-soma-b-3.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-economics-soma-b-3-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/manoa-economics-soma-b-3-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-105056\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bree Soma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BAM pathways are accelerated programs that encourage high-performing <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa undergraduate students to commit to a master\u2019s program early and take graduate-level classes in their senior year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,12],"tags":[197,507,1480,1466,9,56],"class_list":["post-105016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-video","tag-economics","tag-graduate-education","tag-manoa-academic-innovation-engaged-learning","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105016"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138380,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105016\/revisions\/138380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}