Accelerated Bachelors-to-Masters degree program in Critical & Creative Thinking (CCT)


CCT students are involved or interested in a wide array of professions and endeavors. By taking up the ideas and tools of critical thinking, creative thinking, and reflective practice, they develop clarity and confidence to make deep changes in their learning, teaching, work, activism, research, and artistry. Graduates go on to serve as guides-to their own students, colleagues, community members-and to themselves-in taking the time it takes to design and change work, learning and lives (examples).

The accelerated BA/BS-MA program follows the established model of starting graduate courses as a 2nd-semester junior, approval of a regular application for graduate program admissions, completion of all undergraduate requirements in fewer credits (107 instead of 120), and a 5th year of graduate courses only. Applications are welcome from all undergraduate majors in Honors and College of Liberal Arts.

The Masters program for CCT consist of 4 core courses, 4 electives, and 3 final research and engagement courses that culminate in a capstone synthesis project and a Practitioner’s Portfolio, which helps focus your career trajectory and enhance your employability. Courses can be completed through face-to-face sections, entirely from a distance, or in a combination.

Many CCT courses are offered as regular credit-earning courses through the College of Education and Human Development. While this may result in an extra charge over and above tuition and fees paid when taking a full-time undergraduate load, the lower charges in Year 5 for CCT courses through CAPS almost offset that extra charge for in-state students and more than offset it for non-resident students. The cost for the combined BA/BS-MA Program over and above the cost for the BA/BS would be around $15500 at 2017 rates for in-state students.

Current & Upcoming CCT & SICW Courses

See the page for the cycle of courses for future years (subject to change, but designed to ensure necessary courses will be offered at least once during a 2-year cycle)

Application

The application requirements for joining the graduate program include the following: application fee; a completed graduate application form; an official transcript indicating a GPA of 3.2 or above across all undergraduate courses; three letters of recommendation; an essay stating personal objectives and career aspirations; and one or more examples of written work from a course. GRE scores are not required for this accelerated bachelors-to-masters degree program, but the admissions committee sometimes requests an interview. The CCT MA program is interdisciplinary and so accepts applicants with bachelor’s degrees from a variety of departments and disciplinary backgrounds. Application deadline for spring or fall admission is, respectively, November 1 or June 1 of the student’s junior year. Honors College students have the option to apply in their sophomore year. For admissions advice, email CCT assistant director, jeremy.szteiter@umb.edu.

Once admitted to the accelerated program, before you are officially moved from undergraduate to graduate student status, you are required to have completed all UMass Boston undergraduate degree requirements within the 107 undergraduate credits, including Major Requirements, First Year and Intermediate Seminars, the Honors College curriculum (for those in the Honors College), Quantitative Reasoning, Distribution Requirements, Diversity Requirements, and Writing Requirements. Once the Registrar has confirmed that the student has completed all necessary undergraduate requirements, the Registrar opens a graduate record for the 5-year student and the student’s status changes to become officially matriculated as a CCT MA student at UMASS Boston.

Course sequence

The following table provides an example of one possible sequence of courses taken for the MA Program (subject to when courses are offered), where C = required core course, E = elective, and R = final research and engagement courses, including the capstone seminar. Required courses = 21 credits, with 12 credits of electives. Electives could also be taken during the summers.
Junior, spring
 Senior, fall
 Senior, spring
 5th year, fall
 5th year, spring
C (602)
 C (601), C (651)
C (603)


E, E
 E
 E



R (692)
 R (693), R (694)

Note that some courses are offered as hybrid format, where there is an on-campus section and online section that combine as a single course. Generally, students in the BA/MA program will register for the on-campus section whenever available. In the case of some electives, there is only an online option.

  1. Curriculum Organization and Innovation (both courses are required; can be taken at any point)
    1. CRCRTH601
    2. CRCRTH602
  2. Mediation, Dialogue, and Collaboration (choose one or substitute another course; can be taken at any point)
    1. CRCRTH616
    2. CRCRTH618
  3. Urban and Social Justice Education (choose one or substitute another course; can be taken at any point)
    1. CRCRTH627
    2. CRCRTH615
  4. Research and Writing for Reflective Practice (both courses are required; should be taken later in the program)
    1. CRCRTH692
    2. CRCRTH693
  5. 5. Final Capstone Course: CRCRTH694 (required; must be taken last, in the spring term)

    Course descriptions, syllabi, evaluations

More information

Official Critical & Creative Thinking program website

Last update 12 April 2020