College of Liberal Arts Accelerated Curriculum Engagement (COLA ACE)
Program Description
The College of Liberal Arts Accelerated Curriculum Engagement (COLA ACE) program is a designed for students to complete a major within the College of Liberal Arts and a UWA graduate program in an accelerated manner without an academic overload. Students will utilize both on campus and online courses to complete their desired degree programs. By successfully following the advisor approved COLA ACE program template, students will receive a bachelor's and a master's degree in the time it takes the typical college student to complete a traditional undergraduate degree program.
Program Entrance Requirements
Incoming freshmen need to declare a major in a College of Liberal Arts and indicate intent to enter the COLA ACE program at the time of admission, but formal entry is contingent upon first semester performance. To be eligible for the COLA ACE program students with ACT composites of at least 25, need first-semester GPAs of 3.0; students with ACTs of 21-24 need first semester GPAs of 3.5 or better; students with ACTs of less than 21 would need first semester GPAs of 3.75 or better.
Transfers students must (1) present GPA's of at least 3.5 in all transfer credit presented for admission into the COLA ACE program, must (2) present 3.5 GPA's in all credit applied toward the joint program basic curriculum requirements, and must (3) earn GPA's of 3.5 or better in their first two semesters at UWA, during which time students will complete advisor-prescribed program courses. We also will not accept for transfer into the COLA ACE program any course with a grade of less than "B," and we cannot accept students who present coursework where they've earned D's or F's on a standard U.S. grading scale.
Program Details
Students must maintain benchmarks of a 3.0 overall GPA at all times, they must follow the advisor-prescribed program curriculum, and any grade of less than "C" gets them dismissed from the program.
COLA ACE students must work closely with their advisors to ensure necessary planning and course registration.
Students who leave the program for any reason are converted to a regular major/minor situation. No credit is lost.
Students in the COLA/MBA program must take the MBA 500 course in spring semester of junior year and submit a formal Graduate School Application to the MBA program. Students must pass each module of MBA 500 with a score of 80 or better.
Students must complete: the College of Liberal Arts basic curriculum requirements, the College of Liberal Arts major program requirements, appropriate advisor approved minor courses, all catalogue-listed requirements for the bachelor's degree, all catalogue-listed requirements for acceptance into the master's degree, and all catalogue-listed requirements for the master's degree. Students may enroll in undergraduate and Dean-approved graduate courses within the final 12 hours of completing the undergraduate degree.
Further information may be obtained from Dr. Mark Davis, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Station #59, University of West Alabama, Livingston, AL 35470.
Example of the 3-Year x 2-Year COLA BS/BA to MBA General Program
Example of the 3-Year x 2-Year COLA BS/BA to MS Experimental Psychology Program