The Office of International Programs will announce today the launch of "Brown Plus One" — a program that will allow juniors to begin earning a master's degree from either the Chinese University of Hong Kong or The University of Edinburgh.
Juniors will complete the first half of a master's during a semester or year abroad and then return for another year after graduating Brown to complete the degree.
The program will offer degrees in the hard sciences, social sciences and humanities, Kendall Brostuen, associate dean of the College and director of international programs, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
The application process for the program will be similar to the standard study abroad application process, with one addition — students will need to declare their intention to return to a foreign university to complete the degree after graduating Brown.
Students will also be asked to explain their objectives for the fifth-year international master's program and how the program will help them develop their liberal learning foundation at Brown, Brostuen wrote.
The program includes requirements for those enrolled. "While abroad as juniors, students must complete a full-time course of study, including a Global Independent Study Project, or a GLISP, linked to their area of concentration," Brostuen wrote.
The program's coursework will include at least one graduate-level offering, which will be accepted in partial fulfillment of the master's requirements, he wrote.
The program — which is part of Brown's internationalization initiative — aims to provide students with the opportunity to incorporate a global perspective into their baccalaureate studies and build upon that knowledge by adding a focused fifth year of study, Brostuen wrote.
"Brown undergraduate students have demonstrated over the years that they have the maturity and the self-discipline to excel at graduate level courses delivered here in Providence," he wrote. This program, he added, will allow them to do so at "two globally recognized universities."
