DUAL DEGREE PROGRAMS FOR THE STUDY OF ENGINEERING

For students wishing to combine a broad background in liberal arts with an engineering degree accredited by ABET, Wesleyan maintains Dual Degree Programs with:

California Institute of Technology

Columbia University (Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science) 

Dartmouth College (Thayer School of Engineering). 

In these programs, students earn two bachelor degrees, a B.A. from Wesleyan and a B.S. (Caltech, Columbia) or B.E. (Dartmouth) from the affiliate engineering school. Various options are available:

  • all three engineering schools offer a sequential "3-2" track in which students spend the first three years at Wesleyan and receive both degrees at the end of the fifth year, after completing all degree and program requirements;
  • Dartmouth also provides a "2-1-1-1" option allowing participating students to return to Wesleyan for their senior year, before finishing the program at Dartmouth;
  • Columbia has a "4-2" option that has students spending four instead of three years at Wesleyan. Columbia refers to their options as the Combined Program Plan. 

The three schools differ in their admission rules and students are strongly advised to consult the respective engineering school webpages.

Planning a program of courses at Wesleyan

Prospective or first year students interested in learning more about engineering dual-degree programs please contact: 

Ladd Flock, Gordon Career Center (lflock@wesleyan.edu).
Associate Director of Career Advising (Science & Mathematics - STEM)

Students with a course plan to pursue a dual-degree option please contact:

Serena Plage (splage@wesleyan.edu)
Administrative Assistant, College of Design & Engineering Studies 
or Greg Voth (gvoth@wesleyan.edu)
Faculty liaison and Associate Director, College of Design & Engineering Studies

It is important that current students also inform their Wesleyan faculty pre-major advisor as early as possible of their dual-degree course plan, since pre-requisites for admission to the partner institutions require careful planning.  

Questions concerning pre-requisites, eligibility, or other information that is administered by the host institutions (CalTech, Columbia, Dartmouth) should be addressed directly to the program administrator at the host institution:

California Institute of Technology ugadmissions@caltech.edu.

Columbia University combinedplan@columbia.edu.

Dartmouth College jenna.d.wheeler@dartmouth.edu


The 2-1-1-1 option of the dual degree engineering program with Dartmouth College has a different structure than those with either Columbia University or California Institute of Technology. In this regard, the program is like the Twelve College Exchange Program administered by the Office of International Studies. The same rules apply both for credit transfer and for financial aid. Students return to Wesleyan for their senior year and then finalize the program with the B.E. year at Dartmouth. Admission is capped and hence not guaranteed. 

Caltech maintains a highly selective program with a wide range of options for the major. Admission is not guaranteed and Caltech expects a superior academic record. 

Formal Application

Interested students must contact the Dual Degree Program Liaison by fall of the junior year at the latest. Formal application to transfer to Columbia or Caltech under the Dual Degree Program is made early in the spring semester of the junior year. Current deadlines are posted on the websites of the engineering schools. In addition to filling out on-line application forms, the engineering schools require letters of recommendation from the liaison and science/mathematics faculty member(s). 

Financial Aid

Financial aid during the final two years is provided by the engineering schools according to their criteria, and there is no guarantee that its financial aid package will be similar to Wesleyan's. Separate from the application for admission, students requiring financial aid must submit all necessary Financial Aid Forms to the engineering school before applicable deadlines. For the first year at Dartmouth, the rules of the Twelve College Exchange Program apply.