Oberlin College students will be able to finish a bachelor's degree in Ohio and a master's degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in five years under a new partnership between the two schools. The Oberlin-Penn Engineering 4+1 program begins in fall 2027, Oberlin and Penn Engineering announced on November 9, 2026.

The structure is simple: four years at Oberlin, then roughly one more year as a full-time graduate student at Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science. Students apply during their fourth year at Oberlin and, if admitted, can count up to three pre-approved Oberlin courses toward Penn Engineering's 10-course master's degree.

Five pathways to start

The partnership opens with five graduate pathways at Penn Engineering:

  • Biotechnology
  • Energy and sustainability
  • Materials science
  • Scientific computing
  • Systems engineering

Both schools say more programming may be added later. The energy and sustainability pathway runs through Penn's master's program in energy and sustainability engineering, directed by Lorena Grundy.

How it differs from Oberlin's 3+2

The 4+1 is Oberlin's second route into engineering. Its existing 3+2 program takes five years across two institutions and ends in an engineering bachelor's degree. The new program ends in a master's degree on the same five-year clock, while leaving the full four undergraduate years at Oberlin intact.

That matters for students who want more than one thing out of college. According to the two schools, the 4+1 leaves room for a double major, four seasons of varsity athletics and coursework outside STEM, all before the graduate year begins.

How 4+1 programs work

Accelerated master's programs, often called 4+1 or BS/MS programs, let undergraduates apply a small number of courses toward a graduate degree and finish both in about five years. Penn Engineering runs its own on-campus 4+1 for Penn undergraduates and has a set of partner colleges whose graduates can follow the same path into a Penn master's.

The practical effect is time: a master's degree finished one year after the bachelor's, with some graduate credit already earned before the student arrives.

Who is behind it

The partnership was set up by David Kamitsuka, dean of Oberlin's College of Arts and Sciences, and Vijay Kumar, the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering. Elliot Sommer serves as Oberlin's interim director of the 4+1 program. Laura Baudot, Oberlin's senior associate dean of the curriculum for arts and sciences, is also named in the announcement.

What students should do now

  • Start date: the program begins in fall 2027.
  • When to apply: during the fourth year at Oberlin.
  • Credit: up to three pre-approved Oberlin courses count toward the 10-course Penn master's, so course choices in the junior and senior years matter.
  • Who to ask: Oberlin's 4+1 program office, led by interim director Elliot Sommer, for course planning and the pre-approved course list. Penn Engineering's graduate admissions pages list its accelerated master's partner schools and general requirements.

Sources