Welcoming International Accelerated Degree Program students

The Graduate College was delighted to welcome to ASU the newest and returning International Accelerated Degree Program (IADP) students at the Fall 2018 IADP Academic Welcome Lunch on August 13. Each IADP student comes from a non-U.S. university with which ASU has established a formal partnership to offer academic programs centered around accelerated master’s degrees. Our partner universities promote these programs among their students and recommend those who are qualified to apply for IADPs at ASU.

IADPs take many forms, with the most popular being the “3+1+1” format. In a 3+1+1 IADP, high-achieving undergraduate students spend their first three years at their home-country university, then come to ASU for their senior year of undergraduate studies, during which they may also earn some credits toward their master’s degree. After successfully completing their senior year (their first year at ASU), and transferring those credits back to the partner university, the partner university issues the students’ bachelor’s degree. In the next academic year, the students earn their master’s degree from ASU.

IADP students must be English language proficient and committed to handling very rigorous course loads from the first to the last semester at ASU. In spite of these challenges, the graduation success rates of IADP students from ASU Master’s programs has been stellar.

IADP students attend several academic program and international student orientations in August, among them is the annual Academic Welcome Lunch, hosted by the Graduate College. IADP students are usually experiencing “information overload” when they arrive at the lunch, so it is designed to be relaxed, fun, and highly interactive. The room is festively decorated, music is playing, lunch is provided, and round tables are used to encourage conversation. ASU leaders and advising staff provide informative and inspiring presentations, and answer questions during round-table sessions, reinforcing important academic success messaging, promoting the use of ASU resources, and offering additional information about the regional, state, local, and ASU cultures of which the students have become members.

This year, we invited all returning IADP students to attend. Typically only newly-arriving students are invited. This was in response to feedback requested from past IADP students, and we were delighted to see how much more support and encouragement the newly-arriving IADP students received by engaging with returning IADP students in this relaxed setting.

IADP students at ASU represent great results that can come from ASU’s highly-valued international academic partnerships. Graduate College looks forward to welcoming more International Accelerated Degree Program students to ASU in the future.