Bachelor’s Accelerated Master’s: A Practical Path to an Advanced Degree

For Aiden Lathrop (Fin, Acct’25, MFin’26), the Bachelor’s-Accelerated Master’s program at Leeds made perfect sense. After graduating in May 2025, he was looking forward to one more year with his favorite faculty.

“I would say I’ve never had a bad professor at Leeds—not even a mediocre one,” Lathrop said. “I’ve had great ones, and I’ve had fantastic ones.” Along the way, he said advisors and professors put him in contact with the right people to ensure success.

The Bachelor’s–Accelerated Master’s—or BAM for short—allows a student to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in either four or five years (a 3+1 or 4+1 format) without compromising the academic integrity of either degree. Qualified undergraduates are typically admitted during their junior year, and in their senior year they take classes that apply credits to both degrees.

 [The BAM program] works out in some pretty miraculous and unexpected ways. 

Aiden Lathrop (Fin, Acct’25, MFin’26)

In addition to the financial and time savings of BAM, the process helped Lathrop map out his career aspirations in finance. Consulting with his professors, he explored a path through accounting, finance and auditing that will lead him into venture capital, his primary area of interest. Over the summer, he was studying for his CPA exams.

It can be challenging to put the pieces together, Lathrop admitted, but the advantages are clear. “It works out in some pretty miraculous and unexpected ways,” he said

Doha Shahba (MAcct’24) (pictured above) an incoming analytics associate at KPMG, said the BAM program connected her with people who were successful in the field, giving her exposure to the steps they took in their career paths and how they challenged themselves to become better accountants.

“I am definitely going to carry that with me as I go through my career,” she said.

Get more insights from Doha Shahba on the BAM program >>