Science & Engineering Program Description

Goucher College has established a dual-degree program through which students earn both a bachelor of arts degree from Goucher and a bachelor of science degree from the G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering of The Johns Hopkins University. The dual-degree program enables students to explore the liberal arts and sciences, while developing professional knowledge and experience in a specific field of engineering.

Students in the program are admitted initially by Goucher College where they will typically spend three years fulfilling general education requirements and completing major requirements for the B.A. degree in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics or physics. Successful students then complete an additional two years at Johns Hopkins, during which requirements are completed for the bachelor of science degree in one of the following disciplines:

• Biomedical engineering, which encompasses the application of engineering principles to medical and biological problems.
• Electrical and computer engineering, which include the fields of communications, control systems, electronics, and digital systems.
• Chemical engineering, which relies upon the laws of chemistry, physics, and mathematics to change the structure of chemical substances and purify new substances that are created in the process. There are two chemical engineering tracks. The biomolecular engineering track is dedicated to solving problems and generating products through molecular scale biochemical and biological transformations. This discipline teaches students to integrate modern molecular biology and biochemistry with engineering concepts in the design of novel biological products and processes for biotechnology and bioengineering.
• Civil engineering, which reflects the breadth of the engineering disciplines in the planning and designing of buildings, bridges, transportation systems, and environmental programs.
• Environmental engineering, which deals with the amelioration of environmental problems.
• Materials science and engineering, which is concerned with the structure, properties, performance, processing, and production of all materials.
• Mechanical engineering, which deals with the manipulation of energy through useful mechanical devices.

Students cross-register for appropriate (usually introductory) engineering courses at Johns Hopkins during their sophomore and junior years at Goucher.  Students apply to Johns Hopkins in early spring of their third year to enter the final phase of the program.  Students with a 3.0 overall grade point average and a 3.2 grade point in science and mathematics courses are eligable for transfer.  (Biomedical Engineering has higher requirements).  Students may complete some of their liberal arts major at Goucher with courses taken in their fourth and fifth years.

For purposes such as payment of tuition, student governance, financial aid, and housing, participants in the program are considered Goucher students during their first three years and Johns Hopkins students during the last two.

Both the bachelor of arts degree from Goucher College and the bachelor of science degree from The Johns Hopkins University are awarded at the conclusion of the fifth year, provided all requirements for each degree have been fulfilled.