Degree Requirements-MSEE

The minimum credit hour requirement for the Master's Degree in the School of Engineering and Applied Science is 30 term-credit-hours (TCH) beyond the Baccalaureate of which 6 TCH could be for a thesis. Additional hours may be required depending on the student's background, objectives of the degree program, and the demands of the discipline. The plan of study involves:

1. Articulation courses, if necessary, are used to prepare a student for graduate study in electrical engineering (i.e. to bring the student's background to the required level). Students must complete any required articulation courses with a grade-point average of 3.00 prior to entering the program.
2. All students must select a primary and a secondary area form the areas listed below. A total of eight courses should be taken in these two areas with a minimum of four courses (12 TCH) in the primary area and a minimum of two courses (6 TCH) in the secondary area.
   • Communications & Networking
   • Signal Processing & Control
   • Computer Engineering
   • Electromagnetics & Optics
   • Electronics Materials, Devices, & Microelectronics
3. Students must also take two minor courses (6 TCH) from graduate offerings in EE, EETS, ME, CSE, ENCE, Math, Physics, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, Geological Sciences and Business. These would be completely free electives with no restrictions as to their relevance to the primary/secondary areas or to each other.
4. At least three of the EE courses, excluding EETS, (9 TCH) must be at the 8000 level.
5. An optional MS thesis could be substituted for two of the eight primary/secondary courses and count towards the 8000 level requirement.
6. The student should file a Degree Plan of Study with the help of his/her advisor as soon as possible after admission but no later than the end of the second semester after matriculation. Courses not listed on the Degree Plan of Study should not be taken without the approval of the advisor. If the Degree Plan of Study is altered, it must go through the approval process again.

Graduate credit is considered only for those courses not taken as part of a Bachelor's Degree. Transfer of Credit for up to 6 TCH from other institutions is allowed upon approval, provided the hours were earned prior to matriculation at SMU.

Admission to Candidacy is automatically achieved when the student has completed 12 TCH with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and the student has filed an approved degree plan. Students who fail to achieve this standard of performance may be required to take additional courses until their GPA is 3.0 or above, or they may be required to discontinue graduate study.

All work for the Master's Degree must be completed with an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or above.

Work required for the Master's Degree may be completed on the SMU campus, over the TAGER television network, or through the videotape program.