The Master of Science in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering degree programs requires a broad base of study in electrical or computer engineering. Both thesis and non-thesis options are available. The choice between the thesis and non-thesis option is an important decision and should be made in consultation with the faculty advisor. See the table below for a summary of degree options.

GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON COURSES TO BE CHOSEN:
Course requirements differ depending upon whether one chooses the MS Degree in EE with/without thesis option, or the MS Degree in CpE with/without thesis option. The following limitations on course requirements must be met regardless of which of the four MS-degree options is chosen:

• No more than 9 credit hours of approved 4000 level courses (4974 not accepted)
• No more than 6 credit hours in total of 4984, 5984 (Special Studies) and 5974 (Independent Study). No more than 3 of these credit hours may be for 5974. A 5984 course will count as a course only in the area from which the course is submitted.  Additional Special Study Courses will be approved if they pertain to new departmental courses currently awaiting final University approval.  In all other cases, requests for extra 4984/5984 credit must be submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval in advance.
• All courses, except ECE 5974, must be taken on an A-F basis.
• Completion of the background requirements as per Section2.1.

4.1 M.S. in Electric Engineering

Thesis Option

The thesis option of the MS Degree in EE requires 32 credit hours of coursework.

The following specific requirements must be met:

• At least 21 credit hours of approved senior and graduate-level coursework
  • A minimum of 12 credit hours of ECE courses
  • At least 6 credit hours consisting of out-of-area (i.e., with different second digits between 0 and 7) and/or out-of-department courses, no more than 3 credit hours below the 5000 level
• 9 credit hours of thesis research (ECE 5994)
• 2 credit hours of Seminar (ECE 5944); extended campus students are excluded
• Also see the above additional restrictions on courses to be taken.
.
• An oral Final Examination consisting of a defense of the thesis topic to the Examining Committee. The exam must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance through the ECE Graduate Advising Office. The thesis must be submitted electronically within two weeks of the oral final exam date to the Graduate School in the proper form.

Non-Thesis Option

The non-thesis option of the MS Degree in EE requires 32 credit hours. Students who hold a Graduate Research Assistantship or participate in the BS/MS program may not select the non-thesis option.

The following specific requirements must be met:

• At least 30 credit hours of approved senior and graduate-level coursework
  • A minimum of 15 credit hours of ECE courses
• At least 6 credit hours consisting of out-of-area (i.e., with different second digits between 0 and 7) and/or out-of-department courses, no more than 3 credit hours below the 5000 level
• 2 credit hours of Seminar (ECE 5944); extended campus students are excluded
• Also see the above additional restrictions on courses to be taken.
.
• Students will take an oral final exam, consisting of a presentation of a project by the student (either individual or from a class) or a professional journal paper review of about 30 minutes in length. The exam must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance through the ECE Graduate Advising Office.

4.2 M.S. in Computer Engineering

Thesis Option

The thesis option of the MS Degree in CpE requires 32 credit hours.

The following specific requirements must be met:

• At least 21 credit hours of approved senior and graduate-level coursework
• At least 9 core credit hours must be ECE 55XX or 65XX courses.
• At least 3 credit hours of mathematics and statistics from MATH 4514, 4525-4526, 5454, and 5464 and STAT/ISE 5464.
• At least 9 additional credit hours of ECE, CS, MATH and other courses as approved by the student's advisory committee.
• The courses must be selected so that between the student's graduate and undergraduate program, he or she has at least 6 credit hours of software courses and at least 6 credit hours of hardware courses, no more than 3 of these hours may be below the 5000 level.
• 9 credit hours of thesis research (ECE 5994); extended campus students are excluded
• 2 credit hours of Seminar (ECE 5944)
• Also see the above additional restrictions on courses to be taken.

.
• An oral Final Examination consisting of a defense of the thesis topic to the Examining Committee. The exam must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance through the ECE Graduate Advising Office. The thesis must be submitted electronically within two weeks of the oral final exam date to the Graduate School in the proper form.

Non-Thesis Option

The non-thesis option of the MS Degree in CpE requires 32 credit hours. Students who hold a Graduate Research Assistantship or participate in the BS/MS program may not select the non-thesis option.

The following specific requirements must be met:

• At least 30 credit hours of approved senior and graduate-level coursework.
• 12 credit hours of graduate Computer Area ECE courses (ECE 55XX or 65XX)
• 3 credit hours of mathematics and statistics.
• 15 additional credit hours of ECE, CS, MATH and other courses as approved by the student's advisor.
• The courses must be selected so that between the student's graduate and undergraduate program, he or she has at least 6 credit hours of software courses and at least 6 credit hours of hardware courses, no more than 3 of these hours may be below the 5000 level.
• 2 credit hours of Seminar (ECE 5944)
• Also see the above additional restrictions on courses to be taken.

.
• Students will take an oral final exam, consisting of a presentation of a project by the student (either individual or from a class) or a professional journal paper review of about 30 minutes in length. The exam must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance through the ECE Graduate Advising Office.

Special CPE Notes:

• CPE Math Requirement
• CPE Breadth Requirement

4.3 Summary Of M.S. Degrees

1) Note that there are specific course requirements for EE and CpE that must be met for the degree, not just this minimum. In addition, any background courses specified on your acceptance or by your advisory committee or Graduate Committee must be taken.

4.4 The Core Requirements for an M.S. Degree

Students are encouraged to take a two-semester math or statistics sequence. Computer Engineering students have a specific math requirement as part of their degree program. For Electrical Engineering students, all 5000 level Math courses except MATH 5244, (material in this course overlaps material in ECE 6414) are accepted. Students who have an area of specialization should review the recommendations of those areas. Any proposed deviation from these requirements must be approved in advance by the Graduate Committee (note that exceptions are rarely granted).

Mandatory Articulation Requirements for the M.S. Degree

4.5 Changing Between Thesis and Non-thesis Options

4.6 The Advisory Committee

M.S. students must have an advisory committee. This committee must be approved by the the student's Graduate Advisory Committee before the plan of study is filed. The chair of the advisory committee serves as the advisor and major professor, but is not necessarily the initially-appointed interim advisor. The advisory committee will consist of three faculty members (including the advisor) with academic rank of Assistant Professor or higher. At least two members of this committee must be from the ECE Department. If necessary, a non-ECE faculty member may co-chair the committee. Non-faculty committee members are permissible only with prior approval of the Graduate Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School. Participation in an advisory committee implies that, (a) the faculty member is willing to meet periodically with the advisee for the purpose of offering guidance and assistance in the thesis project, and (b) the faculty member will be available for the M.S. Final Examination within reasonable bounds of a proposed target date.

Once a student's advisory committee has been constituted and approved by the Graduate School, it may be revised only with the full concurrence of all committee members, both new and old. A Plan of Study, Change of Committee/Advisor Form   is required to request any change in membership. The form must be signed by each member, new and old, and submitted to the ECE Graduate Advising Office.

The examining committee for the M.S. final exam is usually the same as the advisory committee, but may be different if deemed necessary by the advisory committee.

4.7 The Plan of Study

The plan of study is a contract detailing the minimum coursework a student is going to take. It is important to note that all courses taken will appear on the student's transcript and it is not necessary to show on the plan of study all courses taken. Students must receive at least a C- grade on courses shown on the plan of study as well as a 3.0 cumulative GPA on the plan of study and on the transcript (overall GPA). A maximum of six credits of work may be transferred from another university by listing this work on the plan of study and by completing a Transfer Validation form.

Courses required of Virginia Tech EE or CpE undergraduates cannot be used on the M.S. plan of study. Specifically, ECE 4505, ECE 4535, and STAT 4714 cannot be used on the M.S. plan of study.

Pass/Fail courses, with the exception of ECE 5974, should not appear on the plan of study. Normally, all EE/CpE courses are taken for a grade.

Although thesis students may use ECE 5994 to fill out the credit hour load to 12 hours per semester, thesis students will be credited with only 9 hours total of 5994 on their plans of study and the student will be expected to perform research with the advisor for the 5994 credit.

The student should complete the ECE plan of study form, signed by the student and advisory committee, and submit it to the ECE Graduate Advising Office for approval. After necessary changes (if any) are made, the plan will be entered electronically, approved by ECE and the Graduate School. Students can view their plan of study on Hokie Spa.

Deviations from the originally filed plan of study should be approved by the student's advisory committee, and must satisfy all ECE and university requirements. Plan changes are accumulated and filed on a Plan of Study Change form early in the last semester of study.

Courses more than five years old must be revalidated, with a form from the Graduate Counselor, before the student may use these courses on the plan of study (see the Graduate Catalog for details). The revalidation may require a review of the student's ability on course material by the committee or a determination of the currency of the material to the current degree being obtained.

4.8 Deviations from Minimum Requirements

4.9 Non-Thesis M.S. Final Exam

*The Final Exam may, for example consist of a presentation of a project (either individual or from a class) or review of a professional journal paper by the student of about 15-30 minutes in length, and/or may also include final interview questions related to the VT Masters program in ECE.

4.10 Thesis Research (5994)

4.11 The Thesis

The thesis should be submitted to the advisory committee in hard copy, unless the committee requests another form. The final submission to the Graduate School must be done electronically (for more information, refer to Apply to Graduate School or http://www.ece.vt.edu/graduate/etd.html).

4.12 Flowcharts for the M.S. Degree

Flowchart overview for MS Thesis

Flowchart overview for MS non thesis