Graduate Program: Electrical & Computer Engineering (MS)

General Information

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

M.S. Minimum Admission Requirements 

The ECE M.S. degree program provides knowledge, technical skills and research skills for career advancement and/or for subsequent work toward a Ph.D. degree. Our M.S. program is also designed for the working professional in the industry and offers knowledge and technical skills for career advancement.

 

The minimum admission requirements for the M.S. program are as follows: 

• Bachelor’s degree from an institution recognized by the UA. Students who do not have a degree equivalent to the UA Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering may be admitted into the graduate ECE program but may be required to complete some undergraduate deficiency courses prior to enrolling in graduate courses. This policy also applies to students in the M.S. non-thesis option. See the Graduate Handbook chapter regarding students with a non-ECE bachelor’s degree for further details. 

• Grade-point average must be competitive. 

• Applicants whose native language is not English are required by the Graduate College to submit a minimum TOEFL score of 550 (213 CBT). See the UA Graduate Catalog for a discussion of exemptions. 

• Students in the M.S. non-thesis option are expected to be self-supported or supported by external fellowships or industry, and are not eligible for UA financial support, except for research assistantships provided by individual faculty. 

 

Standardized Tests

• TOEFL for international student

• GRE is not required for M.S. Thesis and Non-Thesis Options.

 

Funding Opportunities

Graduate Research assistantships
Graduate Teaching assistantships
Fellowships and scholarships

 

Admissions Deadlines

Domestic Applicants:

• Fall: Applications may be submitted at any time. However, please allow at least six weeks of processing time after all required documents have been submitted before an admission decision is made. Most applications for Fall admission are received in December, admission decisions usually begin near the end of January,
  and offers of financial support usually begin near the end of February. After that time, the availability of funding diminishes.Therefore, the recommended deadline for receipt of the application is as follows:  Recommended Deadline for Applicants Seeking Financial Support: Spring-July 15:  Fall-December 15.
• Spring: July 15

International Applicants:

• Fall: Applications may be submitted at any time. Please allow at least six weeks of processing time after all required documents have been submitted before an admission decision is made. Most applications for Fall admission are received in December, admission decisions usually begin near the end of January,
  and offers of financial support usually begin near the end of February. After that time, the availability of funding diminishes.Therefore, the recommended deadline for receipt of the application is as follows:  Recommended Deadline for Applicants Seeking Financial Support: Spring-July 15 and Fall-December 15. The last day to obtain immigrations documents for Fall is September 1.
• Spring: July 15

 

International Conditional Admission

International applicants may be considered for conditional admission to this program at the department's discretion.

Other Information

The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

ETS Major Field Code(s) for this program: 4832

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

30 

Core Coursework Requirements

Thesis Option
Coursework: Must submit the Draft Plan of Study by the end of the first semester.

• 24 units of graduate coursework (5xx level)*, subject to the following limitations:
  • A maximum of 6 units of non-ECE coursework. All non-ECE coursework must be pre-approved by the Graduate Studies Committee prior to registration.
  • Paper Requirement - Must submit at least one paper to a refereed conference or journal, with an ECE faculty member as a co-author.
  • Thesis - 6 units of thesis (ECE 910).
  • Final defense - Must pass an oral defense of the thesis.

Non-Thesis Option
Coursework: Must submit the M.S. Plan of Study in GRADPATH by the end of the first semester.

• 30 units of graduate coursework (5xx level)*, subject to the following limitations:
  • A maximum of 9 units of non-ECE coursework. All non-ECE coursework must be pre-approved by the Graduate Studies Committee prior to registration.

* A cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0 or higher must be maintained on all coursework taken for graduate credit. A grade of C or higher is required for a course to be used to satisfy the degree requirements (A or B for transfer credits).

 

Elective Coursework

Non-Thesis Option

Coursework

Must submit the Draft Plan of Study by the end of first semester.

30 units of graduate coursework (5xx or 6xx)*, subject to the following limitations:

• A maximum of 3 units of ECE independent study.  Non-ECE independent study does not apply toward the coursework requirement. ECE independent study must be taken with an ECE Faculty and must be pre-approved.
• A maximum of 9 units of non-ECE coursework. All non-ECE coursework must be pre-approved by the Graduate Studies Committee prior to registration.

 

Additional Requirements

A cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0 or higher must be maintained on all coursework taken for graduate credit. A grade of C or higher is required for a course to be used to satisfy the degree requirements (A or B for transfer credits). The Grade Replacement Option (GRO) cannot be used for ECE graduate courses.

 

Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.