Choosing a Master's Program
Our department offers several master's degrees and subplans. This guide will help you determine which one is right for you.听
听听 Our Master's Options
听听鈥嬏Degree Costs
听听鈥嬏Funding Considerations for MS and PMP
听听鈥嬏Switching Between Degrees
听听鈥嬏Comparing Degrees and Subplans
Our Master's Options
A traditional master鈥檚 degree听can help you prepare to pursue a PhD or prepare you for a successful career in academia or in industry.听In our program听this is a Master of Science (coded MS)听degree. A thesis is optional for students in this program; all students are admitted on the non-thesis, coursework-only track.
Our traditional master's program has courses that are held during normal business hours. This may make it difficult to complete as an on-campus program for applicants who wish to work full-time while completing their degree.
Our degree includes听six听focus areas which students can specify an interest in in their application,听but, if admitted, students are able to take classes among all these听areas to best learn the varied knowledge they want for their future career path. There are no subplans to the traditional MS degree. Our 听is the best place to see the course options.听 听听
A professional master鈥檚 degree (otherwise referred to as a Professional Master's Program; PMP)听usually leads directly to work in industry. The goal of the professional master鈥檚 degree is to prepare students to be highly competitive in the professional job market. The target audience is the soon-to-be or current working professionals who want to further their education, obtain cutting-edge knowledge; further advance their communication, collaboration, presentation, organizational听and networking skills; and apply what they learn, and the graduate certificates and degrees they earn,听 to advance their career. The professional master鈥檚 degree admission process evaluates applicants primarily on their potential to complete a challenging degree, and not on their potential to do research or complete a PhD. There is no thesis option for these students.
One professional master鈥檚 degree we offer is a Master听of Science (coded MSEE). These students may pursue one of four subplans:
- Embedded Systems Engineering
- High Speed Digital Design
- Next Generation Power and Energy Systems
- Power Electronics听
The other professional master's degree we offer is a Master of Engineering (coded ME).听
The MS-EE on Coursera offers stackable graduate-level courses, graduate certificates听and a fully accredited master鈥檚 degree in electrical engineering. The admission is performance-based, which means you don鈥檛 need exam scores, recommendations or transcripts. Earn your graduate degree and/or certificate by completing a series of for-credit courses in a 鈥淧athway Specialization鈥 and pass with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better and not less than 2.0 in any individual course. This 鈥淏鈥 average qualifies you to be admitted into the degree program. Students earn the same credentials as our on-campus students.
Please contact ecegrad@colorado.edu if you would like to discuss your ability to work outside the university while completing a master's degree so we can help you to determine the best fit for your situation.
If you're a current undergraduate student in ECEE, the Bachelor鈥檚 / Accelerated Master鈥檚 (BAM)program offers you the opportunity to receive a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree in a shorter period of time.
Applying
Information on how to apply for our graduate programs can be found here.
Applications for Spring semesters close on September 1 annually, applications for Fall semesters close on February 15 annually.听
Degree Costs
The traditional MS degrees,听Professional MS and MS-EE on Coursera degrees have different billing structures you should review before applying:
- Tuition & Fee Rate Sheets for traditional MS and PMPs
- MS-EE on听Coursera - Domestic and International Students听(tuition is assessed on a pay-as-you-go, per-course basis)
Please Note: There are different rates for the traditional program, the PMPs, and Coursera. These rates are also different if you are an in-state resident vs an out-of-state or international student. Please read through the fee rates closely!听
Tuition is less expensive for PMP students who are out-of-state residents or international students. PMP tuition is more expensive for in-state residents.听
Funding Considerations for Traditional MS and PMP
You will automatically be considered for potential aid; there is no extra paperwork to fill out to be considered. However, it is rare that we are able to provide scholarships, funding or assistantships to our master鈥檚 students. Nearly听all research assistantships (RA) go to fully fund our PhD students, and we do not use teaching assistantships (TA). Additionally, Professional Master鈥檚 students are not eligible to hold a graduate appointment like a TA or an RA and may only hold hourly student appointments that do not include tuition remission.
ECEE hires Learning Assistants (LAs, undergraduates) and Graduate Learning Assistants听(GLAs, graduate students)听to assist with the majority of classroom support.
- GLAs are graduate students who can work up to 20 hours per week during fall and spring terms without any tuition waiver. Please note some department roles limit GLAs to 5 or 10 hours per week.听
- GLAs are available for responsibilities such as additional office hour coverage, holding course workshops听and homework review sessions for our on-campus courses. For the MS-EE on Coursera program, GLAs help solve student issues, answer听student questions听and beta-test听Coursera courses.听
- All ECEE graduate-level students are eligible to apply for this role, though this does not guarantee being hired. The application information is emailed to all active students each Fall/Spring semester.听
Our Graduate School has additional funding information that may be helpful to you in determining how to fund your degree. You can explore on-campus employment opportunities.
Switching Between Traditional MS and PMP
You may apply to switch your master鈥檚 degree program (traditional MS to PMP or vice-versa) once during your tenure as a student. This means you must complete one semester in your program of entry with a GPA of 3.0 or higher听and have permission from your advisor and the advisor of the program you wish to switch into (faculty advisors are assigned only two or three weeks prior to semester start). You may not switch during the term you plan to graduate. Your last term officially begins after census date of the prior term. All requests to switch must be received at least one week before the next semester begins.听
Compare Degrees and Focus Areas + View Courses
If you are interested in a particular field within electrical and computer engineering, please check out the grid below to see what degrees are available to you.听
*Our Traditional MS does not have specific subplan requirements, but the focus areas are identified below. Only our professional programs (the Professional MS and ME) have subplans. ME students can also complete the degree without a subplan, similar to the traditional MS students.听
Our 听is the best place to see the course options.听听
| 听 | Professional MS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Engineering, Electromagnetics/RF, Photonics & Quantum Engineering,听Power Electronics & Renewable Energy,听Learning, Information, Network, Communication听and Data (LINCD) Sciences, Systems & Controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Embedded Systems Engineering (ESE) | No | No | Yes | ||
| Next Generation Power & Energy Systems | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Power Electronics | No | No | Yes | ||
| High Speed Digital Design | No | No | Yes | No |