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• Thesis, including the individual instruction thesis courses EE ECE 698A, and EE 698B; ECE 698B in the final semester of the master's degree;
• Report, including the individual instruction report course EE 398RECE 398R in the final semester of the master's degree; and
• No Thesis/No Report (Coursework Only).
EE 698B or EE 398R must be taken in the semester you earn the MSE.
EE 698A is taken in a semester prior to taking 698BEnrollment in course ECE 698A (research project) must precede enrollment in course ECE 698B (writing period); ECE 698A may not be repeated for credit. The student must register for ECE 698B in the semester they intend to graduate, and repeat the course as needed if the thesis is not completed by the Graduate School's submission deadline. The thesis cannot be accepted before the semester in which the student applies for graduation.
Thesis and Report courses are taken on the credit/no credit (CR/NC) grading basis. Otherwise, all courses that count toward the Program of Work must be regular classroom instruction courses taken for a letter grade.
Program of Work
By policy of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin, at least eighteen hours (six courses) must be in the major work, including any Thesis or Report courses, and at least six hours (two courses) must be in supporting work. Up to two upper division undergraduate courses (3 hours or more each) may be used toward the MSE Program of Work. However, supporting work must including at least one graduate course.
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For coursework taken at the University of Texas at Austin, a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or greater or greater is required in on the master's Program of Work overall, combining major coursework grades and , separately, in supporting coursework grades. Moreover, students may count may count only one course with a letter grade less than B− B-minus, and no course with a letter grade less than C, toward the Program the Program of Work.
University policy also forbids transfer of coursework with a grade of less than B toward the Master’s Program of Work. Transfer of coursework must be approved by the Graduate School before completion of 12 hours of graduate coursework at UT Austin.
Prearranged limited exceptions to these policies have been granted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of coursework taken in the spring 2020 semester for CR/NC for which a CR grade was earned.
Graduation
During your last semester as a graduate student, you must apply to graduate, in addition to completing other required steps.
Please review the Graduate School website concerning deadlines and submission instructions HERE.
Instructions regarding digital submissions and formatting of graduation materials can be found HERE.
Students pursuing the no-thesis/no-report (courses only) master’s degree must apply by the Graduate School’s 3 p.m. deadline in fall, spring, or summer to earn the degree (or graduate) and successfully complete the remaining coursework on their master’s Program of Work in that same semester. Additionally, students who choose the report or thesis option must have a committee in place consisting of a supervisor and a reader, or two co-supervisors, when they apply to earn the master’s degree; and must send the Curriculum Vitae (CV) of an external co-supervisor and/or reader to the Graduate School: GradStudentSvcs@austin.utexas.edu. By the semester’s 3 p.m. deadline specified by the Graduate School, students writing a report or thesis must upload an approved report or thesis, and send the master's committee approval form with signatures of the supervising committee to GradStudentSvcs@austin.utexas.edu. ALL committee members must sign the master's committee approval form; no proxy signatures allowed.
Transfer of Coursework
A master’s student seeking to use graduate coursework completed at another institution and not used or counted toward another degree must provide the ECE Graduate Studies Committee via an ECE Graduate Coordinator with an official transcript, the official explanation of the institution’s course numbering system and grading system, and the course description from the catalog of the institution. If the graduate course was taken as an undergraduate, an additional letter from an administrator of the institution is required, confirming that the course was not used toward the bachelor’s degree, that it is a graduate course ordinarily open to graduate students only, that special permission was required to enroll in the course, and that it was not counted toward the bachelor’s degree.
Along with these documents, the Petition to Transfer a Graduate Course From Another Institution form should be submitted by the ECE Graduate Advisor via an ECE Graduate Coordinator for approval by the graduate dean. That form can be found HERE.
In ECE, the ECE Track Advisor fills out the course equivalency section of the form and signs in the blank space below each equivalent course. The ECE Graduate Advisor signs at the bottom of the form with the assistance of the ECE Graduate Coordinator. This form must be submitted before 12 hours of graduate coursework are completed at UT Austin.
Visit the Graduate School’s course transfer credit website to review the additional requirements at the link HERE.