MSE Degree Requirements

The MSE requires a Program of Work consisting of at least thirty semester hours of coursework (ten courses) primarily or entirely at the graduate level and not taken toward a prior degree, and has three options: 

• Thesis, including the individual instruction thesis courses ECE 698A, and ECE 698B in the final semester of the master's degree;

• Report, including the individual instruction report course ECE 398R in the final semester of the master's degree; and 

• No Thesis/No Report (Coursework Only). 

Enrollment 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. 

More than 18 hours of major work may be required of individual students based on their academic backgrounds. However, which courses may be counted as major work and which may be counted as supporting work can vary not only with the academic track but the interests of the individual student. Ultimately, all major and supporting coursework must be logically related. Each student must work with their ECE GSC member Supervisor, Co-Supervisor or, in the absence of the former, Academic Track advisor to establish their MSE Program of Work. 

For coursework taken at the University of Texas at Austin, a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or greater is required on the master's Program of Work overall, combining major coursework grades and supporting coursework grades. Moreover, students may count only one course with a letter grade less than B-minus, and no course with a letter grade less than C, toward 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.

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.