Supplemental Program of Study Requirements

In addition to the credit hours requirements, there are departmental requirements for graduate degrees in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECpE).

Related Information:

Master of Science with Thesis Option

  • Requires 30 credits. No fewer than 22 of these credits shall be earned at ISU.
  • Requires a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of nine (9) research/thesis credits.
  • Eighteen (18) credits must be course work from within ECpE: twelve (12) credits must be from a single academic area (depth requirement), and six (6) credits must be from outside this academic area (breadth requirement).
  • Up to 8 transfer credits are allowed on the POS. Transfer credits must have a grade of B or better. Research credits cannot be transferred.
  • Special or selected topics courses such as E E 520, E E 590, Cpr E 590, Cpr E 594, may be counted as regular coursework credits, as long as the course is taught as a regular course.
  • With POS committee approval, undergraduate courses may be used on the POS. No 100 or 200 level courses can be used. Up to three (3) 400 level courses, or one (1) non-ECpE 300 level and two (2) 400 level courses may be used.
  • Students are expected to perform original and creative research and report their research results in a thesis.
  • Each student is required to attend at least two (2) Ph.D. or MS defenses during her/his tenure as requirements for graduation.
  • Each student is required to attend at least two (2) departmental seminars per semester. This rule applies to on-campus students only.
  • Each student needs to fulfill the publication requirement of at least one (1) journal or peer-reviewed conference paper submission.
  • Requires the satisfactory completion of a final oral examination.

Master of Science with Non-Thesis Option (Creative Component)

A student who elects not to write a thesis shall be required to demonstrate ability to do independent work in one of two ways: (1) by studying literature on a topic of current interest and presenting a written and oral report on that topic, or (2) by completing an assigned task of measurements, design, construction, or computation, and presenting a written and oral report of the results. The students shall seek the approval of the major professor in choosing the creative component work. This work will be conducted under EE 599 or CprE 599 and graded either as Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. The written report should demonstrate substantial evidence of creative endeavor. Additional requirements are as follows:

  • Requires 30 credits. No fewer than 22 of these credits shall be earned at ISU.
  • Requires a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of three (3) creative component credits.
  • Eighteen (18) credits must be course work from within ECpE: twelve (12) credits must be from a single academic area (depth requirement), and six (6) credits must be from outside this academic area (breadth requirement).
  • Up to 8 transfer credits are allowed on the POS. Transfer credits must have a grade of B or better. Research credits cannot be transferred.
  • Special or selected topics courses such as E E 520, E E 590, Cpr E 590, Cpr E 594, may be counted as regular coursework credits, as long as the course is taught as a regular course.
  • With POS committee approval, undergraduate courses may be used on the POS. No 100 or 200 level courses can be used. Up to three (3) 400 level courses, or one (1) non-ECpE 300 level and two (2) 400 level courses may be used.
  • Each student is required to attend at least two (2) Ph.D. or MS defenses during her/his tenure as requirements for graduation.
  • Each student is required to attend at least two (2) departmental seminars per semester. This rule applies to on-campus students only.
  • Requires the satisfactory completion of a final oral examination and a report summarizing the work.

Master of Engineering

  • Requires 30 course credits. No fewer than 22 of these credits shall be earned at ISU.
  • Eighteen (18) credits must be course work from within ECpE.
  • Up to eight (8) transfer credits are allowed on the POS. Transfer credits must have a grade of B or better. Research credits cannot be transferred.
  • Special or selected topics courses such as E E 520, E E 590, Cpr E 590, Cpr E 594, may be counted as regular coursework credits, as long as the course is taught as a regular course.
  • With DOGE approval, undergraduate courses may be used on the POS. No 100 or 200 level courses can be used. Up to nine (9) credits of 400 level courses, or three (3) credits of non-ECpE 300 level courses and six (6) credits of 400 level courses may be used. Non-ECpE 300 level courses with a significant overlap with Cpr E/EE core courses will not be allowed.

PhD

  • Requires 72 graduate credits of which no fewer than 36 graduate credits must be from ISU. A minimum of three (3) must be dissertation/research credits.
  • For the qualifying process, a student must have taken two (2) courses from the Academic Area Courses list, and two (2) from the General Skills Courses list.
  • A minimum of twenty-four (24) must be course work credits.
  • Eighteen (18) credits must be course work from within ECpE: twelve (12) credits must be from a single academic area (depth requirement), and six (6) credits must be from outside this academic area (breadth requirement).
  • In addition, six (6) more credits of course work are required to satisfy the additional knowledge requirement.
  • Up to 36 transfer credits are allowed on the POS. Transfer credits must have a grade of B or better. Research credits cannot be transferred.
  • At least twelve (12) course credits must be taken at ISU from the combined set of the student’s primary research area and relevant skills courses. (This rule will be applied to students admitted in Fall 2018 and beyond.)
  • Special or selected topics courses such as E E 520, E E 590, Cpr E 590, Cpr E 594, may be counted as regular coursework credits, as long as the course is taught as a regular course.
  • With POS committee approval, undergraduate courses may be used on the POS. No 100 or 200 level courses can be used. Up to three (3) 400 level courses, or one (1) non-ECpE 300 level and two (2) 400 level courses may be used.
  • Each student is required to attend at least five (5) Ph.D. defenses during her/his tenure as requirements for graduation.
  • Each student is required to attend at least two (2) departmental seminars per semester. This rule applies to on-campus students only.
  • Each student is required to make at least one (1) presentation at the graduate student seminar during her/his tenure.
  • Each student needs to fulfill the publication requirement of at least two (2) journal or peer-reviewed conference papers published or accepted for publication, as approved by the major professor.
  • Requires the satisfactory completion of a final oral examination.

  • Additional Information and Requirement for Concurrent Bachelor/Master Programs

  • Up to one (1) semester of concurrent enrollment is allowed (the semester in which the student has both undergraduate and graduate standing).
  • Up to six (6) credits of graduate level coursework taken while an undergraduate during the semester of concurrent enrollment may be double counted toward both their undergraduate and graduate program of study.
  • Up to nine (9) credits of graduate level coursework taken while an undergraduate that will NOT be counted toward their undergraduate program of study may be transferred; the coursework must have a grade of B or better.
  • Student will take at least three (3) credits of graduate level courses during concurrent enrollment.

  • Requirements for Graduate Certifications

  • To obtain the Computer Networking Graduate Certificate, students must complete 12 total credit hours of courses, including a 3-credit hour required course and 9 credit hours of elective courses.
  • To obtain the Embedded Systems Graduate Certificate, students must complete 12 total credit hours of courses, including 9 credit hours of required courses and a 3-credit hour elective course.
  • To obtain a Power Systems Graduate Certificate, students must complete 12 total credit hours of required courses.
  • To obtain a Software Systems Graduate Certificate, students must complete 12 total credit hours of courses, including a 3-credit hour required course, and 9 credit hours of elective courses.

  • Minor and Co-Major Requirements

    For students in other departments, a master’s level minor in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering shall consist of 9 credits minimum (10 credits typical) of courses acceptable for minor or major graduate credit. A Ph.D. minor shall consist of 12 credits minimum, of which at least 6 must be at the 500 level or higher.

    A joint or co-major in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering at the MS or Ph.D. level requires at least 12 credit hours (500 level courses) in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering. Students seeking a co-major must have a co-major professor from the ECpE department. A joint or co-major in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering at the Ph.D. level requires two members from the department on the student’s committee with one of them being a full member of the graduate faculty. One of them shall serve as co-chair of the committee.

  • Designation of Area of Specialization

    Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering MS and Ph.D. candidates do not specify an area of specialization on their Program of Study (POS).

Revised December 2020

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