Master of Engineering Degree Requirements

Traditional Subplans and Degrees Offered

Professional Subplans and Degrees Offered

Coursework Requirements

To earn a Master of Engineering (ME) degree, a minimum 30 credit hours is required. You must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0; all grades must be a "C" or higher to count toward the degree. The 30 credit hours must include: 

•  15 credit hours of ECEN 5000-level or above courses (ESE has slightly different requirements:  5 core ECEN 5000-level or above, 2 elective ECEN 5000-level or above, for total of 21 credit hours of ECEN 5000+ course work).
  
  • A maximum of 3 credit hours of independent study can be used toward the 30 credit hour requirement.
• The remaining 15 credit hours can be ECEN courses or technical courses in science, mathematics or engineering or courses from Engineering Management (EMEN), Atlas (ATLS), Cybersecurity (CYBR).  All of these should be at the 5000-level or above (ESE permits maximally 9 such credit hours).
  • Generally, a ‘technical’ courses is one with technical undergraduate or graduate pre-reqs, and is not policy focused, but is math/engineering problem-solving focused. ​If you are unsure if your course meets degree requirements, contact your advisor.
  • Three-credits total of ECEN Professional Internship Course can count toward your degree.
  • You must petition your academic advisor if you wish to take any courses from departments outside of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. This includes ENVM and Data Science courses.
• A maximum of nine semester hours of acceptable, non-degreed coursework with a grade of “B” or higher may be transferred from another accredited institution. Work completed at CU as a special student or at another CU campus falls under the nine-hour rule.
  
  • Only the credit hours will transfer — the course grade will not count toward your GPA.
  • Quarter system credits will transfer as .67 credit hours per 1 quarter credit hour. The Registrar will not round up; if you are short any partial credit, you must take an additional credit/course.
  • Please fill out the Graduate School Transfer Credit Form to initiate the course transfer process. 

Common Requirements and Policies

The following requirements and policies apply to all graduate students in the Department of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering.

Quality of Work

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on all coursework. Even courses that do not count toward the degree are calculated into the student’s GPA. A student cannot be admitted to candidacy or graduate with a cumulative GPA below 3.0. All grades are required to be a "C" or higher in order to count toward the degree. Grades below a "C" do not count toward the degree but do count toward a student's GPA.

Coursework

Visit classes.colorado.edu to view courses by current semester. Graduate-level coursework is numbered 5000 and above; ECEN preceeds all Electrical Engineering courses.

The department also maintains a course offering plan for future semesters. Scroll to the far right to see recommended courses for each focus area that will provide the baseline knowledge needed. Traditional MS students are not limited to the research area selected while applying, and are able to take any variety of ECEN courses to fulfill their degree requirements as listed above. Please note that Embedded Systems Engineering (ESE) courses are restricted to students within that program, other students are given the opportunity to enroll based on room capacity. 

Leave of Absence

Students may apply for a leave of absence according to the Graduate School rules. This enables a student to leave and return without having to reapply.