Dual Master’s Degree Program

Graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering may wish to pursue a dual MS degree in conjunction with another department. The Graduate School provides a mechanism for such a plan of study, The Dual Degree Program Plan.

The requirements established by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in addition to those of the Graduate School are as follows:

• Two advisors, one from each department, must assist in the formulation and approval of the student’s dual degree plan, and the student-prepared dual degree proposal. At the time the plan is submitted for approval, no more than 50 percent of the total graduate hours included in the plan for either degree may have been completed.
• If the two degrees are to be taken with thesis, a single thesis will suffice, but its topic must be interdisciplinary in nature and must have the approval and require the expertise of both advisors. In the Non-thesis option, the ECE Non-thesis MS Exam must be passed. The dual degree cannot be taken with thesis in one program and without thesis in the other; that would not constitute an integrated program.
• For a thesis, there are four total faculty members on the graduation committee. The committee consists of an advisor and second committee from each program for a total of four faculty.
• For non-thesis, the non-thesis graduation exams in each program are separate. The advisor needs to be ECE faculty and 2nd committee member needs to have faculty standing with the University. Both will evaluate the ECE non-thesis project.
• At least 20 hours of credit toward the dual degree must be exclusive to the ECE degree. Please see the MS Degree Requirements for non-thesis and thesis requirements.