MS Program of Study

MS students are required to develop and submit a Program of Study before the beginning of the second semester of study. The student prepares the program of study in consultation with his/her Advisory Committee. The student's advisory committee, the ECE Chair, the Assoc. Dean for Graduate Studies, and the VP of Graduate Studies must approve the program of study. It should consist of a minimum of 25 credit hours of coursework and a minimum of 6 credit hours of research for the thesis track, OR a minimum of 33 credit hours of coursework for the non-thesis track. The following set of graduate core courses are offered approximately once per year. Each MS Program of Study should contain five of these graduate core courses.

Communications Core Courses
ECE 6710 Communication Systems Theory
ECE 6750 Wireless Communication Systems  

Computer Systems & Networks Core Courses
ECE 6120 Digital Design Using Hardware Description Languages
ECE 6130 Computer Architecture
ECE 6160 Adv. Computer Networks

Devices & Sensors Core Courses
ECE 6510 Electromagnetic Field Theory I
ECE 6580 Instrumentation and Transducer Technology

Signals & Controls Core Courses
ECE 6200 Linear Systems Analysis
ECE 6250 Random Signals and Systems

Power & Renewable Energy Systems Core Courses
ECE 6600 Power System Analysis
ECE 6620 Advanced Electric Machinery
ECE 6900 Renewable Energy & Distributed Generation

Thesis Track MS Program of Study
ECE 6910 Intro to Graduate Research, 1 credit
Five ECE graduate core courses, 15 credits
Two more focus area courses, 6 credits
One elective course (may be outside ECE), 3 credits
Two ECE 6990 Research & Thesis, 6 credits
Total: 31 credits

Non-Thesis Track MS Program of Study
Five ECE graduate core courses, 15 credits
Two more focus area courses, 6 credits
Four elective courses (may be outside ECE), 12 credits
Total: 33 credits

To ensure that the student achieves both breadth and depth in their focus area, the program of study is required to have a coherent list of interrelated courses. The student must take the graduate core courses in their focus area, and at least two more courses in their focus area. To insure breadth, they must take at least two ECE core courses from outside their focus area. The program of study also contains elective courses which may be taken either within ECE or from outside ECE. Often this includes mathematics and computer science courses, as appropriate to the student's interest and focus area. In no case will a student be allowed to take a random collection of courses. All graduate student Programs of Study are stored and updated as necessary, both in the ECE server database and in paper files in the ECE Department Office.

•  No more than six credits (2 courses) of 4000/5000-level dual-listed courses may be used to satisfy the MS requirements.

•  MS students may take PhD 7000-level courses if they have the appropriate prerequisite course preparation.

•  No more than six credits (2 courses) of directed/independent study ECE 6980 may be used to satisfy the MS requirements.

•  No more than nine credits (3 courses) of approved graduate coursework may be transferred from another university to satisfy the MS requirements.

•  At least 15 credits (5 courses) must be from the TTU ECE Department.

MS Admission to Candidacy

In order to monitor MS students' early progress, they are required to apply for Admission to Candidacy immediately following the term in which they complete 9 hours, usually the second semester, at the same time the Program of Study is submitted. The basic requirements for candidacy are full standing, completion of nine credit hours of graduate work, and a TTU GPA of at least 3.0.

Sample MS program of study (MS Word document)

Ph.D. Program of Study

Sample Ph.D. program of study (MS Word document)