MSECE Degree Requirements

(Revised and in effect on January 2025)

Language requirement: Not required  

General Examination: Not required  

Degree Eligibility Form: The Degree Eligibility Form must be completed by all Master's degree candidates and submitted to the Academic Programs Office to be approved/signed by the Graduate Program Director and the Department Head. The graduate student should verify the accuracy of the information on this form from his/her records (see SPIRE). The completed form, with appropriate fees & signatures, must be received by the Graduate School by the posted deadline for the intended graduation date. These deadlines are strictly observed and will not be extended. Degrees CANNOT be awarded retroactively. You must complete the student portion of this form and submit it to the Academic Programs Office at least three (3) days IN ADVANCE of the deadline for verification and signatures. It will then be forwarded to the Graduate School where it will be held until your degree work is complete. 

NOTE: The M.S. thesis and non-thesis Degree Eligibility Forms are located on the Graduate School's website. 

A minimum of 3.00 GPA is required to be eligible for graduation by the Graduate School. Degrees are issued approximately two months after the graduation deadline. If you require a verification of degree eligibility, please send an email request to Eliza Frasier, ECE Academic Programs Manager, at e [dot] frasier [at] umass [dot] edu (e[dot]frasier[at]umass[dot]edu). Our department may provide you with a temporary certificate, depending on your circumstances. 
 

NON-THESIS OPTION: 

Graduate students who are enrolled in the M.S. non-thesis option must earn a minimum of 30 credits.  

  • 7 courses must be in ECE (minimum 21 credits).  
    (CMPSI 677 AND CMPSI 611 may be considered as ECE courses for this requirement)
  • 7 courses at 600 level or higher (minimum 21 credits).
  • Up to 3 courses from: a) ECE 500 level, and/or b) outside ECE 400 or 500 level.
  • At most 6 credits of 400 level courses (outside the major field)
  • Only one (1) approved independent study course (either ECE 696 or from outside ECE), with a maximum of 3 credits.
  • Registration for a one credit seminar course (ECE 793A-Fall and 794-Spring) is MANDATORY, but this credit does not count toward total credit requirements. Exceptions to this requirement are outlined below.
  • Credits transferred from another institution cannot be used to satisfy the university’s requirement for graded credits nor the 600-800 course level requirement. Graduate courses from another institution which have been applied toward any baccalaureate or advanced degree may not be used for fulfilling requirements for any other Master's degree at the university.
  • ECE 698 does not count towards degree requirements.  

THESIS OPTION: 

Graduate students who are enrolled in the M.S. thesis option must take and pass a minimum of seven (7) graduate courses and earn a minimum of nine (9) thesis credits (ECE 699). These 7 graduate courses must meet the following requirements:  

  • A minimum of five (5) courses (at least 15 credits) at the ECE 6xx level or higher (CMPSI 677 AND CMPSI 611 may be considered as ECE courses for this requirement).
  • Up to two (2) courses from ECE 5xx level and/or from non-ECE 4xx/5xx levels.
  • Only one (1) approved independent study course (either ECE 696 or from outside ECE), with a maximum of 3 credits.
  • Registration for a one (1) credit seminar course (ECE 793A-Fall and ECE 794-Spring) is MANDATORY for graduation, but this course does not count towards total credit for degree requirements. Exceptions to this requirement are outlined below. 

Credits transferred from another institution cannot be used to satisfy the university’s requirements for graded credits nor the 600-800 course level requirements. Graduate courses from another institution which have been applied toward any baccalaureate or degree may not be used for fulfilling requirements for any other Master’s degree at the university.  

Thesis Credit: A Master's with Thesis degree candidate must register for nine (9) Master’s Thesis credits, ECE 699. These credits do NOT count toward the 600 level course degree requirement. 

Thesis Committee: Preparation of the Master's thesis shall be under the direct supervision of a Thesis Committee. That committee shall consist of 3 faculty members from the student's major program. Only on rare occasions are committee members appointed outside of UMass 5-college campus subject to the appointment of those faculty as graduate faculty status. To initiate this process the following must be submitted to the ECE Academic Programs Office: 1) a letter of support from the student’s faculty advisor with strong justification;  2) curriculum vitae of outside faculty member. To appoint a nonvoting outside member, a curriculum vitae is needed. The committee must be nominated prior to the presentation of the M.S. Thesis Outline/Proposal. A thesis committee has been officially constituted when the Graduate Dean sends formal notification of its formation to all members, to the Graduate Program Director (GPD), and to the student. Members of the Thesis Committee must agree to not only assist in the supervision of the thesis project, but also to attend the thesis defense. Selection of the committee is a matter of "academic judgment," which should be made by the Graduate Program Director and the Department Chair and approved by the Graduate Dean. Please remember that most faculty are on a 9-month contract and do not assume that committee members will be available during the summer months.  

Thesis Outline/Proposal: A master's candidate must prepare a suitable thesis outline/proposal to be approved and signed (on the cover sheet) by each member of the Thesis Committee and the Department Head. The signed (by all committee members) thesis outline cover sheet must be submitted to the Academic Programs Office for departmental approval a minimum of four (4) months prior to the date that the final thesis defense will be scheduled.  

Thesis Defense: A typical M.S. thesis program is two years. An oral thesis defense (final defense) must be scheduled by the student and announced to the Academic Programs Office at least one week before the defense date. The result of the Thesis Defense must be sent immediately following the defense to the Academic Programs Office by the Committee Chair, and the student is required to submit a prepared thesis cover sheet to the Academic Programs Office. The Academic Programs Office will obtain approvals and signatures from the committee members and Department Head. The completed form will be submitted to the Graduate School with the student cc'd, and a copy will be kept in the student's file. 

Master's Thesis: The student is required to electronically submit the final thesis through the University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks website. The Graduate School has instructions for this process in the Graduate School handbook.