Program Information:Engineer Degree

The degree of Engineer is intended for those who desire more graduate training than can be obtained in a Master of Science program. It differs from the Ph.D. primarily in looking toward professional engineering work rather than toward theoretical research or university teaching. The Engineer's degree is normally awarded at the completion of a comprehensive two-year program of graduate study.

Applying for Candidacy

Candidacy for the Engineer's degree begins officially with the approval of the application, and lasts for a period of five years. In order to file the "Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Engineer" form, the following basic requirements must be satisfied:

1. Before completing the M.S. degree requirements, discuss the possibility of applying for the Engineer's degree with your program adviser. Your overall graduate GPA must be at least 3.1.
2. If you are now working towards the Stanford MSEE, request permission to continue study beyond the M.S. by submitting the "Graduate Program Authorization Petition" form obtained here. You will also need to submit a statement of purpose and three (3) letters of recommendation. One of the three letters must be from a faculty member in the EE department who is willing to supervise your research in the Engineer's degree program. Please submit the completed form and supporting documents to EE's Admissions Office in Packard 170. As of September 1, 2004, the university has been assessing a fee of $50 for adding new degree programs. The fee will be added to the student's account at the time the form is received in the Registrar's Office. 

Completing the Application for Engineer Candidacy

During the first quarter of work beyond the MS degree, a formal application for degree of Engineer should be filed using the form that can be obtained from here. All coursework counting towards fulfilling the requirements should be listed and the form must be signed by the thesis adviser. The application should be submitted to to EE Student Services for departmental approval. The form should contain a list of all graduate courses completed at Stanford and elsewhere together with all courses to be completed in subsequent quarters which are to count towards the degree.

The Course Program

The student and thesis adviser should jointly develop a course program, which must be approved by the adviser and then submitted to the department for formal approval. The following requirements assume that the student has completed the requirements for the M.S. degree either at Stanford or elsewhere. The course requirements in addition to the M.S. degree (or an equivalent amount of graduate work) are:

[*] Formal courses do not include special studies and thesis.

[**] Departmental courses include those listed or cross-listed as EE courses.

Units completed at Stanford toward a Master's degree in an Engineering discipline may be used toward the 90-unit residency requirement for the Engineer Degree. Other units taken may include nondepartmental courses, research courses, and courses taken for CR/NC.

Some deviation from the above may be approved, but applications for such deviations should include a statement to support them which is approved by the student's program adviser and thesis adviser.

Other Requirements for the Engineer Degree

1. A GPA of 3.10 or better is required to maintain candidacy for and to to receive the degree of Engineer.
2. The equivalent of at least one quarter is devoted to independent study and thesis work with faculty guidance. The thesis is typically a professional report on the solution of a design problem. Three copies of the thesis bearing the approval of the thesis supervisor must be submitted to the Graduate Degree Progress Section of the Registrar's Office on or before the last day of classes in the final quarter in which the degree is to be conferred.

A pamphlet entitled Directions for Preparing Theses has been prepared by the Graduate Degree Progress Section of the Registrar's Office and is available from here. This document should be read by students before preparing the writeup of their thesis work for submission.

shankle@ee.stanford.edu