Program Information:Master of Science Degree

The Program Proposal form must be approved by the student's faculty academic adviser and be submitted to the EE Degree Progress office (Packard 177) prior to the end of the first quarter of enrollment in the program (second quarter for HCP students). The faculty does not prescribe specific courses to be taken. Each student, with the help of their faculty adviser, prepares a program of study to meet his or her particular research interests and submits it to the faculty for approval. Guidelines for course programs that will normally be approved are listed below.

If your plans for meeting the degree requirements change, you must submit a revised program proposal to the department’s student services office for approval early in your final quarter in the program. The University’s minimum requirement for each master's degree is 45 unduplicated units of work done at Stanford. Students must also maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in order to maintain good academic standing. 

There is a three-year limit from the first quarter of enrollment in the Master’s Program to conferral of the degree--the MS program is usually completed in five Academic Year quarters. For coterminal students, the three-year period begins in the quarter following completion of 180 units. Students in the Honors Cooperative Program have a five-year limit for completing the degree. During your final quarter in the program, you must submit an Application to Graduate for Advanced Degrees through Axess.

In order to meet the requirements of the EE-MS degree, you must meet the following guidelines:

• DEPTH: A sequence of at least 3 letter graded EE courses. At least one must be at the 300 level and the other courses must be at the 200 level or above to provide depth in one area (minimum of 9 units). The list of approved depth sequences is available below.  Special Studies (e.g., EE390/391) cannot be included. Depth sequences not specifically listed require special approval from the student’s academic adviser and the EE Student Services office.

• BREADTH: 3 EE courses from 3 different areas  outside of the depth area (minimum of 9 units). Special Studies (e.g., EE390/391) cannot be included. The breadth requirement is satisfied by courses from three different areas, not including courses in the selected depth area. Two courses are not considered as being in distinct areas if they can be found under a common depth area (some courses appear in multiple depth areas). The list of approved courses is available below.

• SEMINAR: The seminar requirement can be fulfilled by either (i) enrolling in at least one seminar course for credit or (ii) attending a minimum of 8 informal or formal research seminars. Students who enroll in 8 research seminars must submit, with their final MS program proposal, a list of the seminars with a paragraph describing the content of these classes and must receive approval of their faculty adviser.
  
  

 Of the 45 units that are required to complete the requirements of the EE-MS degree:

•  At least 36 units must be letter graded units.  Up to 6 units of Special Studies (EE391) may be used to fulfill this requirement (Performance courses such as golf, choir or photography are not allowed).'
  

• At least 21 units must be letter graded EE courses*numbered at the 200 level or above (excluding 278A), including at least 9 units numbered at the 300 level or above.
  

• At least 30 units must be in technical areas such as science, mathematics, and engineering;Thesis, Special Studies, and seminar units cannot be included among these 30 units.
• 1 seminar course from math, science or engineering departments.

• 8 additional units of your choice. 
• At least 36 units must be at or above the 100 level.

*'For the purpose of this and all other guidelines, "Electrical Engineering courses" includes all courses taught by the Electrical Engineering Department and all out-of-department courses approved as Electrical Engineering related courses. Related courses are listed in the EE Graduate Handbook.

New students are strongly advised not to undertake a heavy academic program in their first quarter at Stanford, as they are adjusting to their new environment and the demanding nature of graduate work. Three regular courses (8-10 units) provide a full-time workload, particularly during the first quarter at Stanford. The student's adviser should be consulted for further guidance on this and other course-enrollment questions.

The ability to take advantage of modern computing facilities is an essential skill for electrical engineers, and an increasing number of our courses routinely require programming ability, which is considered to be a requirement for the M.S. degree. If they do not already possess such skills, students are required to acquire this skill, preferably early in their programs, by taking a regular Computer Science course, or one of the special "short courses" given by the Computation Center, or by self-study.

Because the M.S. degree is an advanced degree in electrical engineering awarded entirely on the basis of course work, the program should contain a substantial amount of advanced electrical engineering course work. Mezzanine (200 level) courses, suitable for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduates, may be used in partial satisfaction of this requirement, but at least part of the program should be in the more advanced 300 and 400 series courses.