Graduate Programs
A graduate degree from the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering provides you with skills that are valued in a wide range of careers in academia and industry. We offer several degree options tailored to both working engineers looking to advance their careers and to those looking to pursue a career in academia.
Our PhD Program
Contribute original research to the field as you prepare for a career in research or academia with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Our departmental PhD research occurs in 6 areas:
- Computer Engineering
- Learning, Information, Network, Communication & Data Sciences
- Photonics & Quantum Engineering
- Power Electronics
- RF/Electromagnetics/Microwaves/Remote Sensing
- Systems & Controls
PhD Frequently Asked Questions
No. All faculty in your area of interest will review your application for admittance to their group. All our PhD offers include funding, unless the applicant has other stated means (tuition remission with employer, home country government scholarships, etc.) You only need to complete the one application.
Our Master's Programs
A traditional master’s degreecan help you prepare to pursue a PhD or prepare you for a successful career in academia or in industry.In our programthis is a Master of Science (MS)degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. A thesis is optional for students in this program; all students are admitted on the non-thesis, coursework-only track.
There are no subplans to the traditional MS degree. Our is the best place to see the course options.
A professional master’s degree (otherwise referred to as a Professional Master's Program; PMP)usually leads directly to work in industry. The goal of the professional master’s degree is to prepare students to be highly competitive in the professional job market. The target audience is the soon-to-be or current working professionals who want to further their education, obtain cutting-edge knowledge; further advance their communication, collaboration, presentation, organizationaland networking skills; and apply what they learn, to advance their career. The professional master’s degree admission process evaluates applicants primarily on their potential to complete a challenging degree, and not on their potential to do research or complete a PhD. There is no thesis option for these students.
One professional master’s degree we offer is a Masterof Science (MS) in Electrical & Computer Engineering These students may pursue one of four subplans:
A professional master’s degree (otherwise referred to as a Professional Master's Program; PMP)usually leads directly to work in industry. The goal of the professional master’s degree is to prepare students to be highly competitive in the professional job market. The target audience is the soon-to-be or current working professionals who want to further their education, obtain cutting-edge knowledge; further advance their communication, collaboration, presentation, organizationaland networking skills; and apply what they learn, to advance their career. The professional master’s degree admission process evaluates applicants primarily on their potential to complete a challenging degree, and not on their potential to do research or complete a PhD. There is no thesis option for these students.
One professional master’s degree we offer is a Masterof Engineering (ME) in Electrical & Computer Engineering. These students may pursue one of four subplans or they may take generalized coursework:
- Embedded Systems Engineering
- High Speed Digital Design
- Next Generation Power and Energy Systems
- Power Electronics
- No subplan required, general coursework: our is the best place to see the course options.
The MS-EE on Coursera offers stackable graduate-level courses, graduate certificatesand a fully accredited master’s degree in electrical engineering. The admission is performance-based, which means you don’t need exam scores, recommendations or transcripts. Earn your graduate degree and/or certificate by completing a series of for-credit courses in a “Pathway Specialization” and pass with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better and not less than 2.0 in any individual course. This “B” average qualifies you to be admitted into the degree program. Students earn the same credentials as our on-campus students.
The Bachelor’s / Accelerated Master’s (BAM)program offers current departmental ECEE Bachelor's students the opportunity to receive a bachelor’s and master’s degree in a shorter period of time.
Master's Program Frequently Asked Questions
The traditional MS degrees,Professional MS, Professional ME, and MS-EE on Coursera degrees have different billing structures applicants should review before applying:
- Tuition & Fee Rate Sheets for traditional MS and PMPs
- MS-EE onCoursera - Domestic and International Students(tuition is assessed on a pay-as-you-go, per-course basis)
Please Note: Please read through the fee rates closely! Rates are different if you are an in-state resident vs an out-of-state or international student. For example, tuition is less expensive for PMP students who are out-of-state residents or international students and PMP tuition is more expensive for in-state residents. The inverse is true for the Traditional students.
Applicants will automatically be considered for potential aid; there is no extra paperwork to fill out to be considered.
However, our master's degrees are generally entirely unfunded. It is rare that we are able to provide scholarships, funding or assistantships to our master’s students. Nearlyall research assistantships (RA) go to fully fund our PhD students, and we do not use teaching assistantships (TA).
Additionally, Professional Master’s students are not eligible to hold a graduate appointment like a TA or an RA and may only hold hourly student appointments that do not include tuition remission.
ECEE hires Learning Assistants (LAs, undergraduates) and Graduate Learning Assistants(GLAs, graduate students)to assist with the majority of classroom support.
- GLAs are graduate students who can work up to 20 hours per week during fall and spring terms without any tuition waiver. Please note some department roles limit GLAs to 5 or 10 hours per week.
- GLAs are available for responsibilities such as additional office hour coverage, holding course workshopsand homework review sessions for our on-campus courses. For the MS-EE on Coursera program, GLAs help solve student issues, answerstudent questionsand beta-testCoursera courses.
- All ECEE graduate-level students are eligible to apply for this role, though this does not guarantee being hired. The application information is emailed to all active students each Fall/Spring semester.
Our Graduate School has additional funding information that may be helpful in determining how to fund a master's degree. Applicants can explore on-campus employment opportunities.
Current students may apply to switch their master’s degree program (traditional MS to PMP or vice-versa) once during their tenure as a student. Current students should review the ECEE Graduate Student Handbook or ECEE Graduate Student Information Canvas page for official process.
- The MS-EE on Coursera
- The Professional MS in the Embedded Systems Engineering subplan
- The Professional MS in the Next Generation power & Energy Systems subplan
- The Professional MS in Power Electronics subplan
- The Professional ME in the Embedded Systems Engineering subplan
- The Professional ME in the Next Generation power & Energy Systems subplan
- The Professional ME in Power Electronics subplan
The majority of our courses are offered between 9am-5pm in-person without online/remote sections, which may make it difficult for a full-time working professional to complete the degree.
Please see the "Which degree can I successfully complete online?" to see which of our degrees and subplans offer the most flexibility for working professionals.
Certificate Programs
Explore interdisciplinary skills related to electrical, computer and energy engineering without, or simultaneous to, pursuing a full degree through our Certificate Programs.
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Have More Questions?
Adam Sadoff
he/him/his
Graduate Program Lead
sadoff@colorado.edu
Adam advises students in the Professional MS, Professional ME and MS-EE on Coursera.
Lori Meehan
she/her/hers
Graduate Program Manager
lori.meehan@colorado.edu
Lori advises students in the PhD and the Traditional MS.