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Electrical Engineering

graduate program

The ASU Electrical Engineering program offers the Dean’s Fellowship to outstanding new PhD students. Awards exceeding $25,000 per year for two years are available.  Find out more by clicking here.

Opportunities for study beyond the bachelor’s degree exist in several areas, including control systems, electromagnetics, antennas and microwave circuits, electronic and mixed-signal circuit design, electric power and energy systems, signal processing and communications, solid-state electronics, and arts, media and engineering. Studies may lead to the degrees of Master of Science (MS), Master of Science in Engineering (MSE), Master of Engineering (MEng), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Students are involved in a variety of research activities and have access to state-of-the-art facilities, such as the electromagnetic anechoic chamber, the wireless communications lab and the integrated circuit fabrication clean room.

application deadlines:

  • For admission in the Fall semester, you must apply by December 31.
  • For admission in the Spring semester, you must apply by July 31.

electrical engineering graduate program multi-year plan:

Campus Courses  | Online Courses

areas of study in electrical engineering:

program degrees:

Electrical engineering, MSE: this is a professional degree that requires 10 classes of course work (30 hours minimum), without a thesis, but with a final comprehensive exam. Courses for this program are available for both Tempe campus and Online campus students. A number of courses in the electronic and mixed-signal circuit design area require the online student to have access to advanced software such as CADENCE.

Electrical engineering, MS: this is a research degree requiring 30 credits, including six hours of thesis and at least six hours outside the area of specialization, including independent study. Courses for this program are available only for Tempe campus students and not for Online campus students.

Electrical engineering, PhD: this program requires a total of 84 credit hours of graduate study, including 24 hours of research and dissertation, beyond the bachelor's degree. A minimum of 18 credit hours of doctoral class work must be completed. A departmental qualifying examination is required near the beginning of the program and an individualized comprehensive examination is administered after all course work is completed. The program culminates with an oral defense of a scholarly dissertation that contributes to scientific knowledge. This program is only available for Tempe campus students.

Electrical engineering-Art, Media and Engineering, MS and PhD: The arts, media and engineering concentration is available both for the M.S. and the Ph.D. students admitted to this program, who take two-thirds of their course, research and thesis credits from the electrical engineering program and one-third of the credits from the arts, media and engineering program.

Electrical engineering, BSE/MSE: The accelerated BSE/MSE program is for students currently enrolled in the Electrical Engineering-Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree. This allows students to graduate with both degrees in five years of full-time course work. Students earning a BSE in electrical engineering can use up to nine credits of graduate course work towards undergraduate degree requirements. While pursuing the MSE, students in the accelerated program must be enrolled as full-time students (9 or more hours) unless in their final semester. For further information on the program consult the description under Undergraduate Programs.

Electrical engineering, MBA/MSE: The MBA/MSE EE dual degree combines advanced courses in technical areas with a rigorous management curriculum to allow students to receive two degrees, the W. P. Carey MBA and the MSE in Electrical Engineering from the Fulton School of Engineering, in a shorter period of time and at lower cost than if the two degrees were pursued separately. This foundational grounding in two leading schools gives the employee and the organization the necessary tools for today's global marketplace. Courses for this program are only available in online formats.

Nuclear power generation certificate: The Nuclear Power Generation (NPG) graduate certificate is a multidisciplinary professional option within the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. Courses from multiple academic units constitute both the core and elective classes available to the student. All of the core classes and many of the NPG elective courses will be offered online through the Engineering Office of Global Outreach and Extended Education (GOEE). The graduate-level certificate program requires 15 hours of coursework with a minimum of two-thirds at the 500-level or higher.

admission requirements:

MS/MSE programs:

  • Students from US ABET-accredited undergraduate programs who wish to be considered for a master's program must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (on a four-point scale) in the last two years of undergraduate course work.
  • Students from non-US schools must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 (on a four-point scale) in the last two years of undergraduate course work or have graduated first class with distinction and must score 156  or higher on the quantitative section of the GRE General Test.
  • Students whose native language is not English must demonstrate proficiency in the English language by scoring at least 550 on the written Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 80 on the Internet based TOEFL (iBT). International students seeking teaching assistantships must demonstrate proficiency in spoken English by scoring at least 26 on the speaking portion of the iBT or 50 on the ASU administered SPEAK Test.

PhD programs:

  • Applicants with a master's degree who wish to be considered for the PhD program must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 (on a four-point scale) in their master's program.
  • Applicants not from a US ABET accredited school must score 156 or higher on the quantitative section of the GRE General Test and must have a master's degree.
  • Applicants without a master's degree must have a minimum GPA of 3.6 (on a four-point scale) in the last two years of undergraduate course work and have graduated from a US ABET-accredited undergraduate program.
  • Students whose native language is not English must demonstrate proficiency in the English language by scoring at least 550 on the written Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 213 on the computer based TOEFL (CBT), or 80 on the Internet based TOEFL (iBT). The CBT was discontinued in September 2006. International students seeking teaching assistantships must demonstrate proficiency in spoken English by scoring at least 26 on the speaking portion of the iBT or 50 on the ASU administered SPEAK Test.

Please see the Graduate Student Handbook (Blue Guide) for further details about the electrical engineering graduate programs, Policies, and other important information.

Please see the ASU Graduate Policies and Procedures for additional information.

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