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The GRE requirement has been waived (and extended) for all engineering master’s applicants applying through Fall 2026!

Important: Some courses might have changed prefix from; EEL to EEE. If you cannot find an; EEL course please search for EEE instead.

The Department offers a thesis program for the Master of Science (MS) degree in Electrical Engineering. Depending on the university, interested students should also consult the FAMU or FSU Graduate Student Handbook.

 

Admissions

To be considered for admission, candidates must have earned a bachelor of science degree (or equivalent) in electrical engineering, or a closely related discipline, from an Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET)-approved program, a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all work attempted beyond 60 semester hours of undergraduate study, and a minimum score of 148 points for the quantitative section and 145 points for the verbal section of the GRE test.

International candidates must also obtain at least:

  1. 80 points on the internet-based TOEFL exam or 550 points on the paper-based TOEFL exam,
  2. 6.5 points in the IELTS,
  3. 55 points in the Pearson's PTE academic examination, or
  4. 77 points in the MELAB examination.

 

Students with a bachelor's degree in a field other than electrical engineering may be required to complete a department-designated sequence of undergraduate courses with grades of B or better prior to attempting the graduate electrical engineering work.

Students interested in obtaining a teaching assistantship should submit the TA/Grader Application Form as soon as they have been admitted to the program. Students who are not native speakers of English should take the speaking section of the TOEFL test (and have a score of 26 points or higher) or the SPEAK test at FSU (and have a score of 45 points or higher) in order to be eligible to apply to for a teaching assistantship. More information about teaching assistantships can be found on the TA/Grader Application Form.

Application Deadlines

The ECE department application deadlines are March 1st for the Summer, July 1 for the Fall, and  November 1st for the Spring semester. International students are encouraged to apply earlier so that they can have sufficient time to get their visa.

To be considered for department financial assistance such as Teaching Assistantships, the last date for receiving a complete application is  March 1 for the Fall term. Generally, department funding such as Teaching Assistantship is not available for students starting in Spring and Summer.

Course Work Requirement

The students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of course work to obtain the degree. The 30 credit hours should satisfy:

  1. 6 credit hours should be from the list of core courses (see the Graduate Courses link on the left side).
  2. At least 3 credit hours should consist of a course in advanced mathematics, typically a 5000 level course or above, or a departmental approved substitute.
  3. At least 6 credit hours of EEL 6971 (MS thesis).
  4. At least 15 credit hours should be from letter grade courses.

Graduate Seminar

All full-time MS degree candidates are required to enroll in the graduate seminar, EEL 6932, for each semester that they are enrolled in the graduate program. The details of the seminar are given under "Course Listing".

Advisor and Supervisory Committee

Each student must identify an adviser (also called major professor) by the end of the first semester of course work and is required to submit a plan of study by the time he or she has completed 12 credit hours of graduate studies. The plan of study must be approved by the departmental Graduate Coordinator and the student's adviser. The student's adviser also will assist the student in forming the Student's Supervisory Committee (also called thesis committee).

The Supervisory Committee of a master's degree thesis program student must have at least three faculty members from the student's home department with Graduate Faculty Status (GFS). Additional members may be added provided they have GFS in their home department. At least one Tallahassee campus faculty member with GFS must serve on a thesis committee chaired or co-chaired by a Panama City Campus faculty member. One Panama City Campus faculty member with GFS must be annually appointed by the ECE department chair to serve on the ECE graduate committee.

The chair of the Supervisory Committee and must be granted the privilege of chairing master's level thesis committees prior the student defend his or her thesis. Granting of this privilege requires an affirmative majority vote of the GFS faculty of the department and approval by the department chair. Faculty holding this privilege will be reviewed periodically by the department chair. Those not meeting performance expectations may have this privilege revoked upon recommendation of the department chair, an affirmative majority vote of the GFS faculty of the department, and approval of the academic dean.

Thesis

All master of science thesis program students must complete a written thesis. Upon completion of the thesis, an oral defense is required, which consists of a public presentation of the student's work to the department and the student's supervisory committee. Students must register for EEL 8976, Master's Thesis Defense, during the semester the student plans to graduate. The thesis should be in the hands of the major professor and the examining committee at least ten days before the date of the oral examination.

Master's Thesis Defense Announcement

It is the student's responsibility to post the thesis defense announcement within the department and the College of Engineering at least one week prior to the defense. The announcement should include: thesis title; student's name; student's department; major professor and committee members; date; time and location of the defense.

Transfer of Credits

A maximum of 6 credit hours of graduate courses not counted toward a previous degree from another regionally accredited graduate school may be transferred from another academic institution(s) to the student's current master's degree program, with the approval the ECE Departmental Graduate Committee. A grade of B or better is required on all transfer credits.