Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies: Steven J. Franke
Graduate Programs
156 Everitt Laboratory
1406 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-0207
Email: ece-grad-apps@illinois.edu
Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degrees Offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Online Program: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degrees offered: M.S.
Degrees Offered: M.S. and M.B.A.
Medical Scholars Joint Degree Program: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) through the Medical Scholars Program
Graduate Degree Programs
The department offers graduate study and research in electrical and computer engineering leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. Virtually every specialty within electrical and computer engineering is represented. Courses and research opportunities exist in the following areas: applied computation theory; bioengineering, acoustics, and magnetic resonance engineering; communications; computer-aided design and test; computer systems; computer vision and robotics; decision and control; electromagnetic fields; electrooptics, lasers, and plasmas; integrated circuits; microelectro-mechanical systems; mobile computing and communication; optoelectronics; power and energy systems; power electronics; remote sensing and propagation; semiconductor materials and devices; semiconductor physics and computational electronics; and signal, image, and speech processing. The programs are very flexible to encourage interdisciplinary studies and research. Opportunity also exists for specializing in (i) computational science and engineering and (ii) energy and sustainability engineering within the department's graduate programs via the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Option and the Energy and Sustainability Engineering (EaSE) Option The Medical Scholars Program permits highly qualified students to integrate the study of medicine with study for a graduate degree in a second discipline, including Electrical and Computer Engineering. The department is not currently accepting applications for the online M.S. degree.
For complete program information, visit the Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate program Web site.
Applicants must have completed an electrical engineering curriculum or a computer engineering curriculum substantially equivalent to those of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 (A = 4.00) for the last two years of undergraduate study is required. However, because of space limitations, applicants with GPAs below 3.50 are rarely admitted. All applicants must submit scores from the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
A master’s degree is required for admission to the PhD program. Applicants with master's degrees are admitted only if a faculty member is willing to serve as the Ph.D. thesis advisor. Accordingly, such applicants should write, call, or e-mail prospective Ph.D. advisors and discuss their research interests and potential Ph.D. thesis topics well in advance of application deadlines. Admission for the spring semester is possible, in addition to the usual fall semester admissions.
Graduates of curricula in the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science may be admitted if they are judged to have the necessary background to profit from graduate work in electrical and computer engineering.
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit a minimum TOEFL score of 96 (iBT), 243 (CBT), or 590 (PBT); or minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic exam scores of 6.5 overall and 6.0 in all subsections. Applicants may be exempt from the TOEFL if certain criteria are met. For those taking the TOEFL or IELTS, full admission status is granted for scores greater than 102 (TOEFL iBT), 253 (TOEFL CBT), 610 (TOEFL PBT), or 6.5 (IELTS). Limited status is granted for lesser scores and requires enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses based on an ESL Placement Test (EPT) taken upon arrival to campus.
Applicants to the joint M.B.A degree program must meet the admissions standards for both programs and be accepted by both programs.
Students may apply to the Medical Scholars Program prior to beginning graduate school or while in the graduate program. Applicants to the Medical Scholars Program must meet the admissions standards for and be accepted into both Electrical and Computer Engineering and the College of Medicine. An application to the Medical Scholars Program will also serve as the application to the Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate program. Further information on this program is available by contacting the Medical Scholars Program (125 Medical Sciences Building, 217-333-8146, mspo@illinois.edu).
Degree Requirements
For additional details and requirements refer to the department's Graduate Study Manual and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Science
Requirements |
|
|---|---|
| Credit Hours: | Hours |
| Total Credit for the Degree | 32 |
| Thesis Research – ECE 599 (min-max applied toward degree) | 8 |
| Course Work | 24 |
| ECE 500 – registration (0 hours) every term while in residence | 0 |
| Elective courses (subject to Other Requirements and Conditions below) | 12 |
| Other Requirements and Conditions (may overlap):* | |
| Credit in ECE 411, 415, 430, 440, 442, 443, 445, 450, 590 or 596, PHYS 404, 405, 435, and 436 and STAT 400 does not count toward the degree. | |
| No course used to fulfill any degree requirement may be taken using the "Credit/No Credit" option. | |
| A maximum of 4 hours of ECE 597 (or other individual study) may be applied toward the elective course work requirement. | |
| The minimum program GPA is 3.0. | |
| There is no final examination for the M.S. degree. | |
A 32 hour non-thesis M.S. option exists, but students are no longer admitted to this program.
Doctor of Philosophy
Requirements |
|
|---|---|
| Credit Hours: | Hours |
| Total Credit for the Degree | 64 |
| Thesis Research – ECE 599 (min-max applied toward degree) | 32 |
| Course Work | 24-32 |
| ECE 500 – registration (0 hours) every term while in residence | 0 |
| 3 permanent 500-level courses in 3 different Ph.D. Breadth Requirement areas | 12 |
| Elective courses (subject to Other Requirements and Conditions below) | 12-20 |
| Other Requirements and Conditions:* | |
| Credit in ECE 411, 415, 430, 440, 442, 443, 445, 450, 590 (seminar), 596, 597 (individual study), PHYS 404, 405, 435, and 436, STAT 400, or any other seminar or individual study course does not count toward the degree. | |
| At least one ECE 500-level course must be taken. | |
| No course used to fulfill any degree requirement may be taken using the "Credit/No Credit" option. | |
| The minimum program GPA is 3.0. | |
| A Masters degree is required for admission to the Ph.D. program. | |
Ph.D. exam and dissertation requirements: |
|
Joint Degree Program
The joint M.B.A. program requires a total of 92 graduate hours of course work with 32 for the M.S. as prescribed above, plus 60 graduate hours for the M.B.A. degree, including 40 hours of M.B.A. core course work; and 20 hours of M.B.A. elective course work to fulfill the requirements of a concentration. Detailed information may be found at the department’s graduate program Web site. For the joint M.B.A. program, the degrees are awarded simultaneously after the requirements for both degrees have been met.
Medical Scholars Program
Students in the Medical Scholars program must meet the specific requirements for both the medical and graduate degrees. On average, students take eight years to complete both degrees. The first year of the combined program is typically spent meeting requirements of the Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate degree.
Faculty Research Interests
Research interests of the Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty include the broad areas of study described in the graduate programs section and more. Many faculty members hold affiliate status with other departments, and a number of faculty members from other departments hold affiliate status with the department. In addition, some faculty hold appointments in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the Coordinated Science Laboratory, the Materials Research Laboratory, and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. All these affiliations provide opportunities for graduate student appointments to conduct research. For a detailed list of current research interests of the faculty, visit the department’s research Web site.
Centers, Programs, and Institutes
There are numerous interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers for research within the department. These are described at the department's research Web site.
Financial Aid
Fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships (all of which include tuition and partial fee waivers) are available for the majority of students who are admitted. International applicants generally are not awarded teaching assistantships but are eligible for the other forms of financial aid. All applicants, regardless of U.S. citizenship, whose native language is not English and who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must demonstrate spoken English language proficiency by achieving a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), 24 on the speaking subsection of the TOEFL iBT, or 8 on the speaking subsection of the IELTS. For students who are unable to take the TSE, iBT, or IELTS, a minimum score of 50 is required on the SPEAK test, offered on campus. All new teaching assistants are required to participate in the Graduate Academy for College Teaching conducted prior to the start of the semester.