Computer Engineering Major, MS

Concentrations (Optional) and Options Available

• AI and Intelligent Systems Concentration (Thesis Option, Project Option, and Coursework Only Without Comprehensive Exam Option)
• Cybersecurity Engineering (Thesis Option, Project Option, and Coursework Only Without Comprehensive Exam Option)

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• Applicants for admission are expected to have completed a bachelor’s degree with an average GPA of at least 3.00 out of 4.00, both overall and in the senior year.
• A TOEFL score of 550 on the written exam or 80 on the Internet-based Test is required for non-native speakers of English, including those who have earned degrees at U.S. institutions.
  • The score must be no more than two years old from the requested date of entry.
  • Applicants who have received a degree from an accredited U.S. institution within the past two years are exempt from the TOEFL requirement.
• Applicants who hold the bachelor’s degree in fields other than electrical or computer engineering will be required to take selected undergraduate courses as determined by the applicant’s prior education and experience.
  • The student will be admitted under non-degree status until the required undergraduate courses are successfully completed with a grade of B or better.
  • An international student may not enroll as a non-degree student.

Credit Hours Required

30 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

• Option Specific Courses:

• Thesis option = 24 credit hours graduate coursework, plus minimum 6 credit hours of  ECE 500 - Thesis
• Project option = 27 credit hours graduate coursework, plus 3 credit hours of  ECE 501 - Project in Lieu of Thesis with a minimum grade of B.
• Coursework Only Without Comprehensive Exams = 30 credit hours of graduate coursework.

At least two-thirds of the total credit hours must be at the 500-level or above.

• At least 6 credit hours selected from the following courses:

• ECE 505 - Digital Signal Processing
• ECE 533 - Introduction to VLSI Design
• ECE 551 - System on Chip Design
• ECE 553 - Computer Networks
• ECE 555 - Embedded Systems
• COSC 530 - Computer Systems Organization

Non-Course Requirements

• Thesis Option: a final oral exam covering the thesis.
• Project Option: A written final report and/or oral presentation, as determined by the advisor and approved by the committee.

AI and Intelligent Systems Concentration - Thesis Option, Project Option, Coursework Only Without Comprehensive Exam Option

Concentration reflects research focus area and does not include specific course requirements.

At least two courses (6 credit hours) from:

• COSC 522 - Machine Learning
• COSC 523 - Artificial Intelligence
• COSC 525 - Deep Learning

At least three courses (9 credit hours) from:

• COSC 524 - Natural Language Processing
• COSC 526 - Data Engineering
• COSC 527 - Biologically-Inspired Computation
• ECE 517 - Reinforcement Learning
• ECE 574 - Computer Vision
• ECE 576 - Robotic Sensing, Planning, and Learning

or with faculty approval

• COSC 594 - Special Topics in Computer Science
• ECE 599 - Special Topics

Cybersecurity Engineering - Thesis Option, Project Option, Coursework Only Without Comprehensive Exam Option

Concentration reflects research focus area and does not include specific course requirements.

At least one course (3 credit hours) from:

• ECE 555 - Embedded Systems
• ECE 533 - Introduction to VLSI Design
• ECE 553 - Computer Networks
• COSC 530 - Computer Systems Organization

At least two courses (6 credit hours) from:

• COSC 534 - Network Security
• ECE 559 - Secure and Trustworthy Computer Hardware Design
• ECE 569 - Mobile and Embedded Systems Security

At least one course (3 credit hours) from:

• COSC 566 - Software Security
• COSC 569 - Human Factors in Cybersecurity
• COSC 583 - Applied Cryptography
• COSC 589 - Special Topics in Cybersecurity

or with faculty approval

• ECE 599 - Special Topics

Five-Year BS/MS Program - Computer Engineering Major (MS)

The department offers a 5 year BS-MS program for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 9 credit hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UT. This program is designed for students attending UT for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree.

Significant components of the program are:

• Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.40 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 credit hours of required coursework while full admission is granted after completing 96 credit hours of required coursework with a minimum overall GPA of 3.40 in required coursework.
• Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit by completing and submitting the Senior Requesting Graduate Credit form.
• Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School. See Graduate Admissions webpage for instructions.
• Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School.
• Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.