Electrical Engineering, M.S.EE

(MEE)

The Master’s program is open to qualified students holding BS degrees in electrical and/or computer engineering or in a related discipline. Both a thesis and a non-thesis option are available. Each candidate for a master’s degree is required to have good general knowledge in his/her field of study and, for the thesis option, acquire a reasonable level of competence in research skills. In order to graduate, a student must meet the minimum requirements described below and achieve a 3.0 or higher grade point average (GPA) on a scale of 4.0 on all electrical engineering courses applicable towards his/her graduate degree. The MS student is required to have an examination committee that includes at least two graduate faculty members from the ECE division and have an approved Plan of Study by the end of the second semester or upon completion of 15 or more hours of credit. All coursework must be approved by the major professor and the division’s Graduate Studies Committee. Up to twelve hours of credit from a US institution may be applied towards a master’s degree program upon approval. Courses at the (4xxx) level, which are required in the Electrical and Computer Engineering BS programs at LSU are generally not acceptable for graduate credit. A complete and current set of requirements appears in the ECE Graduate Handbook that can be accessed at www.lsu.edu/eng/ece/files/Grad_Handbook.pdf.

Thesis Option

The MS degree with the thesis option requires a thesis and 30 hours of credit at the graduate level, including a maximum of six hours of credit for the thesis. The minimum curricular requirements include the following:

• Six hours of thesis credit (EE 8000 ).
• 12 hours of credit in the division’s graduate (EE 7xxx) level courses, excluding independent study courses.
• 12 hours of suitable electives*⁺.

These 30 hours of coursework are subject to additional requirements including the following:

• The maximum credit permitted at the 4000-level is 12 hours.
• A maximum of 12 hours of coursework can be from EE 4x0x, EE 7x00, EE 709x, and other individual study/seminar/special topics courses.
• EE 709x cannot be used to satisfy the EE 7xxx requirements.
• Courses taken outside the division need approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

*May include a maximum of three credits of EE 709x.

+ In addition, students may take a maximum of 12 hours outside the division.

The student must pass a final exam consisting of a thesis defense.

Information Technology (IT) Concentration MS Thesis

• Satisfy the minimum requirements for the MS Thesis option in EE
• 15 of the 30 hours of required credit should come from the IT Concentration approved course list using at least three of the course groupings listed at: www.ece.lsu.edu/grad/IT_area.html, with a minimum of three credits from each of the three selected groups.
• Thesis topic must be related to Information Technology.

Non-Thesis Option

The MS degree with the non-thesis option requires 36 hours of credit as follows:

• Three hours of project credit (EE 709x)¹
• 15 hours of credit in the division’s graduate (EE 7xxx) courses, excluding independent study courses.
• 18 credit hours of suitable electives ^2,3

These 36 hours of coursework are subject to additional requirements including the following:

• The maximum credit permitted at the 4000-level is 12 hours.
• No more than 18 hours of coursework can be from EE 4x0x, EE 7x00, EE 709x, and other independent study/seminar/special topics courses.
• EE 709x cannot be used to satisfy the EE 7xxx requirements.
• Courses taken outside the division need approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

¹ - EE 709x must be taken in the final year of MS graduation.

² - May include three credits of EE 709x.

³ - In addition, students may take at most 12 hours outside the division.

The student must pass a final exam consisting of a written project report and an oral exam administered by a three-member committee.

Information Technology (IT) Concentration MS Non-Thesis

• Satisfy the minimum requirements for the MS Non-Thesis option in EE.
• 21 of the 36 credit hours required should come from the IT Concentration approved course list using at least three of the course groups listed at: www.ece.lsu.edu/grad/IT_area.html, with a minimum of three credits from each of the three selected groups.
• EE 709x Independent Research can be used to satisfy no more than 3 hours and only if the topic is related to Information Technology and approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.