Cornell University Registrar

Program Description

The Master of Engineering Program (M.Eng.) in computer science is a one year professional degree program designed to develop expertise in system design and implementation in many areas of computer science. These areas include computer systems, fault-tolerant and secure systems, distributed and parallel computing, high-performance computer architecture, databases and data mining, computer vision, computational tools for finance, software engineering, graphics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, robotics and more. Applications are accepted for both the spring and fall semesters.

Program Information

• Instruction Mode: In Person
• Location: Ithaca, NY
• Minimum Credits for Degree: 30

Program Requirements 

A typical program includes several graduate courses and a faculty-supervised project. The flexible requirements allow students to build a program that closely matches their interests. Project work, which may be done individually or in a small group, is either associated with ongoing research in the Department of Computer Science in one of the areas listed above or done in collaboration with other fields throughout the university.

Cornell seniors may use the Early M.Eng Pathway Credit option, which allows them to take courses toward their M.Eng. Degree while in their final undergraduate semester. The Early M.Eng Pathway early M.Eng Credit option applies only to students who have 1 to 8 credits remaining to complete their undergraduate program.

University Graduation Requirements

Requirements for All Students

In order to receive a Cornell degree, a student must satisfy academic and non-academic requirements.

Academic Requirements

A student’s college determines degree requirements such as residency, number of credits, distribution of credits, and grade averages. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the specific major, degree, distribution, college, and graduation requirements for completing their chosen program of study. See the individual requirements listed by each college or school or contact the college registrar’s office for more information.

Non-academic Requirements

Conduct Matters. Students must satisfy any outstanding sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed or agreed to under the Student Code of Conduct (Code) or Policy 6.4. Where a formal complaint under the Code or Policy 6.4 is pending, the University will withhold awarding a degree otherwise earned until the adjudication process set forth in those procedures is complete, including the satisfaction of any sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed.

Financial Obligations. Outstanding financial obligations will not impact the awarding of a degree otherwise earned or a student’s ability to access their official transcript. However, the University may withhold issuing a diploma until any outstanding financial obligations owing to the University are satisfied.

Graduation Requirements for Master of Engineering Degree (M.Eng.) Programs

Requirements

The following are general requirements for graduation that apply to all Master of Engineering degrees offered on the Ithaca campus. The individual program pages provide additional information about discipline-specific requirements.

Credits and Residency Units

• Satisfactory completion of 30 technical credits, of which:
  • At least 21 credits must be earned at Cornell. (Some M.Eng. programs allow up to 9 transfer credits of letter-graded coursework completed outside of Cornell to be applied to the M.Eng. degree.)
  • At least 12 credit hours must be in coursework from the home M.Eng. program (as determined by the program).
  • A maximum of two credit hours graded on an S/U basis may be included.
• The credit hours of any course in which a student receives a grade below C- will not count toward the Master of Engineering degree.
• Students must maintain a course load of at least 12 credit-bearing hours¹ each semester.
• Students may not enroll in more than 20 credit-bearing hours per semester.
• Students must complete two full-time residency units¹ (semesters) as registered M.Eng. students. Winter and summer sessions do not count as residency units.

¹

Course load and residency unit exceptions apply for Distance Learning program students, employee degree program students, and Industrial Partnership Program students.  The residency unit requirement is one full-time registered semester for Early Admit M.Eng. students and certain Cornell MPS/MS/PhD student transfers.

Courses

• Only program-approved courses at the 5000 level and above may count toward the M.Eng. degree.
• Courses covering subject matter previously taken at Cornell may not be repeated for credit.
• Satisfactory completion of an engineering design project bearing 3 or more credit hours and including a formal written report.

Other Requirements

• A grade-point average of 2.50 or above is required across all Cornell courses which count for credit towards the M.Eng. degree.
• Students must complete all degree requirements within four calendar years of their first enrollment in the M.Eng. program (six years for distance learning students), inclusive of any leaves of absence.
• Students must complete the M.Eng. Exit Survey prior to graduation.