Program Description
The Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering degree is designed for students who intend to work in industry, although graduates successfully have entered almost all tracks, including industry, PhD programs, business, and professional degrees. The curriculum and design project provide the advanced technical depth and professional skills needed for critical thinking that will benefit all possible careers.
The design project is supervised by a faculty member and its duration is two semesters / one academic year. It is begun in the student’s first semester of enrollment, and is to be completed at the end of the second semester of enrollment. The submission of a final design project report is required at the completion of the project. All design projects are judged in a poster session by a panel of faculty and resident experts at the completion of the second semester.
Students must complete 30 credits of work, over two semesters. Many students elect to complete the degree in three semesters. This allows for the opportunity to enroll in additional advanced courses that otherwise might be out of reach, as well as the possibility of finding an internship over the summer which may enhance job prospects during the third semester. Degree requirements increase for students who elect to extend their MEng degree program for a third semester and they will be required to earn a total of thirty-six credit hours altogether.
Cornell Tech in New York City also offers a Master of Engineering Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Credits earned while participating in the Early M.Eng Credit program cannot be counted towards the M.Eng. degree at Cornell Tech.
Program Information
Program Requirements
Students must complete 30 credits of work, over two semesters. 3-8 credits are devoted to a faculty-supervised design project, through the courses ECE 5995 and ECE 5996. In addition, they must take two ECE 5000+ level courses each semester they are enrolled. These courses must be at least three credits and do not include Seminars or Independent Study. The remaining credits are considered “tech electives” and can include any other ECE 5000+ course, any 5000+ course in the College of Engineering, as well as the following courses from the business school: NCC 5500 Financial Accounting, NCC 5540 Managing and Leading in Organizations, NCC 5560 Managerial Finance, NBA 5070 Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers, NBA 5550 Fixed Income Securities and Interest Rate Options, NBA 5640 The Business of Entrepreneurship, and NBA 6390 Data Driven Marketing.
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.
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.
