Degrees Options Explained

There are three degree options. MS only, MS/PhD, and PhD only.

There are three groups of students pursuing an M.S.. The M.S. is often obtained by Ph.D. candidates as an intermediate step, giving them an opportunity to exercise their research skills in the master's project before beginning their doctoral research. The M.S.- only students are research-oriented students who may have particular reasons not to continue on to the Ph.D. immediately or who want to try their hand at research without committing to working toward a Ph.D.. We do not guarantee any sort of financial support for these MS-only students. The third group consists of students in the five-year B.A./M.S. or B.S./M.S. who are finishing up the five-year M.S. component. The only difference in degree requirements among these three flavors of M.S. applies to the third group, which has an additional breadth requirement of 8 units of coursework outside of EECS. The second and third group are free to later apply for admission to the Ph.D. program, and because their application will compete with other applicants for the Ph.D. they are not guaranteed admission to the Ph.D.

The MS/PhD is one program that allows you to earn your MS on the way to a PhD--usually two years into the program. Most students who are going for their PhDs choose this option, but a MS is not required for the PhD. This degree usually takes about five to seven years to complete.

The PhD only program allows one to earn only a PhD. People usually choose this option when they already have a masters in their field. This usually takes three to five years.

Questions? Please contact EECS Graduate Admissions.