Carnegie Mellon University

MS in ECE, APD (Master of Science, Applied Advanced Study program)

*The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will no longer be admitting and enrolling new students to the ECE Applied or SE Applied programs, including the ECE Applied Advanced and SE Applied Advanced programs, in both Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley, after the Spring 2023 semester. Students already admitted and enrolled in these programs during or before the Spring 2023 semester will remain eligible to complete their degree requirements at both the Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley campuses through the Spring 2024 semester for the Applied programs and the Fall semester 2024 for the Applied Advanced programs. 

All students who matriculated into the ECE MS program up to and including the Spring 2020 semester, please see the program requirements here.

The MS in ECE, APD is a four-semester program comprised of 133 units of graduate coursework (600-level and above) currently offered to students who begin their studies at the Pittsburgh campus. The Applied Advanced program has the following requirements:

  • 60 units of ECE core courses
  • 36 units of CIT elective courses
  • 36 units of general technical elective courses
  • 1 unit of Introduction to Graduate Studies 
  • 1 summer internship (18-993)

Up to 27 units of research project coursework can be used to satisfy program requirements. Students interested in conducting additional project work may pursue the Intensive Project Option outlined below. All students apply for research projects through the Student Project Tracker site.

Up to 12 units of undergraduate course work (300-level or higher) can qualify to be substituted toward the 133 units of core or elective requirements. Qualifying coursework must be offered by the same department as either an approved core or elective course.

Intensive Project Option requirements

The Intensive Project Option provides students the option to work intensively on a single research project with a CMU faculty member. A student will take a total of 36 units of graduate-level research to count towards their degree in two separate phases. The first phase of the Intensive Project Option is 12 units that will be taken no sooner than the student’s second semester in the program. The second phase is 24 units that will be taken in the following semester. These 36 units satisfy the degree requirements as follows:
  • 60 units of ECE core courses (48 units of ECE core coursework + 12 units of intensive research)
  • 36 units of CIT elective courses (24 units of CIT elective coursework + 12 units of intensive research)
  • 36 units of general technical elective courses (24 units of general technical elective coursework + 12 units of intensive research)
  • 1 unit of Introduction to Graduate Studies 
  • 1 summer internship 

60 units (for the course option) or 48 units (for the project option) must be graduate coursework (600-level or above) within ECE (18-XXX).

EXCEPTIONS—The following ECE (18) courses may not be counted toward ECE core coursework. They may be counted toward CIT electives or general technical electives: 

  • 18-601, 18-602, 18-603, 18-605, 18-606, 18-700, 18-701, 18-702, 18-703

36 units (for the course option) or 24 units (for the project option) must be graduate coursework (600-level or above) within CIT from the following departments:

  • ECE (18)
  • Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) (39)
  • Biomedical Engineering (42)
  • Chemical Engineering (06)
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering (12)
  • Engineering & Public Policy (19)
  • Information Network Institute (14)
  • Integrated Innovation Institute (49)
  • Materials Science & Engineering (27)
  • Mechanical Engineering (24)
  • CMU–Africa (04)

*Note that the courses 39-699 and 18-994 can be counted toward an elective requirement only.

EXCEPTIONS—The following CIT courses may not be counted toward CIT elective coursework. They may be counted toward general technical elective coursework:

  • Engineering & Public Policy (19): 19-602, 19-655
  • Integrated Innovation Institute (49): 49-750, 49-751, 49-761, 49-762, 49-763, 49-764, 49-765, 49-766, 49-767, 49-770, 49-771, 49-772, 49-773, 49-774, 49-775, 49-780, 49-781, 49-782, 49-788, 49-790, 49-791, 49-792, 49-793
  • Mechanical Engineering (24): 24-792
  • CMU–Africa (04): 04-601, 04-602, 04-605, 04-900, 04-980

36 units (for the course option) or 24 units (for the project option) of coursework (600-level or above) can be from the following programs (shown under their parent college) or individually approved courses:

College of Engineering

  • ECE (18)
  • Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) (39)
  • Biomedical Engineering (42)
  • Chemical Engineering (06)
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering (12)
  • Engineering & Public Policy (19)
  • Information Network Institute (14)
  • Integrated Innovation Institute (49)
  • Materials Science & Engineering (27)
  • Mechanical Engineering (24)
  • CMU–Africa (04)

Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences

  • Statistics (36)
  • Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (86)

H. John Heinz III College (HC)

  • Heinz School of Information Systems (95)
  • Heinz College-Wide Courses (94)

Mellon College of Science (MCS)

  • Biological Sciences (03)
  • Chemistry (09)
  • Mathematical Sciences (21)
  • Physics (33)

School of Computer Science (SCS)

  • Computational Biology (02)
  • Computer Science (15)
  • Entertainment Technology Center (53)
  • Institute for Software Research (08)
  • Robotics Institute (16)
  • Human–Computer Interaction Institute (05)
  • Language Technologies Institute (11)
  • Machine Learning (10)
  • Software Engineering (17)

Tepper School of Business (TEP)

  • Tepper School of Business (45)

Additional courses outside of these programs approved to be counted toward general technical elective coursework:

  • 46-926, 46-929
  • 47-830, 47-834
  • 51-882
  • 57-947, 57-948
  • 80-713
  • 84-688
  • 85-777
  • 90-756, 90-808
  • 93-711
  • 99-783

*Note that the courses 39-699 and 18-994 can be counted toward an elective requirement only.

One internship must be completed during the students' first summer semester. Students will register for 18-993 via their academic advisor. 

Internships will be approved by faculty advisors prior to registration to make sure they are in line with the ECE degree. Internships should be at least 20 hours per week and last for at least 10 weeks. Deviation from this internship length is possible with faculty approval.

In any semester prior to the summer internship, students are required to complete the prerequisite course 39-699 (Career & Professional Development for Engineering Master's Students). This course will assist students with applying for and securing external internships. If an external internship cannot be secured by the student, ECE faculty advisors will assist in assigning a departmental internship project to meet this requirement. 

You may not end your program on the summer internship. The required internship must be taken before you meet the program’s course unit requirements. For example, if you will complete all 97 units by Spring 2021, you cannot conduct your required internship during Summer 2021.

*Please Note: International students who begin their studies full-time in the spring semester WILL qualify for CPT in the summer, as the internship is a program requirement. 

36 units (for the project option only) of 18-980 (MS Graduate Project) must be completed.

For the project option, students will register for 12 units of 18-980 no sooner than their second semester in the program. Students will then register for the remaining 24 units of 18-982 in the following semester.

*The MS Graduate Project is not required for students in the course option; however, these students may take up to 27 project units that can count towards degree requirements. 12 project units can count toward their core requirements and up to 15 project units can count toward their CIT elective requirements. Only 15 units of MS Graduate Project can be taken in any given semester in the course option.

Students pursuing the MS Applied Advanced Study program cannot register for their final semester if they have already completed 156 units of coursework. These units include courses taken for audit, pass/no pass, and withdrawal. Please refer to CIT's policy on MS degree units for additional information.