Pre-Fall 2020

Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020

Students admitted prior to Fall 2020 can continue to follow the course catalog published prior to Fall 2020 and follow the program requirements. 

Course Work 

Students earn a Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) degree by completing 30 semester units of graduate study, plus meeting a competency in written English requirement. All students are required to complete 6 units of degree core courses, 9 units of required specialization courses, 9 units of elective courses, and 6 units of master's project or thesis to fulfill the 30 unit requirement. Details of these requirements are spelled out below.

Degree Core Courses (6 units)

Note: Students admitted before Spring 2014 can choose to include CMPE 203 as a degree core class (for a total of 9 degree core units) and complete the two required specialization core (for a total of 6 specialization units). 

Required Specialization Courses (9 units)

Take two required specialization core classes from one of the six specializations plus one specialization choice class from one of the other five specializations. Visit the web page for each of the specializations for details.

Elective Courses (select 9 units)

All CMPE graduate courses (those with a course number of 200 or higher) except CMPE 270, 271, 294, 298, 298I, 295A/B, and 299A/B can be used as elective courses. This also includes specialization core classes from other specializations and all experimental courses (CMPE 296A - CMPE 296Z).

Note: Courses from other departments may be permitted with prior advisor approval.

Culminating Experience (choose one of the following)

Masters Project (6 units)

Masters Thesis (6 units)

Course-only (6 units plus comprehensive exam)

This option is only available to students admitted prior to Fall 2018.

Additional elective classes (six units)
Take CMPE 298 Special Topics (one unit) and Pass Comprehensive Exam.

Note 1: The degree core and specialization core must be completed before beginning the Culminating Experience. It is advised that the specialization choice and CMPE 294/ENGR 200W be completed before taking taking CMPE 295A, CMPE 299A, or the comprehensive exam. However, one of the two classes can be taken concurrently with CMPE 295A or CMPE 299A, but NOT both and cannot be taken after CMPE 295A. All degree core, specialization core, specialization choice, and CMPE 294/ENGR 200W classes must be completed before starting CMPE 295B.

Note 2: For Fall 2014 ONLY, the above requirement is relaxed and one specialization class (core or choice) and CMPE 294/ENGR 200W may be taken concurrently with CMPE 295A.

Competency in Written English

Note: All graduate students are required to demonstrate their competency in written English as a requirement for graduation. The university catalog specifies five ways that competency can be demonstrated (check out the catalog for details). The Computer Engineering department requires that if a course must be taken to meet the competency in written English requirement, that the course must be CMPE 294 or ENGR 200W.