Master of Software Engineering (MSWENGR)

Overview

The purpose of the graduate program in computer engineering is to facilitate the student's continued professional and scholarly development. The Master of Software Engineering program is designed to extend the student's knowledge and emphasize a particular area of concentration.

About The Program

The Master of Software Engineering degree program is intended to provide the following skills to those who successfully complete it:

• Software system design and development
• Software development lifecycles
• Web and mobile application development
• System testing and quality assurance
• Waterfall and agile software development
• Programming languages such as C/C++/C#; Java, Android, and iOS
• Design patterns
• Cloud computing
• Software success metrics and incident tracking
• Software system and project management
• Software development cost estimation

Candidate selection for the Master of Software Engineering degree program is a very competitive process, considering GPA, performance in computer-related classes, TOEFL or IELTS (for non-English-speaking candidates), GRE, and reputation of the university where they did their undergraduate studies. Relevant recent work experience is considered in cases where educational credentials are dated or not in the computer science field.

Árpád Czapp / unsplash

Career Opportunities

Students in the Master of Software Engineering program gain the knowledge and skills required to design and develop systems. This is the dominant area in the IT industry for developing web and mobile computing systems. There is a shortage of qualified graduates in this field due to the great and ever-increasing demand.

Degree Options

Students must select the Software Engineering track and proceed with one of the three listed options:

30-Hour Thesis

Students will complete eight courses (combination of core software engineering classes such as SE 1, SE II, Design Patterns, Project 1, and Project 2) plus a number of 5000- and 6000-level courses from the SE track. Additionally, they will complete a thesis in the SE area. The M.S. thesis will be administered by a committee of at least three members (supervisor, plus two non-supervising members).

30-Hour Non-Thesis

This option is for students who are not interested in completing a thesis but have a very strong academic background in computer science or software engineering. To qualify for this degree, candidates must have a GRE score of 305 or higher plus a B.S. degree in computer science or software engineering with no deficiency classes. Students in this option will select 10 courses from the list of core classes and the software engineering track.

36-Hour Non-Thesis

This option is for master’s students who are not interested in completing a thesis and have an average academic background in computer science. To qualify for this option, a student must have earned a B.S. degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, or other related STEM fields. Students in this option will select 12 courses from a list of core classes and the SE track.

Admission Requirements

The CSE graduate admission committee bases its decision for M.S. graduate admission on the following criteria (in no specific order):

• An undergraduate degree, preferably in an area related to computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering.
• An overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in undergraduate coursework.
• A 3.2-grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) on the last two years of undergraduate coursework. In particular, performance on Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Software Engineering related courses are emphasized.
• Relevance of the student’s degree (background) to the CSE curriculum.
• Rigor of the student’s Bachelor’s degree. A three-year degree is not considered rigorous. Note: International applicants with a “3+2” Master’s degree will be evaluated as equivalent to a 4-year Bachelor’s degree.
• Reputation of the University/College from which the student has received his/her previous degrees.
• A sum of verbal plus quantitative scores of at least 305 on the GRE. Additionally:
  • GRE quantitative score of at least 160
  • GRE verbal score of at least 145
  • The department does not require the advanced computer science test. A passing score on the Engineering in-Training (EIT) exam is also given consideration for admission decisions.
• Students may be accepted with a GRE score of 300 but may be required to complete additional coursework for their MS degree (see degree requirements found later in this document). In this case:
  • GRE quantitative score of at least 155
  • GRE verbal score of at least 145
• Students may also be accepted with up to three deficiency courses but may be required to do additional coursework for their MS degree (see degree requirements found later in this document).
• International Applicants will need to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and score at least 83 with no area score of less than 20, or take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and score at least 6.5 in all areas.

Note: Applications with significant mathematics deficiencies may be deferred/denied pending completion of the required courses.

Note: We neither require nor review letters of recommendation or statements of purpose from MS applicants.

Note: Students with (or completing in the near future) a BS awarded by the CSE department at UTA or a comparable degree from another accredited U.S. university who have a GPA of at least 3.2 should contact the graduate advisor regarding a GRE waiver. UTA CSE students with a GPA of at least 3.5 should contact the graduate advisor regarding nomination for Advanced Admission (i.e. admission without application and fee). Baseline criteria for GRE waiver and Advanced Admission are established by the Graduate Dean and can be found in the current version of the UTA Graduate Catalog.