Graduate Programs

The Department of Electrical Engineering offers graduate programs leading to the degree of Master of Science (M.S.), and the degrees of Doctor of Engineering Science (Eng.Sc.D.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The Graduate Record Examination (General Test only) is required of all applicants except special students. An undergraduate grade-point average equivalent to B or better from an institution comparable to Columbia is expected.

Applicants who, for good reasons, are unable to submit GRE test results by the deadline date but whose undergraduate record is clearly superior may file an application without the GRE scores. An explanatory note should be added to ensure that the application will be processed even while incomplete. If the candidate’s admissibility is clear, the decision may be made without the GRE scores; otherwise, it may be deferred until the scores are received.

There are no prescribed course requirements in any of the regular graduate degree programs. Students, in consultation with their faculty advisers, design their own programs, focusing on particular fields of electrical engineering. Among the fields of graduate study are microelectronics, communications and signal processing, integrated circuit and system analysis and synthesis, photonics, electromagnetic theory and applications, plasma physics, and quantum electronics.

Graduate course charts for several focus areas can be found at www.ee.columbia.edu.

M.S. students must complete the professional development and leadership course, ENGI E4000, as a graduation requirement. Ph.D. candidates are strongly encouraged to complete the ENGI E6001–6004 and should consult their program for PDL requirements.