Earn a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering

Pursue a doctoral degree in Computer Engineering at Missouri S&T and become equipped to lead the charge in solving society's electrical engineering problems.

The most important thing for PhD admission is to secure your tentative advisor by individual contact as stated below, even before you formally apply. View the department's faculty directory to review each faculty member's research areas and identify your potential PhD advisor. Contact the faculty member(s) by email with your portfolio (CV, transcript, publication, etc.) for seeking confirmation to serve as your PhD advisor.

Once you have a confirmation, ask for a Recommendation Letter from your potential advisor and specify the advisor in your Statement of Purpose to be part of your application package. Please note that the confirmation to serve as your advisor does not mean you’ll be automatically offered a financial assistantship. You need to ask the advisor about the availability of assistantship (see the link to “Graduate Assistantship” below).

You may apply formally for PhD without this procedure of securing the advisor. We will circulate your application materials to faculty members to see if someone is interested in serving as your advisor. If you are applying for the PhD program without a MS degree (directly from BS) and without securing an advisor, we may still admit you as an MS to be able to convert to PhD within 2-3 semesters (all your credits are then counted toward PhD). During this period, you interact with faculty and demonstrate your aptitude for PhD.

Apply now       faculty directory

Graduate Assistantship

We value our graduate students. In our commitment to your education, we've put together several funding opportunities to help make your degree an excellent return on investment. Electrical and Computer Engineering programs offer the following opportunities:

There are two major mechanisms of assistantship for graduate students in ECE: Graduate Research Assistants (GRA), Graduate Teaching Assistants (GRA) and Fellowship. There are also Grader positions based on hourly rate wages. Students can be appointed as GRA or GTA by 25% or 50% FTE (Full-Time Equivalent), which is the maximum part-time employment rate for students (100% represents the full-time job). Monthly wage for 50% FTE is approximately $2,000, which is proportional to the % FTE (e.g. $1,000 for 25% FTE). Student’s out-of-tuition is waived if the student is offered at least a 25% FTE or higher.

This assistantship is to support students by contributing to faculty members’ research. If a GRA is offered, the out-of-state tuition is waived (if higher than 25% FTE) and the monthly wage is provided according to % FTE. Students may contact individual faculty members with materials (CVs, publication, etc.) preferably before application to demonstrate their qualification and competency in the interested research areas. The faculty member may offer a GRA position with admission if the student is qualified and funding is available. Or it may be offered anytime with continued interactions with faculty members during study in the ECE program.

GTAs are normally required to teach undergraduate-level laboratory courses. If a GTA is offered, the out-of-state tuition is waived (if higher than 25% FTE) and the monthly wage is provided according to % FTE. The department appoints GTAs every semester. Students apply for the GTA positions several months earlier before the start of class to teach, pass the communication test (non-native speakers only) and are selected by the department. Therefore, new incoming international students are not eligible for the Grader position during the first semester (US citizens or permanent residents are eligible). 

This mechanism provides students with biweekly wages based on hourly rates (no tuition waived). Graders are normally required to grade assignments from undergraduate-level courses. Students may contact individual faculty members who teach the course to be appointed as Grader several months earlier before the start of class. Therefore, new incoming international students are not eligible for the Grader position during the first semester (US citizens or permanent residents are eligible). 

Other Campus-level assistantship opportunities are found at:

Domestic students: https://futurestudents.mst.edu/admissions/graduate/

International students: https://futurestudents.mst.edu/admissions/international/

 

 

Degree (Master and Doctoral) Admission Requirements

Electrical and Computer Engineering's minimum admission requirements may exceed general university requirements. In case of discrepancies, departmental requirements supersede all others.

  • Recommended B.S. GPA of 3.3/4.0 for M.S. and B.S. GPA of 3.5/4.0 for Ph.D.
  • Recommended GRE score of Q=155, Q+V=305, and AW=3.5 (waived for Missouri S&T GPA 3.5 of ECE courses; must be > 18 hours)
  • For PhDs and thesis option Masters, it is strongly recommended to secure research advisor (see "Securing Research Advisor" below).  
  • For university-wide general information: https://futurestudents.mst.edu/admissions/graduate/