College of Engineering > Academic Programs > Aerospace Engineering > Academic Programs > Graduate > Graduate Handbook > Master's Degree Program

Master's Degree Program

4.1 Prerequisites

Recent graduates of accredited programs in aerospace engineering may be accepted into the graduate program without further prerequisite course work. Students with backgrounds in other engineering disciplines, mathematics, or physics may be required to take such undergraduate courses in aerospace engineering as required by the Graduate Student Screening Committee and/or the student's Advisory Committee. This prerequisite work will not carry graduate credit and can be taken under the S/U grading option. If more than one semester's worth of additional undergraduate work is necessary, the applicant may be asked to register and take the appropriate courses as an unclassified student. Any student entering the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program is expected to be well versed in mathematics, physics, and computer programming.

4.2 Transfers from Other Institutions

A minimum of 24 credit hours towards the master's degree must be earned at Auburn University. The balance of the credit hours required for the degree may be transferred from other approved graduate schools and applied towards the master's degree requirements, but only upon recommendation of the student's Advisory Committee. No transfer credit will be approved without an official transcript, and no course in which a grade lower than B was earned may be transferred. All transfer credit counted work towards the master's degree must have been earned within five years of the date the degree is awarded. Up to one-half of the required course work for a graduate degree may be taken at Auburn University at Montgomery, the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or the University of Alabama at Huntsville under the two-campus studies program. Details of this program are available in the Bulletin.

4.3. Degree Programs

The Aerospace Engineering Department offers the degree of Master of Science (M.S.) under the thesis option only. A minimum of 30 credit hours is required for the M.S. degree. Normally, six credit hours for AERO 7990, Research and Thesis, are included in the requirements for the degree. Students may enroll in more than six credit hours of AERO 7990; however, no more than six credit hours will be counted towards the degree. An oral examination, which covers the student's research and thesis, is also required for the M.S. degree.

The Master of Aerospace Engineering (M.A.E.) degree is a non-thesis degree which requires a minimum 33 credit hours of course work. The required credit hours may include three credit hours of AERO 7980, Aerospace Engineering Project, culminating in a final written report approved by the student's Advisory Committee. The nature of this report is to be determined by the student's Major Professor and is intended to be completed in a period of one semester. The M.A.E. degree also requires passing the Graded Presentation Examination as described in Section 4.8 of this handbook.

4.4 Course Work Requirements

All coursework for the Masters degrees must be in courses numbered 6000 and above. Courses which have been taken for undergraduate credit at Auburn University cannot be retaken for graduate credit. Credit hours may be made up of courses within the Aerospace Engineering Department and related courses in other departments. In either master's degree program, at least one-half of the credit hours must be earned within the Aerospace Engineering Department.

4.5 Language Requirement

There are no language requirements for the M.S. or M.A.E. degree.

4.6 Residency Requirement

Resident, on-campus study is the foundation for research-based graduate programs. Any graduate student enrolled in a degree program culminating in a thesis or dissertation must directly engage in research with the Major Professor, must have access to the research tools needed for the research activity, must be immersed in the culture of graduate education, must engage in the professional activities of the discipline, and must complete the research activity in a reasonable period of time. Graduation requires the Major Professor to certify compliance with these requirements.

4.7 Research Requirement

All candidates for the M.S. degree must prepare a thesis. The formal proposal for the thesis must be approved by the student's Advisory Committee. The format and content of the proposal will be specified by the student's Major Professor. Information about additional thesis requirements is available in The Guide to the Preparation and Submission of Thesis and Dissertations, which is available online at the Graduate School website.

4.8 Examinations

All candidates for the M.S. degree are required to present the results of their thesis research in a graduate seminar which is open to the public. At the conclusion of the seminar, the student must pass an oral examination, which covers the student's research and thesis. This examination, which is closed to the public, is administered by the student's Advisory Committee; however, all members of the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Faculty are invited to attend and participate in this examination. The student should take care in the scheduling of this examination in order to meet the deadline indicated in the Graduate School calendar.

Successful completion of the M.S. oral examination requires the unanimous support of the student's Advisory Committee. If the results of the examination are not satisfactory, a re-examination may or may not be permitted at the discretion of the Advisory Committee. Any re-examination must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. The Advisory Committee may require an oral and/or written re-examination.

All candidates for the M.A.E. degree must pass the Graded Presentation Examination. This examination consists of a technical presentation on a subject of choice presented to the student's Advisory Committee. The subject must be approved by the student's Major Professor and may be the same subject studied in completion of AERO 7980, Aerospace Engineering Project. Suggestions from the student's Major Professor should be closely followed in preparing the presentation. The student should complete the presentation in 30 minutes and be prepared to answer questions from the Advisory Committee concerning the presentation subject matter and related areas. The entire examination should last from 60 to 90 minutes. All members of the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Faculty are invited to attend and participate in this examination, however, only the members of the student's Advisory Committee are permitted to participate in the grading of the examination.

The score sheet to be used by the Advisory Committee for the Graded Presentation Examination is provided in Appendix E. An average score of 70% is required in order to pass the examination. If the student does not pass, a second graded presentation examination may be taken in a later semester. Failure to pass the second attempt of this examination will result in the student being dropped from the M.A.E. degree program. Only in the most exceptional cases will a student be permitted a third attempt to take the examination. The student must petition the Advisory Committee for a third opportunity to take this examination. The petition must be unanimously approved by the student's Advisory Committee and the Department Head for the student to be permitted a third attempt.

4.9 Master's Degree Checklist

Step	Deadline
1. Select a Major Professor.	End of the first semester.
2. Form an Advisory Committee in consultation with your Major Professor.	End of the second semester.
3. Submit a Plan of Study to the Graduate School.	End of the second semester (fourth course for part-time students).
4. Submit a thesis proposal to Advisory Committee for approval (M.S. students only).	End of second semester.
5. Obtain credit check from the Graduate School.	At least one semester before Graduation.
6. Arrange for the Major Professor to schedule the Graded Presentation Examination. Major Professor must report results to the Graduate School. (M.A.E. students only)	Final results must be reported to The Graduate School by approximately the tenth week of the semester in which the degree is expected. See Graduate School Calendar for date.
7. Arrange for Major Professor to schedule research and thesis Oral Examination. Major Professor must report results to the Graduate School. (M.S. students only.)	Same deadline as for Item 6.
8. Present results of M.S. thesis research in a graduate seminar. (M.S. students only.)	This seminar normally coincides with the thesis oral examination.
9. Five copies of thesis should be distributed: one for the Department, one for the Major Professor of the committee, one for the Library and two signed copies for the Graduate School. Thesis must be ready for binding. (M.S. students only.)	Same deadline as for Item 7.
10. Pay thesis binding and graduation fee. (M.S. students only.)	At least two weeks before Commencement.
11. Participate in commencement (optional).	See Graduate School calendar for exact date.

If all requirements for the degree are completed during the current semester but the deadlines were not met, the student will not be required to register during the following semester in order to graduate during that semester.