M.E. in Systems Engineering

The deadlines for M.E. on-Grounds and VEO applications for U.S. citizens and permanent residents are August 1st for the fall semester and January 6th for spring semester. The deadlines for M.E. on-Grounds and VEO applications for non-U.S. citizens are April 1st for fall semester and September 30th for spring semester. The deadline for the Accelerated Master’s Program (AMP) M.E. for Summer 2025 is May 16th. We seek motivated students from diverse backgrounds who are eager to partner with us in education and discovery. Information about academic eligibility and the admissions process is available on the UVA Engineering School's Graduate  webpage. All applications are submitted online. The application fee for UVA Engineering graduate programs is $85; however, we are thrilled to share that a fee waiver for the $85 application fee will be automatically applied to your application if you are applying for 2025 admission.

Through the generosity of our friends and alumni, our department is pleased to award scholarships to select exceptionally qualified M.E. candidates. Recipients receive $5,000 per academic year. All candidates are evaluated by the graduate program directors on academic performance, and at their discretion, the recipients are selected. The selected recipients are notified with a letter from the department.

Accepted M.E. students in the on-Grounds program are also eligible to serve as graders for SIE undergraduate and graduate courses. Students interested in serving as a grader should contact the SIE Graduate Program Director and M.E. Program Director directly. The hourly rate for M.E. student graders is $21/hour for up to twenty (20) hours per week.

A candidate for the M.E. degree must fulfill the general requirements of the Engineering School and complete an approved plan of study consisting of at least thirty (30) credit hours. The plan of study must be prepared under the guidance of the faculty advisor by the end of the first semester of study. It then must be approved by the graduate program directors. The approved plan of study may be revised if necessary but must be submitted for approval.

The following requirements should be met:

• Three (3) credit hours of SYS 6001 Introduction to Systems Analysis & Design
• Six (6) credit hours of Foundation Courses: two (2) courses selected from SYS 6003 Optimization Models and Methods I, SYS 6005 Stochastic Modeling I, SYS 6007 Human Factors I, and SYS 6021 Statistical Modeling I.
• At least twenty-one (21) credit hours of elective courses distributed thusly:
  • At least twelve (12) credit hours of graduate-level systems engineering courses at the 5000, 6000, or 7000 level. (These credit hours cannot be earned through SYS 6993 and SYS 7993  Independent Study;  SYS 6995 and SYS 8995 Supervised Project Research; SYS 8997 and SYS 9997 Graduate Teaching Instruction; SYS 8999 Thesis; and SYS 9999 Dissertation.)
  • No more than three (3) credit hours of SYS 6993 or SYS 7993 Independent Study.
  • No more than three (3) credit hours of SYS 6995 or SYS 8995 Supervised Project Research.

Special Circumstances

Prerequisites: The student who does not have the prerequisites (e.g., calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, computer programming) should take articulation courses. The SE M.E. program advisor will work with the student to identify the required articulation courses. These courses cannot be used to satisfy the degree requirements.

Equivalent Courses: The student who, prior to enrolling in the SE M.E. program, has already taken a course equivalent to a core course may petition the M.E. program advisor for the substitution of the core course by an elective course.

Transfer Credit

Up to twelve (12) credit hours of graduate courses may be transferred. Only courses with a grade of B or better that have not been applied toward another degree may be transferred. The request for credit transfer must include the following: a completed Request Approval of Transfer Credits form, a description of course content and level, and an official transcript. The documents are uploaded with the form submission. If the student is already admitted into a UVA program, then the request for credit transfer must be pre-approved before the course is taken. All transfer credits are subject to the approval of the student's advisor and the Engineering School dean’s office.

VEO students may transfer up to fifteen (15) credits from other schools participating in the VEO program toward their UVA M.E. degree. The other VEO institutions are George Mason University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Students in the on-Grounds M.E. program may register for up to twelve (12) credit hours of courses offered through VEO.  

Upon admission to the program, the student is assigned to the ME program faculty advisor. The student should meet with ME program advisor to plan their course selection and career objectives before the start of each semester.

Seminars: Students are expected to attend and participate actively in scheduled SIE and UVA seminars.

Good academic standing is defined as a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0. A cumulative grade point average of less than 3.0 may be considered a sufficient reason for withdrawal of financial assistance or for enforced withdrawal from the graduate program. Graduate students may incur academic probation any fall or spring semester in which they fail to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0. Students on academic probation have one semester to increase their cumulative grade point average to 3.0 or above, or they will be placed on academic suspension. VEO students have two semesters to increase their cumulative grade point average.

Students who do not raise their GPA to 3.0 during their academic probation will incur academic suspension. Academic suspensions may be appealed within 30 days of notification to the UVA Engineering Graduate Studies Committee. Without an approved academic suspension appeal from the UVA Engineering Graduate Studies Committee, students are permanently academically suspended from the School of Engineering and are not eligible for readmission. Approved academic suspension appeals from the UVA Engineering Graduate Studies Committee provide the student a prescribed number of semester(s) of academic probation to increase their cumulative grade point average to 3.0.