Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering

Our curriculum consists of 10 fully-online courses and is designed to help you earn your master’s degree on your schedule. In order to earn your Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, you’ll need to complete 30 units of 500-, 600-, or 700-level courses. You should plan on taking at least 15 units of 600- and 700-level courses, and no more than 15 units of 500-level courses. Courses are available in the spring, summer, and fall terms.

• Core Courses — 6 Units
• Elective Courses — 24 Units

Core Courses (6 Units)

EE 602: Stochastic Signals and Systems (3 Units)
Random signals, correlation functions, power spectral densities, the Gaussian process, narrow band processes. Applications to communication systems.

EE 798: Special Study (3 Units)
You can enroll in your Capstone Project course after completing at least 21 units of course work. Your graduate advisor will match you with a project mentor by the end of the first year. This will help you select courses aligned to your project topic. Projects are often job-embedded, which means that you’ll focus on something you’re already working on in your current job. The project has to be defended orally to a committee of two faculty members (one of whom may be your project advisor), and you must submit a written report of the project to the department.

Elective Courses (24 Units)

Choose from the following elective courses to complete your degree depending on your interests.

EE 601: Linear System Theory and Design (3 Units)
State models and solutions of the state equations, stability, controllability and observability, realizability and minimal realizations, linear state and output feedback control, introduction to linear optimal control.

EE 581: Power System Dynamics (3 Units)
Three-phase faults, symmetrical components, unsymmetrical faults, protective relay operating principles, economic dispatch of thermal power generation units, power system controls, voltage and power stability.

EE 584: Power Electronics (3 Units)
Design and analysis of power electronic devices. Permanent-magnet and pulse-width modulation ac-to-ac converters, dc-to-ac inverters, power electronics applications, power semiconductor switches, and switch-mode power supplies.

EE 586: Distributed Energy Resources and Smart Grid Technologies (3 Units)
Effects of changes in structure of the electric utility system caused by distributed generation or co-generation involving deployment of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Photovoltaic systems to include power converters and energy storage, residential grid connected photovoltaic systems, load flow analysis of power grids and microgrids.

EE 684: Advanced Power Electronics (3 Units)
Advanced modeling strategies for bidirectional converters, DC/ DC converters, design and integration of power electronics interfaces into smart grids, multi-level inverters, Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM) switching techniques, resonant/quasi-resonant converters, SiC and GaN switches, single/three phase inverters, and soft switching.

EE 658: Advanced Digital Signal Processing (3 Units)
Advanced topics in FIR and IIR filter design. Quantization effects in digital filters. Sigma-delta modulation. Signal modeling. Parametric and non-parametric spectral estimation. Frequency estimation.

EE 685: Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Design and Applications (3 Units)
Design and manufacturing technology for micro- and nano-scale devices. Topics include solid state transducers, microscale physics, biomedical microelectronics, microfluidics, biosensors, and hybrid integration of microfabrication technology. Emphasis on biomedical applications.

COMP E 596: Machine Learning (3 Units)
(previously EE 600: Seminar) Machine learning is a discipline that deals with the automatic design of models from data and has been successfully used in the past few decades for data analysis, process automation, function optimization, model building and many others. The main topics to be covered include probability theory, linear regression, logistic regression, neural networks, decision trees, clustering, Bayesian estimation, dimension reduction, Markov and hidden Markov models with implementation of these models in Matlab, Python or R.

COMPE 560: Computer Networks (3 Units)
Wide area and local area networks, multi-layered protocols, telephone systems, modems, and network applications.

EE 660: High Speed Networks (3 Units)
Provides students with knowledge of recent developments in the area of computer networks. Current research in high speed computer networks.

EE 558: Digital Communications (3 Units)
Design of baseband digital communication systems; noise characterization, sampling, quantization, matched filter receivers, bit-error performance, inter-symbol interference, link budget analysis.

EE 650: Modern Communication Theory (3 Units)
Wireless digital communication; bandpass modulation and demodulation, multiple access techniques, broadband signaling techniques, spread spectrum techniques; applications include CDMA and OFDM.

EE 652: Information Theory (3 Units)
Information measure of data sources; Shannon’s theorem and capacity of communication links; rate-distortion theory and performance of source codes.

EE 653: Coding Theory (3 Units)
Error control for digital information; arithmetic of Galois fields; block, cyclic, convolutional and turbo encoding and decoding; applications in digital communication and computer systems.

EE 662: Wireless Sensor Networks (3 Units)
Sensor platforms, wireless channel characteristics, time synchronization, medium access control, topology control, routing protocols, localization, coverage and placement, detection and tracking, query processing

Only students admitted to this program may register for courses.

Click here for information about our drop policy.

Out-of-State Applicants
While we welcome out-of-state students, SDSU Global Campus currently cannot accept applications from students residing in some specific states. Please check back often, as this list of approved states does change. View the list of authorized states here.

Admission Requirements

Below is a list of general admission requirements for the M.S. in Electrical Engineering program.

We understand that every student's academic journey is unique, and we encourage you to contact one of our Student Service Representatives to find out what you'll need to successfully apply to the program.

For admission to the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering program, you should have been in good standing at your last institution.

You’ll also need to satisfy the following requirements:

Application Instructions

To apply for the online Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Program, you’ll need to complete the following steps:

1. Submit an application to the University through Cal State Apply
2. Submit Official Documents and Test Scores to SDSU Graduate Division:
   • Official transcripts sent in sealed envelopes (issued by the school) from all postsecondary schools attended. Do not send transcripts before submitting the Cal State Apply application as this may result in processing delays.
   • If you have international coursework, you should have your school send one record of all academic coursework and proof of degree, both in the original language. For each original-language document, you should also send a certified literal English translation, which can come directly from the school itself or from a professional, certified translator. The translation should contain all information shown on the original-language documents and in the same format.
   • Official documents should be mailed to:
     Graduate Admissions
     San Diego State University
     5500 Campanile Drive
     San Diego, CA 92182-7416
   • Electronic transcripts are acceptable. Please ensure that you indicate this preference when making your request. If you are required to provide an email address to send the secure online document to SDSU, please use transcriptsforsdsu@sdsu.edu.
   • Submit Official Test Scores, which include:
     • English Proficiency — All graduate and post-baccalaureate applicants (regardless of citizenship status) applying to SDSU from an international institution where the medium of instruction was not English, should submit passing TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE as proof of English proficiency.

After submitting the online Cal State Apply application, you will receive an email from San Diego State University that includes your SDSUid, which is needed to log into my.SDSU. You can use my.SDSU to check your application status, update your contact information, access your financial aid, and more. Please check back frequently to make sure all of the required materials have been received — you’re responsible for ensuring that all supporting materials are submitted by the deadline.

Financial Aid

This program is approved for financial aid. To begin the financial aid process, visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships website. There, you'll be able to access the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

If you have any questions regarding the financial aid process, please call the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships on weekdays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at (619) 594-6323.

We encourage you to apply for financial aid as soon as possible.