A credit-sharing arrangement between the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and several other departments and colleges on campus has been approved which allows qualified graduate students to combine their electrical and computer engineering studies with another field of study thereby earning two graduate degrees simultaneously. Students must be admitted to the graduate programs of both departments.

MSM Program | Juris Doctor/Master of Science in ECE | BS/MS | BS/PhD

Joint ECE/Management Master’s (MSM) Program

The faculties of the Department of Management in the Warrington College of Business and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have approved a joint degree which will permit a graduate student to earn both a Master of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Master of Science in Management degree.

If accepted for graduate study by both departments, a student can earn two Master’s degrees and share 12 credits between the two degree programs. Six graduate credits from the ECE degree can be shared with the Management degree and six credits from the Management degree can be shared with the ECE Master’s degree.

Admission is not guaranteed for students meeting these minimum requirements as each department may have additional requirements. Interested students should contact the ECE Student Services Office (Larsen 230) and the Warrington College of Business (link is external) for more information. This program is not open to BS/MS and BS/Ph.D. students due to Graduate School rules.

Juris Doctor/Master of Science in ECE

The faculties of the College of Law and of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the College of Engineering have approved a joint degree program culminating in two degrees: a Juris Doctor degree, awarded by the College of Law; and a Master of Science of Electrical and Computer Engineering, awarded by the College of Engineering.

Under the joint degree program, a student can obtain both degrees in approximately two semesters less than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively. Essential criteria related to the joint degree program are as follows:

• Candidates for the program must meet the entrance requirements for and be accepted by both colleges. Both colleges must be informed by the student at the time of application to the second program that he/she intends to pursue the joint degree program. Students are encouraged to announce their intent of seeking a joint degree as soon as possible.
• The joint degree program is not open to students who have already earned one of these degrees.
• Admission to the second program is required no later than the end of the fourth consecutive semester after beginning one degree of the joint degree program. A summer term is counted as half a single semester. An exception to this requirement will be made for two semesters for the students in residence at the time the joint degree program is initiated.
• A student must satisfy the curriculum requirements for each degree before either degree is awarded. The graduate division of the College of Engineering will allow 12 credits of appropriate law courses to be credited toward both M.S. and J.D. degrees. These 12 credits must be approved by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies upon the recommendation of the student’s graduate supervisory committee. Students who have participated in the BS/MS program of Electrical and Computer Engineering can count only (15-n) credit hours of Law courses toward their M.S. degree; here n is the number of credit hours double counted as part of the BS/MS program. Reciprocally, Law students may receive toward the satisfaction of the J.D. degree not more than 12 semester credits of courses taken in the graduate curriculum of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering. Two of these courses, not more than a total of 6 semester credits, will be treated as the two graduate courses ordinarily allowed to be taken outside of the College of Law for credit toward Law School graduation.
• A student enrolled in the joint degree program may spend the first year in either the College of Law or the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the College of Engineering. Students admitted to one college but electing to spend the first academic year in the second college under the joint degree program may enter the first college thereafter without once again qualifying for admission as long as they have notified the first college before the end of the first week of the first semester in the joint degree program and are in good academic standing when the studies commence in the first college. Students must carry the minimum number of credits required by either college.
• ECE courses which are to be credited toward the J.D. degree must carry a grade of B or higher and will not be counted in the College of Law grade point average. College of Law courses which are to be credited toward the M.S. /J.D. degree must carry a grade of C or higher and will not be counted in the grade point average in the College of Engineering.
• Students enrolled in the joint degree program must complete the College of Law’s advanced writing requirement. An approved master’s thesis in Electrical and Computer Engineering will satisfy the advanced writing requirement of the College of Law if so certified by a Law school faculty member. Non-thesis students must still satisfy the College of Law’s writing requirement.
• A student enrolled in the joint degree program will not receive either degree until he/she has satisfied all of the requirements for both degrees, or until he/she has satisfied the requirements of one of the degrees as if he/she had not been a joint degree candidate.
• Students who enroll in the joint degree program but do not complete the program may receive credit toward the College of Law degree under the graduate level course option for a maximum of two courses, not to exceed 6 semester credits, taken from the graduate curriculum of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the College of Engineering. Although the grade is not computed in the student’s grade point average, a grade of B or higher must be earned to receive credit hours for the course(s).
• Students who enroll in the joint degree program but do not complete the program may receive credit toward the Master of Science in ECE, not to exceed 6 semester credits, taken from the graduate curriculum of the College of Law. Although the grade is not computed in the student’s GPA, a grade of C or higher must be earned to receive credit hours for the course(s).
• Students in the joint program will be eligible for the graduate teaching assistantships and research assistantships in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department on the same basis as other graduate students, subject to the guidelines and restrictions set by the ECE department.
• To facilitate student progress in the joint program, it is proposed that to the fullest extent possible given the availability and consent of appropriate law faculty, the student’s graduate supervisory committee be comprised of two ECE graduate faculty members and one Law faculty member.

Interested students should contact the ECE Student Services Office (Larsen 230) and the Levin College of Law for more information.

Restricted Joint Degrees

The following joint degree programs are only available to current UF students and is restricted to ECE majors. The combined degree programs allow a qualified student to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree with savings of a tangible number of credit hours. Qualified students can begin their graduate course work while undergraduate seniors, and double count a certain number of credit hours of specific graduation EE courses for both the bachelor’s and graduate degree requirements. Seniors admitted into the combined BS/MS or BS/Ph.D. program will be eligible for teaching and research assistantships. The assistantship appointment includes a bi-weekly stipend plus a tuition matriculation fee waiver.

BS/MS Degree Program

The combined BS/MS and degree program allows qualified students to double-count technical elective credit hours to both their BS and master’s degree in ECE at UF. Students in the combined degree program can begin graduate course work in their senior year. This program is only available to current UF students. Please note that graduate courses taken before admission to the BS/MS program cannot be counted towards the MS degree.

For more information, visit the BS/MS Degree Program page.