En-Route Masters Option

Some doctoral programs offer the opportunity for admitted doctoral students to pursue a master’s degree (en route) while pursuing their doctoral degree. In all cases, students must apply and be admitted to the doctoral program before applying to an en-route master’s program. After being admitted to the doctoral program, the student must meet the admissions criteria for the desired master’s program, and admission to the master’s program must be approved by that program’s Graduate Program Coordinator.

Students must submit a separate application and application fee for the master’s program. Relevant coursework may be counted for both programs, subject to program approval and the development of a combined degree plan. In order to receive the master’s degree en route to the doctoral degree, all degree requirements, including the culminating activity for the master’s degree, must be fulfilled. These culminating activity credits from the en-route master’s programs may not be counted towards the doctoral degree requirements.

After graduating from the master’s program graduate students will continue to work towards the doctoral degree and doctoral candidacy requirements as outlined by the graduate program and Graduate College policies.¹

Often students will decide to complete an en-route masters degree while working towards the Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering. The masters degree may also be in materials science and engineering, or in one of our interdisciplinary partner programs. Students completing an en-route masters degree should apply and declare their plans by the end of the first year of enrollment. If you are interested in this option, please meet with the APM early in your graduate career.

En-route options include*:

● Master of Science (M.S.) in Materials Science and Engineering

● Master of Engineering (M.Engr.) in Materials Science and Engineering

● Master of Science (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering (MBE)

● Master of Engineering (M.Engr.) in Mechanical Engineering (MBE)

● Master of Science (M.S.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

● Master of Engineering (M.Engr.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

● Master of Science (M.S.) in Chemistry

● Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology (BIOL)

● Master of Arts (M.A.) in Biology (BIOL)

*If you are interested in a different en-route masters, please consult the ADGP and APM.