Graduate Degree Program Costs

Estimating costs for undergraduate degree programs is relatively easy and straightforward - the vast majority of bachelor's degree programs are set up for full-time studies, with undergraduates normally taking 12-18 credits per semester (the equivalent of 4-6 classes), averaging around 15 credits (5 classes) overall for a grand total of approximately 120 credits (40 classes) completed over the standard four year program length. Corresponding tuition is typically assessed at a single flat rate at or above a set minimum number of credit-hours deemed to define a full-time student (with that minimum typically being 12 credit-hours). Thus, an average annual cost for full-time studies can be easily calculated and "apple-to-apple" comparisons between schools as a whole can be easily made.

At the graduate level, however, things are not nearly as clear-cut. Graduate tuition is often assessed strictly on a per-credit basis, no matter how many (or few) credits are taken a given semester. At the masters level, this is done because degree requirements can vary significantly (for instance, masters programs can range from 24-48 credit hours [the full-time equivalent of 1-2 years at 12 credit-hours per semester]), along with the fact that a significant number of masters students pursue their degrees part-time. Thus, rather than an annual cost, the real figure of interest to masters students is the total program cost, which is the total required credit hours for their particular degree program multiplied by the per-credit graduate tuition rate charged by the school. However, because this total cost figure is program-dependent (the required number of credit-hours being variable), there is no one figure that applies college-wide for all masters studies. Thus, a simple tabulation of costs amongst all schools - as is done for undergraduate degree programs - is not possible when it comes to graduate studies at either the masters or doctorate levels.

To provide some general guidance to students, prevailing per-credit tuition rates for engineering graduate studies are cited within the individual school profiles presented within this website, along with an equivalent yearly cost for full-time studies (based on a stated number of credit-hours taken per semester). However, for planning and evaluation purposes, prospective students should determine the exact credit-hour requirements of the specific graduate degree program they are interested in and calculate a total program cost as previously discussed (or, easier still, contact the degree program of interest at a particular school and obtain a total program cost estimate directly from them - such contact information is provided within all the school profiles posted on this website).

Finally, when it comes to financing your education, graduate students should keep in mind (and pursue) the opportunities potentially available to them to fund their studies through graduate research and/or teaching assistantships.