Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Engineering – MS in Engineering-Signal Processing and Communications, Online

Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science

Graduate Degrees

The School of Engineering and Applied Science offers the Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Engineering (an online degree program) as a schoolwide degree.

For information about degree programs in specific engineering majors, applicants should consult the program requirements for that major.

Master of Science

Admissions Requirements

Advising

Each student in this program is assigned an Area Director (AD) upon matriculation. The AD’s information can be found on the program’s homepage: https://www.msol.ucla.edu/signal-processing-and-communications/.

The AD’s primary role (as faculty advisor) is to advise on curriculum, provide course recommendations, and approve academic plans. The program also has a student services advisor (SSA) who interprets degree requirements, program/university policies, and graduation requirements.

New students should contact the program’s student services advisor (SSA) and AD on notification of admission to discuss their program of study. Continuing students are expected to remain in contact with their AD and SSA. Students’ transcripts are reviewed at the end of each quarter by the SSA and the Associate Dean for International Initiatives and Online Programs. Special attention is given if students were admitted provisionally or are on academic probation. If a student’s academic progress is unsatisfactory, students are notified in writing by the Associate Dean for International Initiatives and Online Programs via an academic plan.

All students are strongly urged to consult with the department’s SSA regarding degree requirements, procedures and implementation of policies. In particular, advice should be sought on the Master’s Advancement to Candidacy (MATC) for the M.S. degree, academic planning, and university resources.

Areas of Study

Signal Processing and Communications https://www.msol.ucla.edu/signal-processing-and-communications/

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Nine courses (36 units) are required, of which at least five (20 units) must be graduate courses at the 200 level (excluding the ENGR 299 Capstone Project course), and meet the Capstone requirement. Students must take a minimum of six core courses from the following list. A max of three 100 level upper division core courses (12 units) are permitted. Students may petition to take no more than one course outside of the core course list. Petitions must be approved by their Area Director. Courses applied toward the degree must be taken for letter grade; S/U grading is not permitted.

Core courses: EC ENGR 113, EC ENGR 131A, EC ENGR 132A, EC ENGR 132B, EC ENGR 205A, EC ENGR M214A, EC ENGR 230A, EC ENGR 230B, EC ENGR 231A, EC ENGR 231E, EC ENGR 232B, EC ENGR 232D, EC ENGR 233 and EC ENGR 235A

Electives: The remaining courses may be electives selected from the list above. Courses from other Engineering departments may be used, provided the courses are offered through the MSOL program.

Additional course information located at https://www.msol.ucla.edu/signal-processing-and-communications/

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

Students can meet the Capstone Plan requirement in two ways:

Choose (1 option below)

Option 1:

Take and pass the ENGR 299 Capstone Project course.

Option 2:

Take and pass three written exams for three different graduate level courses within the student’s area of specialization. The written exams are held concurrently with the final exam of the graduate level courses. Students may select which exams they would like to count towards the Capstone Plan requirement.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Students are expected to complete the degree within nine academic quarters, or seven academic quarters and two summer terms. The maximum time allowed in this program is ten academic quarters (excluding summer terms).

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.S.	9	9	10

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A recommendation for academic disqualification is reviewed by the school’s Associate Dean for International Initiatives & On-Line Programs. In addition to the standard reasons noted above, a student may be recommended for academic disqualification for:

1. Failure to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 in all courses and in those in the 200 series.
2. Failure to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 in any two consecutive terms.
3. Failure of the Capstone Plan.
4. Failure to maintain satisfactory progress toward the degree within the ten-quarter maximum time-to-degree for completing all degree requirements.