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About the Program
Developed with the help of SDSU’s renowned College of Engineering, the online Master of Science in Electrical Engineering program can help you earn a graduate degree from San Diego State University without the need to attend classes on a college campus. By joining this program, you'll gain access to expert faculty and a vibrant academic community, creating a dynamic learning environment that propels your professional growth and opens doors to exciting opportunities in the ever-evolving field of electrical engineering.
Get the Best of Both Worlds
Discover the flexibility of online learning while receiving the support you need to succeed. Expert instructors transform classrooms into communities, fostering connections with your peers. Engage in virtual class discussions and benefit from live office hours with instructors throughout the program.
Open to International Students
This master’s program is open to aspiring electrical engineers from all over the world. With SDSU Global Campus, you can earn a valuable degree from an accredited American university from the comfort of your home country.
Use Your STEM Degree to Apply
Use your bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or another STEM-related field to apply for this program! With the right preparation, students with undergraduate degrees in areas outside of electrical engineering are more than capable of succeeding in our master’s program.
Designed For Busy Working Adults
With flexible online lessons, you can acquire the master’s degree you need to advance your engineering career without putting your life on hold. Learn from experts, connect with your peers, and apply practical knowledge for tangible growth in your current profession.
Interested in applying? SDSU no longer requires GRE/GMAT testing for admission to any graduate program.
Is This Program Right for Me?
SDSU’s online electrical engineering program is designed for busy working adults from anywhere in the world who are currently employed as electrical engineers or in a similar profession. Students approach the program with a variety of professional goals, including:
- Career advancement
- Specialization
- Higher earning potential
- Professional development
- Networking and connections
- Research opportunities
Talk to one of our Admissions Advisors about what you’ll need to successfully apply.
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What Can I Learn?
SDSU’s online M.S. in Electrical Engineering program can give you the technical proficiency and the industry knowledge you need to succeed as an electrical engineer in today’s technology-powered world.
As a student in the program, you’ll develop an advanced knowledge of theories, systems, design, and skills that are essential to your success in the field.
You’ll develop these skills in virtual lessons that focus on topics like
- Stochastic Signals and Systems
- Digital Communications
- Power Systems
- Renewable Energy
- Computer Networks
- Coding Theory
Your online courses are led by lecturers and tenure-track faculty from SDSU’s College of Engineering. You’ll be able to connect with your instructors via virtual office hours to help you get the academic support you need to understand the material and pass your courses. We also work closely with San Diego’s robust military presence through partnerships with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and NAVWAR, the U.S. Navy’s information technology systems/satellite communications development program.
With expert faculty, a network of industry partners, and a state-of-the-art curriculum, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from SDSU will help you take on high-level leadership positions in your field.
Career Outcomes
The outlook for graduate students with an M.S. in Electrical Engineering is extremely bright. As our world becomes more reliant on technology, the national labor market for electrical engineering graduates is projected to grow by 20% over the next decade, and the average nationwide salary for electrical engineering graduates is $88,500.
Program Analysis
M.S. in Electrical Engineering — Nationwide
73,123
Job postings in the last 12 months
+20.44%
Projected job growth in the next 10 years
$69,000-$108,000
Salary range
Source: Source Information
Why Should You Choose Us?
Connections
The program has developed close relationships with a rich network of San Diego-based engineering organizations. These relationships have helped create a curriculum that’s based on real-time industry insights and hands-on experience with the latest tools and technology in the electrical engineering industry.
Reputation
A Master’s degree from SDSU on your résumé will help you stand out in a rapidly-growing pool of electrical engineering professionals. According to U.S. News & World Report, SDSU’s College of Engineering is one of the top-25 engineering programs in the State of California. The Electrical Engineering program is also ranked as one of California’s top programs.
Accessibility
By enrolling in an online academic program at SDSU Global Campus, you become an important member of the vibrant San Diego State University community, regardless of your physical location. This grants you access to many of the same services, resources, and centers as those available to on-campus students throughout their tenure at SDSU. Discover the Aztec Experience.
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Our curriculum consists of 10 fully online courses and is designed to help you earn your master’s degree on your schedule. 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 18 units of 600- and 700-level courses, and no more than 12 units of 500-level courses.
- Core Courses — 6 Units
- Elective Courses — 24 Units
Courses are available in the spring, summer, and fall terms. Courses in the summer are 12 weeks long, and courses in the fall and spring terms are 16 weeks. Click here to view the Course Schedule.
Core Courses (6 Units)
EE 798 (Special Study project) is a required course for all students. For the second core course, students can choose either EE 602 or EE 603.
EE 798: Special Study (3 Units)
You can enroll in your Capstone Project course after completing at least 21 units of coursework. Your graduate advisor can help you select a project topic aligned with your coursework. The project has to be defended orally to the project advisor, and you must submit a written report of the project to the department.
For the second core course, choose either EE 602 or EE 603.
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.
Created by: Dr. Ashkan Ashrafi
EE 603: Engineering Optimization (3 Units)
Unconstrained and constrained optimization problems. Convex sets, functions, analysis, and optimization problems. Least-squares, linear, and quadratic programs. Optimality conditions, duality theory.
Created by: Dr. Saeed Manshadi
Elective Courses (24 Units or 8 Courses)
Choose 8 courses from the following electives to complete your degree. You can choose your electives based on your professional goals and interests.
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.
Created by: Hassan Ghoudjehbaklou, Ph.D.
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.
Created by: Dr. Reza Sabzehgar
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.
Created by: Dr. Sridhar Seshagiri
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.
COMPE 596: Machine Learning (3 Units)
(soon to be COMPE 510) 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.
Created by: Dr. Junfei Xie
COMPE 560: Computer Networks (3 Units)
Wide area and local area networks, multi-layered protocols, telephone systems, modems, and network applications.
Created by: Dr. Mahasweta Sarkar
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.
Created by: Dr. Shams Al-Ajrawi
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.
Created by: Dr. Duy Nguyen
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.
Created by: Dr. Santosh Nagaraj
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.
Created by: Dr. Santosh Nagaraj
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.
Created by: Dr. Santosh Nagaraj
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.
Created by: Dr. Shams Al-Ajrawi
Only students admitted to this program may register for courses.
Click here for information about our drop policy.
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Attend an Application Workshop for tips on successfully applying to SDSU Global Campus.
Upcoming Workshops
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.
International Applicants
Please click here for detailed guidance on how to submit your transcripts.
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:
- Domestic Applicants
- A bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or another STEM-related field.
- A minimum grade point average of 2.85 (based on 4.0 scale) in the last 60 semester (90 quarter) units of technical course work.
The program is fully asynchronous. This means that if you’re an international student, you can also enroll and complete the coursework on your schedule, regardless of which time zone you’re in.
- International Applicants
- A bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, electronics, instrumentation, computer engineering, or another STEM-related field from a recognized engineering program.
- An equivalent grade point average of 3.0 (based on 4.0 scale) or higher in all technical course work.
- A minimum TOEFL score of 85 or minimum IELTS score of 6.5. Please note that the minimum TOEFL score required by the program is higher than San Diego State University's minimum required score.
Application Instructions
To apply for the online Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Program, you’ll need to complete the following steps:
- Submit an application to the University through Cal State Apply
- 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 92182-8225
- 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.
Submit the form below and we’ll be in touch to answer all your questions and explain the next steps in the process. Or, you can reach a program recruiter by emailing recruiter.global@sdsu.edu or by calling (619) 594-7700.
