Credit Requirements

The Master's and Master of Engineering degrees are fulfilled by traditional graduate students with a minimum of 30 credit hours earned beyond the bachelor's degree at Illinois Institute of Technology. The Master of Science degree is fulfilled by traditional graduate students with a minimum of 32 credit hours earned beyond the bachelor’s degree.

Two additional master's completion options are applicable to qualified students: 1) graduate transfer credit of up to nine credit hours; or 2) accelerated master's admission after bachelor's degree completion at Illinois Tech.

With academic approval, a maximum of nine credit hours, earned prior to matriculation into an Illinois Tech graduate program, may be applied to a master's degree, subject to the graduate studies rules and restrictions published in the Transfer Credit section of the Graduate Bulletin. In special cases, students may obtain course credit by completing a Credit by Proficiency Examination, subject to the approval of their respective advisers, academic unit heads, and the VP for Academic Affairs.

The doctoral degree is fulfilled with a minimum of 72 credit hours (or more) earned beyond the bachelor's degree, of which at least 36 credit hours of academic coursework is required. Consult the Graduate Bulletin for the minimum doctoral degree credit requirements by program. Research requirements are fulfilled with a minimum of 24 research (691) credit hours earned, and a maximum of 50% or 48 research (691) credit hours, whichever is lower, of the doctoral program credit requirement. The equivalent of at least one year of full-time work devoted to research is required. In general, this requirement is fulfilled when the oral defense is passed. With academic approval, a master’s degree, up to 32 credit hours, may be transferred from an accredited institution or foreign institution meeting Illinois Institute of Technology requirements.