Program Description

Objectives

The Houston area is recognized nationally for the strength of its aerospace-oriented companies and its proximity to the NASA Johnson Space Center. The Aerospace Program offers the opportunity for graduate study to those employed or seeking employment in the aerospace field to help them advance in the technical track of this profession.

Degree Requirements

M.S. degree requirements:

The M.S. degree has two options: non-thesis and thesis. The M.S. non-thesis option degree consists of a minimum of thirty semester hours of graduate course work. Eighteen of these semester hours should be completed with courses in the following core areas:

(A)     Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer,

(B)     Structural Mechanics and Materials, and

(C)     Controls and Dynamics.

Approved courses in these core areas are listed below under the Courses heading. Students can select a core area of concentration where they take the majority of their core courses. However, as a breadth requirement, students should take at least six semester hours of core course work outside their core area of concentration. The remaining twelve semester hours of graduate work should be completed with courses from the above core areas or from approved graduate elective courses listed under the Courses heading. The course work should be selected with the approval of the Aerospace Engineering Program Director. The M.S. thesis option degree consists of a minimum of twenty-one semester hours of course work and nine semester hours of thesis work. As in the non-thesis option, eighteen of the course work semester hours should be completed in the core areas (A), (B), and (C) with at least six semester hours of core course work outside the core area of concentration. The remaining three hours of course work should be completed with a course from the approved elective courses or the core courses. For the M.S. thesis option the course work should be selected based on the recommendations of the student’s thesis advisor. 

The M.S. degree requirements are summarized below with the numbers representing semester credit hours.

*At least six semester hours should be completed outside a core area of concentration

Enrollment Requirements

A student must meet the requirements listed below for continued enrollment in, and successful completion of the program. These requirements are in addition to the general requirements of the University as given in the Graduate and Professional Studies Catalog.

• Degree plans must be approved by the Program Director and must meet the specific requirements listed in this document for the degree program.
• Students on F-1 or J-1 visas are required by U.S. law to be enrolled as full-time students.
• The University requires all full-time M.S. students to enroll in a total of 9 hours in each long semester and 6 hours in the summer.
• Masters students supported as Research Assistants must be enrolled in a minimum of 9 credit hours in each long semester and 6 hours in the summer.
• Only full-time students are eligible to receive financial support from the University in the form of scholarships, academic fellowships, teaching fellowships or assistantships, research fellowships or assistantships, or other comparable forms of support.
• A minimum grade point average of 3.00 over all graduate courses attempted is required for the successful completion of any graduate degree.
• No grade lower than C- can be counted toward the completion of the credit hour requirements for a degree program.
• Up to 6 credit hours of course work may be transferred from another institution with the approval of the Program Director.
• No course used for a prior degree can be repeated or applied to another degree.
• No more than 6 hours can be transferred from post-baccalaureate to graduate credit level.
• The Four-C rule: the University requires that a graduate student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in 12 semester hours attempted at this institution for graduate credit or for application toward the graduate degree, whether or not in repeated courses, is ineligible for any advanced degree at this institution and will not be permitted to re-enroll for graduate study. Students wishing to enroll in courses not for graduate credit (hence not subject to the 4-C rule) must submit a written declaration to that effect to the Program Director prior to enrollment in those courses.