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Since it was developed in 1999 from a proposal to the Boeing Company to provide off-campus Systems Engineering graduate education to Boeing Engineers and their suppliers worldwide, our program has grown exponentially, becoming a well-established in-person and online graduate program, with MS and Ph.D. degree offerings.

General Information

Designed over two decades ago, the Missouri S&T Systems Engineering graduate program provides students with a transdisciplinary perspective that enables an integrative approach to the creation of systems solutions, using systems principles and concepts along with evidence-based methodologies. Systems Engineers must provide that change as technologies and systems environments evolve. These solutions apply to multiple industries and influence in all aspects of society — from transportation and health care to education, agriculture, and services. Missouri S&T’s adaptive graduate programs train Engineers to find solutions that work for every aspect.

Today, engineering projects call for knowledge of a transdisciplinary and top-down perspective in architecting and deploying adaptive systems solutions. Missouri S&T’s modular architecture for its Master of Science (M.S) degree program requires successfully completing six core courses and four approved elective courses, preferably from systems engineering and program management-based graduate certificates. Hence, it is possible to have two graduate certificates and an M.S. degree while pursuing a Systems Engineering master’s degree at Missouri S&T.

The modular architecture of the program enables students to customize their degree based on his/her professional needs. Most popular tracks are Digital Engineering, Model Based Systems Engineering and Computational Intelligence. Missouri S&T has an academic equivalency arrangement with International Council on Systems Engineering INCOSE enabling students to bypass the knowledge exam on their path to becoming an Associate Systems Engineering Professional (ASEP) or Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). This synchronous hybrid program, graduated more than 740 master students since its inception in 2000. https://emse.mst.edu/

Thesis & Non-Thesis Tracks
  • BS in engineering or a physical science
  • GPA: Regular status: 3.0 cumulative
  • Graduate Record Exam (GRE): The GRE is not required for admission but can be used for admission decisions.
  • Transcripts
  • English proficiency test score requirements are 80 for TOEFL, 6.5 for IELTS, 58 for PTE, or 115 for Duolingo. 

Program Requirements

  • 30 total credit hours
  • 18 credit hours for core courses
  • 12 credit hours for elective courses on Systems Engineering and Program Managment based graduate Certificates 

Master's Non-Thesis Roadmap

In addition to six core courses, this track requires six hours of Sys Eng 6099-Graduate Research and four approved specialization track courses. As a thesis student, you cannot register for Sys Eng 6099 until your Form I is on file. 

Master's Thesis Roadmap

Core Courses

Required of all students in the MS program

  • SYS ENG 5101: Systems Engineering and Analysis 
  • SYS ENG 6102: Information Based Design
  • SYS ENG 6104: Systems Architecting
  • SYS ENG 6196: Systems Engineering Capstone
  • SYS ENG 6542: Model Based Systems Engineering
  • SYS ENG 5106: Evaluation, Verification and Test

Elective Courses Sample Lists

Students can take the four elective courses based on their selection of a second graduate certificate or their own choices as long as they are approved by their advisor.

Digital Engineering

  • SYS ENG 6239: Smart Engineering System Design
  • SYS ENG 6321: Modeling Complex Systems
  • SYS ENG 6543: Digital Engineering
  • SYS ENG 5281: Introduction to Probabilistic Risk Assessment

Computational Intelligence

  • SYS ENG 5211: Computational Intelligence
  • SYS ENG 5212: Introduction to Neural Networks and Applications
  • SYS ENG 6213: Deep Learning
  • SYS ENG 6214: Clustering Algorithms

Model Based Systems Engineering

  • SYS ENG 6110: Optimization under Uncertainty
  • SYS ENG 6239: Smart Engineering System Design
  • SYS ENG 6412: Mathematical Programming
  • SYS ENG 5281: Introduction to Probabilistic Risk Assessment

Specialization Track Areas

Specialization tracks and courses provide you with the ability to address your specific education needs in the context of the overall systems engineering program. One of the following graduate certificates may be substituted for a specialization track with the permission of the program director:

Digital Engineering
Computational Intelligence
Model Based Systems Engineering

Engineering Management
Financial Engineering
Lean Six Sigma
Project Management

Contact Information
Kimberly Lindstrom

Certificate, MS & PhD Students

klindstrom@mst.edu |

231 Engineering Management

Opportunities & Resources

Graduate Resources

Access academic policies, deadlines funding information, forms, and support services designed for graduate student success. View grad resources

Application Fee Waiver Opportunities

Attend an information session to learn how you can qualify for a graduate application fee waiver. Join a session