At the graduate-level, the School of Aerospace Engineering offers master's and doctoral degrees. In addition, the School offers a distance learning-based master's degree.
The master's degree may be earned by completing 33 semester hours of coursework, which must include 3 credit hours of Special Problems research credit. Alternatively, the candidate may elect to complete twenty-four semester hours of coursework along with nine hours of MS thesis work. In the latter option, the candidate must propose a thesis topic, complete the thesis, and successfully defend it before being awarded the degree. A GPA of 2.7 is required to graduate with an MS degree. All coursework, including Special Problems, must be taken on a letter-grade basis. The program of study for the master's degree is very flexible and can be tailored, in agreement with the student's advisor, to meet the candidate's professional goals.
For further details governing the graduate program, access the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Handbook at www.ae.gatech.edu. Graduate students may specialize in the following areas: aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, aeroelasticity and structural dynamics, flight mechanics and control, propulsion and combustion, structural mechanics and materials behavior, and system design and optimization. Further information on these areas of specialization and research can be found here.
The Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering is also offered online through the Distance Learning Program.
