Part-time Study
Software Engineering
Program Overview
In 1996 RIT became the first university in the US to offer the baccalaureate software engineering degree. Many schools have followed and are following our leadership, as undergraduate software engineering degrees are increasingly featured in university portfolios.
Building on our leadership position in undergraduate software engineering education, we implemented an innovative Master of Science degree in Software Engineering to capitalize on the expertise we've gained at the undergraduate level. The degree is designed to appeal to software professionals with at least three years of experience developing software, or to professionals with a formal undergraduate background in software engineering, computer science, or computer engineering and at least one year of experience developing software.
The program's core content ensures that graduates will possess both breadth and depth of knowledge in software engineering. Specialization tracks in software quality and software design provide the students with the opportunity to match their graduate education with their professional goals.
The Master of Science program in Software Engineering (MSSWE) program comprises 52 quarter credit hours, anchored by a three quarter (12-credit hour) practicum where students work with peers and faculty on a long-term, moderately complex software development project. Initially students serve in basic support and developer roles, but as they progress through the practicum and accompanying coursework they are assigned correspondingly greater responsibilities. As a consequence, the program combines fundamental and theoretical concepts taught in courses with their application in a constrained but realistic setting. Core courses include topics on software re-engineering, software modeling, and empirical software engineering.
The program recognizes and addresses the need for software engineers possessing knowledge across a wide spectrum of software engineering topics; however, it is also sensitive to students' professional goals. The MSSWE provides students with the opportunity to tailor their program of study by offering two alternative tracks of study: software design and software quality. The design track, which encompasses architectural design, product line architecture, design patterns, and software construction, is designed to appeal to those interested in pursuing roles such as chief software design engineer, software architect or lead designer. The software quality track, which includes assessment of software product and process quality, effective verification and validation of software artifacts, and implementation strategies for software quality assurance plans, is expected to appeal to individuals who see themselves as future quality assurance leaders in software development organizations.
Given the applied nature of the program, there is no thesis requirement. However, graduating students are required to write an experience report based on a research topic of the student's choice. The conference-quality paper offers students the opportunity to reflect upon and articulate the link between scholarship, practice, and individual professional goals.
Curriculum Review
Suggested course schedule
The Master of Science in Software Engineering is designed to appeal to part-time as well as full-time students. Admission to the program is only for the fall quarter of each year, which starts in early September. Keeping in mind that a variety of factors may impact individual choice of courses, the following are recommended part-time and full-time course schedules, respectively.
Part-time program
Students interested in the part-time program can finish their studies in seven academic quarters (about 1 year and 9 months) starting in the fall quarter of the academic year. The part-time program shown below assumes that students will register for two courses each quarter, including the summer of the first year at RIT. Students who take fewer courses per year may take as long as 4 years to complete the program.
Year 1
FALL
4011-710 Research methods
4011-750 Software modeling
WINTER
4011-730 Process engineering & environments
4011-700 Practicum I
SPRING
4011-720 Software evolution and re-engineering
4011-740 Empirical Software engineering
SUMMER
4011-760 Quality track: Software quality engineering
(Track Elective)
Design track: Software architectures and product lines
4011-770
Technical elective (1)
Year 2
FALL
Technical elective (2)
4011-701 Practicum II
WINTER
Technical elective (3)
4011-702 Practicum III
SPRING
4011-780 Experience & research report
TOTAL PROGRAM CREDITS 52
Full-time program
Students interested in the full-time program can finish their studies in four academic quarters (12 calendar months) starting in the fall quarter of the academic year. The full-time program assumes that students will register for 16 credits during their first quarter of studies, and 12 credits thereafter.
FALL
4011-700 Practicum I
4011-710 Research methods
4011-750 Software modeling
WINTER
4011-730 Process engineering & environments
Technical elective (2)
4011-701 Practicum II
SPRING
4011-720 Software evolution and re-engineering
4011-740 Empirical Software engineering
4011-702 Practicum III
SUMMER
4011-760 Quality track: Software quality engineering
(Track Elective)
Design track: Software architectures and product lines
4011-770
Technical elective (3)
4011-780 Experience & research report
TOTAL PROGRAM CREDITS 52
Admission Requirements
Admission to the program is preferably for the fall quarter of each year, which starts in early September.
We recognize that there are two large groups of individuals who may be interested in an advanced software engineering degree. The first group consists of professionals without a formal baccalaureate degree in computing but who may otherwise have sufficient experience (3 years or more) developing software professionally. The second group includes recent graduates from accredited baccalaureate computing degree programs. The program's admission requirements are as follows:
Prospective students with a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. Prospective students from institutions that do not use the GPA scale are expected to demonstrate an equivalent level of academic accomplishment. Formal academic background in software engineering, computer science, or computer engineering is a plus. Prospective students without a bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science or computer engineering are expected to submit evidence of professional experience developing software. For these individuals, a minimum of three years of professional experience developing software is required.
All students will be required to submit transcripts documenting their undergraduate studies.
A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 570 on the paper-based test, 230 on the computer-based test, or 88 on the Internet-based test is required for all applicants for whom English is not their native language.
All applicants must submit a short professional essay (1-4 pages) describing their current job (if any), relevant experience, and career plans.
All applicants must submit a current resume, which should include a description of significant software projects in which they have participated.
Based on our evaluation of academic and relevant experience, some applicants may be required to successfully complete (with a grade of B or better) some or all of the following bridge courses. Successful completion of bridge courses is necessary for registration in graduate-level courses.
4010-361 Introduction to software engineering
4010-362 Engineering of software subsystems
4010-555 Software requirements and specification
One of the following courses
4010-441 Principles of concurrent software systems
4010-442 Principles of distributed software systems
4010-443 Principles of information systems design
4010-549 An eligible software design seminar course