Masters of Engineering: Program
Introduction
(Revised August 2011)
What is the M.Eng. Program?
The M.Eng Program is a five or five and a half year program that enables you to get your Bachelors and Masters degree in Course VI simultaneously. You can think of it as a four-year bachelors degree and a two-year masters condensed through advanced planning and integration.
Joining M.Eng gives Course VI undergraduates the advantages of being able to work on a thesis project, being able to take more classes, especially advanced, graduate ones, and study their field in more depth. It can also be useful to have a Masters degree rather than just a Bachelors degree before one enters industry or applies for doctoral programs.
In this document, the details of the graduate portion of the M.Eng program will be explained.
Background: Why Is The M.Eng Program So Complex?
When the program was designed, the intent was to make the process of combining the two degrees smooth and transparent. Unfortunately, the reality is not quite that simple. Describing a few of the reasons for this will help explain some of the complexities in the program.
Students are one reason the program has become less transparent. Many students want to get their Bachelors after four years instead of waiting until they have completed their Masters. For some, this is because they want to walk with their class at commencement, while others have parents who want them to have a degree after four years. There are also students who choose to defer M.Eng and go to work, for which they need their Bachelors.
Students are not the only reason why this program's implementation is not simple. The Institute adds quite a bit of complexity to the program. The rest of MIT has quite strict separations between undergraduate and graduate students. With the exception of a few basic things, once you become a grad student, different processes and rules govern your education. Having a hybrid program that combines undergraduate and graduate study goes against the basic structure of MIT.