To enter the Software Engineering plan as either a local student or distance student, a candidate must hold a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering or closely related field, must submit GRE scores of at least 1000 (verbal + quantitative), with a verbal score of 400 or higher and a GPA of 3.00 or higher. The faculty graduate admissions committee will decide acceptance into the program based upon program need, the guidelines stated herein and university admission requirements. Once admitted, the student must file a candidate plan of study (CPS) in the first semester of enrollment. Foundation courses, and other courses, that are found to be needed are added to the CPS and must be completed in or before the first year of enrollment.
Credit Earned Before Acceptance
No more than 9 hours of graduate level Software Engineering classes may be applied to the SWEN degree if taken without admission into the program. No more than 6 hours graduate credit may be transferred to the Software Engineering degree.
Foundation courses and their prerequisites are required for entry and must be completed before enrolling in graduate SWEN courses.
Candidate Plan of Study (CPS)
Students accepted in the Software Engineering program must file a candidate plan of study with their assigned faculty advisor by the end of the first semester of study. The candidate plan of study details all courses the student must take to fulfill the degree requirements.
These courses must appear on your transcript or they will be added to your curriculum requirements with the exception of those courses marked with an asterisk which are required based on your GRE Verbal and Quantitative score.
* Required if verbal GRE is less than 400, **Required if quantitative GRE is less than 500.
Data Structures has a prerequisite of Programming in C.
Please note that foundation courses are not part of the Software Engineering Curriculum but are courses you need to take, if you have not had them already, in order to be admitted to the Software Engineering program. You can take these courses at any accredited University, they just need to appear on your transcript submitted to UHCL when you apply to Software Engineering.
You must take 7 core courses ( 21 hours) plus 4 electives (12 hours) and a capstone project (3 hours) for a total of 36 hours to complete the Software Engineering Degree, capstone option. For the thesis option you must complete the same 7 core ( 21 hours) courses, 3 electives (9 hours) and 6 hours of thesis for a total of 36 hours .
If you are a Distance Student needing to take strictly online courses you must pick your electives from those courses offered online. You will need 4 of the below electives if you are a capstone student, 3 if you are a thesis student.
If you are not a distance student, other electives can be chosen from UHCL's Software Engineering, Computer Science, System Engineering and Computer Engineering courses that are offered strictly on campus and require attendance in the classroom. Electives may be chosen as shown in the thesis and capstone options show below. * The semester offered reflects the semester we plan to offer the course in. However, the actual schedule may change due to enrollment changes, faculty changes, and other factors.
Capstone Option (3 hours of capstone + 12 hours of electives)
Students choosing the capstone option will take the 7 required core courses, the capstone project, plus 12 hours of electives which may be chosen from Software Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering or Computer Engineering course offerings at the level shown in the table below.
** Capstone enrollment is limited to students who have completed all 21 hours of the SWEN CORE and their prerequisites. Students enrolled and taking strictly online courses may take the capstone as a online course. *Courses taken as electives require permission of the faculty advisor. Capstone is a controlled course and you must fill out the control course form and email it to Kim Edwards to obtain permission to enroll. You will be given permission if you are in your last semester of enrollment (your graduating semester) or if you have completed all 7 core courses.
Thesis Option (6 hours of thesis + 9 hours of electives)
Students choosing the thesis option will take the 7 required core courses, the thesis, plus 9 hours of electives which may be chosen from Software Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering or Computer Engineering course offerings at the level shown in the table below.
Students must form a thesis committee, have a SWEN faculty member agree to serve as the thesis committee chair and must prepare a thesis proposal in conjunction with your thesis committee chair in the semester prior to enrollment into thesis. Contact the School of SCE advising office for instructions. Thesis is not offered as a strictly distance offering at this time. Travel to the university during work on the thesis will be necessary if the thesis option is chosen. *Courses taken as electives require permission of the faculty advisor.
Students interested in concentrating their study in a specific sub-area of software engineering such as System Design, Software Safety or Software Project Management may choose as electives those courses listed under the respective sub-plans listed below.
All courses have a dependency structure and students should consult the Software Engineering Course Roster in this catalog for prerequisites, co-requisites and sequencing of courses. Request information about the Software Engineering Masters program at University of Houston-Clear Lake.
