In addition to the general requirements of the university, the MS in Software Engineering requires a minimum of 30 graduate credits. The coursework is divided into three categories: a breadth requirement of 12 hours of core courses, a depth requirement of 9 hours of emphasis courses, and 9 hours of elective courses.

• Four core courses (12 credits) are required of all SWE graduates:
  • SWE 619   Object-Oriented Software Specification and Construction
  • SWE 620   Software Requirements Analysis and Specification
  • SWE 621   Software Modeling and Architectural Design
  • SWE 622   Distributed Software Engineering
• Emphasis courses (9 credits). Students may choose an emphasis by taking three courses from one of the emphases defined by the ISE Department.
  • Software Design
    1. SWE 626   Software Project Laboratory
    2. SWE 632   User Interface Design and Development
    3. SWE 721   Reusable Software Architectures
    4. SWE 781   Secure Software Design and Programming
  • Software Assurance
    1. SWE 623   Formal Methods and Models in Software Engineering
    2. SWE 637   Software Testing
    3. SWE 723   Precise Modeling
    4. SWE 781   Secure Software Design and Programming
  • Software Management
    1. SWE 625   Software Project Management
    2. SWE 626   Software Project Laboratory
    3. SWE 630   Software Engineering Economics
    4. SWE 637   Software Testing
  • Web Applications
    1. SWE 632   User Interface Design and Development
    2. SWE 637   Software Testing
    3. SWE 642   Software Engineering for the World Wide Web
    4. SWE 645   Component-Based Software Development
  With permission from the advisor, a student may choose not to take an emphasis.
• Elective courses (9 credits). Electives provide students the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge in a selected area, to gain breadth of knowledge, or, by careful selection, to complete some of the core course requirements for the PhD program. A listing of approved qualified electives is available from the department office. However, students may choose other electives from offerings within the Volgenau School with the consent of his or her faculty adviser.

  Only two 500-level electives may be selected.

  In addition, students may choose between the professional option, consisting of three electives, and the research option, consisting of one elective and a six-credit thesis, which is primarily intended for students planning to pursue a PhD with a concentration in Software Engineering.

For Further Information

Additional information on the program is available from the MSIS Student Advisor (iseadvsr@gmu.edu)

Financial aid information is available at the GMU Office of Financial Aid