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Course Requirements

Because of the wide range of interests in the field of Aerospace Engineering, there are no specific course requirements for the PhD, except a mathematics requirement. Each student plans a program in consultation with his or her thesis advisor. Courses offered by departments other than the AE Department may be included in the area of study when these courses are of particular value to the research work that the student desires to emphasize. This is a list of recommended courses for each area of specialization.

Minimum Course Requirements

• 24 hours of credit beyond the MS degree.
• 16 hours of the 24 hours beyond the MS degree must be at the 500-level; 8 of these 16 hours must be in Aerospace Engineering (no substitutions allowed).
• 4 of the 24 hours may be a special project class, defined as an individual or group project, in contrast to a lecture-discussion course with written homework and examinations (AE597). Independent study (AE597) is not allowed with thesis advisor.
• AE 590 Seminar: All PhD students must enroll in AE 590 prior to their Qualifying Exam, and at least 4 semesters beyond the passing of the Qualifying Exam

Mathematics Requirements

• PhD candidates are expected to exhibit competence in applied mathematics. They may meet this requirement by taking a minimum of 4 hours of mathematics courses (beyond the MS) from a list of approved Mathematics, Physics, and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics courses.
• At least 4 of the 8 required mathematics hours taken for the MS and PhD degrees must be from a 500-level course.
• Should PhD students have their MS from another institution and have completed a math course which they would like to count toward this requirement, they must petition.

PhD Student Status

Applicants for the PhD program must have a research advisor and financial support. Graduate students admitted to the PhD program with an MS from another institution, or to the PhD Direct program, automatically have PhD student status.

Graduate students with an MS degree (thesis or non-thesis) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign must satisfy three requirements to be admitted to the PhD program and enrolled as a PhD student:

1. a minimum graduate school GPA of 3.5,
2. approval by their MS advisor (or the AE Director of Graduate Programs for a non-thesis degree),
3. approval by their prospective PhD advisor

• A Direct PhD program is available for highly qualified students who have earned a B.S. degree and intend to pursue the PhD.

Requirements

The formal requirements for the doctoral degree consist of a minimum of 64 hours beyond the MS degree. The doctoral program, consisting primarily of research, generally includes three stages:

• the completion of the MS degree or its equivalent and successful passing of the Departmental PhD Qualifying Examination (completion of these two requirements elevates a student’s status to that of a PhD Candidate);
• the completion of a minimum of 24 additional hours of course work and any special course requirements (independent study with thesis advisor is not allowed) and successful passing of the Preliminary Examination; and
• research with a minimum of 40 hours of thesis credit, preparation of a dissertation, and successful passing of the Final Examination.

The three stages can be completed in a minimum of three years of full-time study. The academic program for each doctoral candidate is planned on an individual basis.

Grade Point Average

All graduate students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 to continue in the AE Graduate Program. The cumulative GPA is computed on all courses taken for credit except thesis and seminar courses in which DFR (deferred), S (satisfactory), and U (unsatisfactory) grades are recorded.

The Grading System can be found on page 22 of the Graduate Student Handbook.

The Department of Aerospace Engineering requires a grade of C- or better in order for a course to count toward degree requirements.