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GENERAL M.S. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
The M.S. programs in the Department of Engineering Physics are typically 18 months in length, often with a total of 71 to 75 credit hours. Program content and length are largely determined by the areas and depth of knowledge required by the officer in order to adequately perform in his or her career field in future Air Force assignments. This "program requirement" is often more extensive than that normally required for the M.S. degree. These program requirements are embodied in the student's "approved program" and reflect certain departmental requirements which are unique to each program. The degree requirements, which must be met for each program must adhere to standards defined by the faculty of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management and generally total 48 credit hours. These basic requirements are discussed in this section along with the degree titles to which the different programs lead.
A summary of the general AFIT Graduate
School of Engineering and Management degree requirements is
listed here for the convenience of the reader.
The Master of
Science degree may be awarded for the successful completion
of a curriculum which serves the needs of the Air Force and
has the approval of the faculty as meriting the degree. To
satisfy the specific requirements for this degree the student
must have:
- Attained the bachelor's degree with major study in an appropriate field, or the equivalent, at least three quarters prior to the date of contemplated graduation.
- Completed at least 48 quarter-hours of required graduate courses and approved graduate electives, 36 of which must be in residence.
- Completed an independent investigation on a problem of interest to the Department of Defense, the results of which have been presented to the major department as a formal thesis. This thesis must be acceptable as partial fulfillment of the required quarter hours of credit.
- Attained a grade point average of at least 3.00 for all graded courses included in the student's approved program.
- Completed all degree requirements within five calendar years after the graduation of his/her class section except as specified in ENOI 36-135.
- Been recommended for the degree by the Faculty Council of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
It should also be noted that transfer credits may be accepted,
up to a maximum of 12 quarter hours. |
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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
As was mentioned earlier, each student entering an AFIT course of study is required to have an "approved program" listing those courses which will be taken during the appropriate period of resident study. This program is based upon the curriculum requirements for the specific program involved. Before each class enters the resident school, a curriculum guide is developed. The curriculum guide presents, quarter by quarter, those courses taken by the "typical" entering student. It is, however, only a guide and should not be interpreted as a "canned" program. Upon entry into AFIT, an individual program or “education plan” is developed by each student in consort with his or her faculty advisor, input into the AFIT computer system, and signed by the faculty advisor and department head. This individualized "approved program", which for most students parallels the curriculum guide but could differ substantially from it, is the one required for completion by the student. |
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There are several features which are common to the program requirements in the Department of Engineering Physics. These are:
- Each student must take one graduate mathematics course and, except for the space environment option, at least one graduate laboratory course.
- Each student must take PHYS 798, Departmental Seminar. This seminar is designed to give the student an insight into the general technology areas currently of interest to the Air Force in the areas of applied physics’ electro-optics, nuclear effects, and atmospheric physics. These areas are also often the areas of faculty interest and thus areas in which the student might logically pursue thesis research. Typically, speakers are brought in from Air Force, DoD and academia to give the students a view of current research as well as DoD programs in a range of areas related to defense technologies. In addition, during the third quarter, students also take PHYS 598, the Engineering Physics Seminar, which provides students carrying out their thesis work in the Department of Engineering Physics with the communicative and library skills necessary for thesis research and documentation as well as the guidelines necessary for the writing the thesis itself
- The student must complete 12 credit hours of independent study and an acceptable theses document (grade of "C" or better). This is a school requirement and cannot be waived.
The remainder of the courses in the program are chosen to provide the student with in-depth study in his or her specialty field. The courses taken here are determined by the curriculum guide, the student's education code and previous academic background. |
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