Plan of Study

The Master of Science program provides students two options:

  • A thesis-based option: a student must complete a minimum of 27 credits course work and a thesis.
  • A non-thesis option: a student must complete a minimum of 33 credits course work.

Every graduate student should select a graduate committee to guide his or her plan of study and research. Graduate faculty members are certified with different privileges and responsibilities. A graduate student may use the Graduate Faculty list to identify suitable graduate faculty to form his or her committee. 

A thesis-based MS student should have a committee with at least three members, including the chair of the committee. The chair of the committee must be a suitable graduate faculty member from the Graduate Faculty list.

A non-thesis (course work only) MS student should have a one-member committee, selected from the Graduate Faculty, to guide his or her plan of study. This faculty member will serve as the student's major professor.

The Plans of Study for the two options are presented as follows:

Plan of Study for Thesis-Based Option: (minimum 27 credits course work and a thesis):

This plan of study is for the thesis-based option. In addition to a thesis (6 credits), a student must include graduate level courses in the plan of study in the following specified areas. All the courses in the plan of study must be unanimously approved by the student's Graduate Committee. The student must complete all the courses and receive a grade of “B” or better for every course in the plan of study.

 

Graduate-level Statistics Selective: 3 credits required.
The graduate level statistics or quantitative methods requirement can be filled by one of the following approved courses:
STAT50100       Experimental Statistics I (3 credits)
STAT51100       Statistical Methods (3 credits)
IT50700             Measurement and Evaluation in Industry and Technology (3 credits)
PSY60000         Statistical Inference (3 credits)
 

Primary Area Selective: 12 credits required.
The Primary Area Selective requirement can be filled by selected courses from CM graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher (except for CM 59800 and CM 69800) as deemed appropriate by the student's entire Graduate Committee.

 

Research Specific Courses: 3 credits required.
The Research Specific Course requirement can be filled by selected course(s) from the following:
CM56000    Academic Writing Seminar 1 (1 credit)
CM56500    Academic Writing Seminar 2 (1 credit)
CM58100     Research Seminar (1 credit)
CM58100     Construction Research Fundamentals (1 credit)
TECH50100    Introduction to Polytechnic Graduate Studies (1 credit)
TECH54500    Survey of Research Methods for Polytechnic Graduate Studies (3 credits)
TECH54600    Proposal Writing for Polytechnic Graduate Studies (2 credits)
TECH64600    Analysis of Research in Industry and Technology (3 credits)

 

Relative Area Elective: 9 credits required.
Relative Area Electives are the courses related to student’s research areas, career interests, and theories and methodologies needed for thesis. These courses require unanimous approval of the student’s Graduate Committee. If elective courses are completed prior to filing a plan of study, the credits may or may not be approved for your graduate degree.

These electives may include:

  • CM graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher (except for CM 59800 and CM 69800) as deemed appropriate by the student's entire Graduate Committee.
  • Other graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher from any college or school within Purdue University as deemed appropriate by the student's entire Graduate Committee. This allows students to build interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary depth in their plans of study.
  • Graduate level independent study courses allow students to study appropriate subjects for which no established course exists, under the direct supervision of a qualified faculty member, as deemed appropriate by the student's entire Graduate Committee. A maximum of six credit hours of independent study may be included in a plan of study.

 

Plan of Study for Non-Thesis Option (minimum 33 credits course work):

This plan of study is for the non-thesis option. A student must include graduate level courses in the plan of study in the following specified areas. All the courses in the plan of study must be approved by the student's major professor. The student must complete all the courses and receive a grade of “B” or better for every course in the plan of study.

 

Graduate-level Statistics Selective: 3 credits required.
The graduate level statistics or quantitative methods requirement can be filled by one of the following approved courses:
STAT50100       Experimental Statistics I (3 credits)
STAT51100       Statistical Methods (3 credits)
IT50700             Measurement and Evaluation in Industry and Technology (3 credits)
PSY60000         Statistical Inference (3 credits)

 

Primary Area Selective: 12 credits required.
The Primary Area Selective requirement can be filled by selected courses from CM graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher (except for CM 59800 and CM 69800) as deemed appropriate by the student's major professor.

 

Relative Area Elective: 18 credits required.
Related Area Electives are the courses related to student’s career interests. If elective courses are completed prior to filing a plan of study, the credits may or may not be approved for your graduate degree. These electives may include:

  • CM graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher (except for CM 59800 and CM 69800) as deemed appropriate by the student's major professor.
  • Other graduate level catalog courses numbered 50000 and higher from any college or school within Purdue University as deemed appropriate by the student's major professor. This allows students to build interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary depth in their plans of study.
  • Graduate level independent study courses allow students to study appropriate subjects for which no established course exists, under the direct supervision of a qualified faculty member, as deemed appropriate by the student's major professor. A maximum of six credit hours of independent study may be included in a plan of study.

 

Optional - Curricular Practical Training:   TECH 69500 Graduate Professional Practice