Aerospace Engineering, PhD

The Ph.D. graduate program offers students the opportunity to work with award-winning faculty on a wide range of research topics including autonomous systems, robotics and controls, experimental fluid mechanics, hypersonics, computational fluid modeling, aeroacoustics, combustion, and aerospace manufacturing and materials, among others.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the aerospace engineering graduate programs normally requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering (not necessarily in aerospace engineering), a GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 on all graduate and undergraduate work, and Test of English as a Second Language scores of 550 (paper-based) / 213 (computer-based) / 80 (Internet-based). An undergraduate degree in mathematics, chemistry, or physics combined with a strong interest in engineering topics may be acceptable when certain required undergraduate courses are also taken.

Degree Requirements

• Students without an MS Degree
  • Credit Requirements:
    • PhD requires a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework and a dissertation.
  • Course Requirements:
    • 36 credit hours required for a PhD degree. Residency and research courses (including AER 790 ) do not count toward the required credit hours.
    • At least 6 credit hours from courses with prefixes MA, STA, or from a pre-approved math course list, where at least 3 credit hours are from courses with prefixes MA or STA. See Appendix F of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Handbook for further information.
    • At least 18 credit hours at the 600-level or greater (AER 790  is excluded, and only 3 credit hours of AER 780  may be included).
    • At least 18 credit hours from courses with the prefix AER.
    • Students must complete 4 semesters of AER 799 ​ (Graduate Seminar).
• Students with an MS Degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
  • Credit Requirements:
    • PhD requires a minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework and a dissertation.
  • Course Requirements:
    • 18 credit hours required for a PhD degree. Residency and research courses (including AER 790 ) do not count toward the required credit hours.
    • At least 6 credit hours from courses with prefixes MA, STA, or from a pre-approved math course list, where at least 3 credit hours are from courses with prefixes MA or STA. See Appendix F of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Handbook for further information.
    • At least 9 credit hours at the 600-level or greater (AER 790  is excluded, and only 3 credit hours of AER 780  may be included). 
    • At least 9 credit hours from courses with the prefix AER.
    • Students must complete 2 semesters of AER 799  (Graduate Seminar).