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BSEE Degree Requirements and Policies

To qualify for the BSEE degree you must successfully complete 180 credit hours of course work. A minimum of 45 credits must be earned in residence at the UW in order to receive the BSEE degree. In addition, students must take at least 30 credits of specific EE coursework in residence at the UW.

The EE Advising Office maintains a curriculum chart for each student in the Department (Chart for all students admitted before AUT09; Chart for AUT09 admits and beyond). This record shows each curriculum area as well as required courses within each area. In addition, you may obtain a DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) report via the MyUW option on the UW web page. Please note that DARS reports do not always accurately reflect fulfillment of degree requirements; if you have any questions about discrepancies, please contact the EE Advising Office.

Requirements for the BSEE degree are distributed into twelve areas of study:

Mathematics
Statistics
Natural Science
Computer Programming
EE Core
EE Major Concentration Area
EE Electives
Additional Engineering Electives
Written and Oral Communication
Non-EE Approved Electives
Visual, Literary and Performing Arts/Individuals & Societies
Free Electives

Mathematics (24 credits)

Statistics (3 credits)

Choose one of the following classes:

Natural Science (20 credits)

Computer Programming (9 credits)

Electrical Engineering Core (14 credits)

Electrical Engineering Major Concentration Area (at least 24 credits)


Additional EE Electives

In addition to completing the Electrical Engineering Core and at least one of the Major Concentration Areas, students must take enough additional EE courses so that their total of EE credits equals or exceeds 58.

Professional Issues Course Requirement (beginning Autumn 2009)

Beginning Autumn 2009, all newly admitted students will be required to take a professional issues ethics course. We strongly recommend that all current students fulfill this as well. This requirement will cover issues relating to professional development, ethical dilemmas, and societal expectations of engineers. Students can choose from the following courses: EE 398, EE 406, EE 418 or EE 456. Please see an EE advisor for a list of the most current course options. EE 398 is not considered a seminar and thus does *not* apply to the 2 credit seminar limit (see below).

Engineering Co-Op

The Engineering Co-op Program provides students with meaningful experience in industry which can help guide their remaining studies. Students enrolled in the Program have full-time or part-time paid employment while earning academic credit. Electrical Engineering students can earn up to 2 Co-op credits per quarter (ENGR 321) and apply up to 4 credits of Co-op (ENGR 321) toward their degree as Engineering Electives or EE Electives. A student may apply no more than 10 credits in total of ENGR 321, EE 499 or independent study courses in other departments towards their degree requirements. This change is effective Summer Quarter 2012.

Undergraduate Research (Independent Study)

Students may apply up to 10 credits of EE 499 Special Projects work to the EE Electives requirement. This represents research or a design project carried out under the supervision of a faculty sponsor. Students may register for between two and five credits each quarter; the precise number of credits is determined by the student and the faculty supervisor and is dependent on the amount of work to be carried out. Each credit generally represents between three and five hours of work each week. To register for these credits, please pick up an "EE 499 Approval for Undergraduate Research and Special Projects" form from the Advising Office, obtain a faculty signature and turn in to Advising for an entry code. Additional research credits beyond 10, regardless of which department they are taken in, will not fulfill EE elective, non-EE elective, or COE elective requirements.

Additional College of Engineering Electives

In addition to the 58 minimum credits required of EE coursework, you must earn an additional 10 credits in technical courses from departments in the College of Engineering.  These credits can come from EE, another COE department, or a combination of COE departments. These courses must be at the 200-level or above, with the following exceptions:

The following courses do NOT count:

The following courses DO count:

The following non-EE research courses need EE advisor approval in order to apply toward COE elective requirements:

Students may apply a maximum of ten research credits to the EE Electives, College of Engineering Electives and/or Approved Non-EE Electives requirements. The sum of the credits from the EE Core, EE Major Area, EE Electives, and College of Engineering Electives must equal or exceed 68. Please note that these credits do not take the place of the Approved Non-EE Electives requirement described below. That is a separate requirement.

Seminar Courses Applied to Required Credits

Students may apply a maximum of two seminar credits to the EE Electives, College of Engineering Electives and/or Approved Non-EE Electives requirements (see list below for Approved Non-EE courses). Seminars are considered any course structured as a seminar (typically 1-2 credits), regardless of whether they are graded or CR/NC. EE 398 is not considered a seminar and thus does *not* apply to the 2 credit seminar limit. Possible seminars include EE 400 (Leadership Seminar), EE 491 (Undergraduate Seminar - Departmental Colloquium), and EE 500 (Energy Seminar). Some EE 500 seminars may not be open to general enrollment, so please check with the responsible faculty member to determine if the seminar is suitable and you can enroll in it. Seminars offered by other departments may be counted towards the appropriate class of elective credit, subject to the maximum two credit limit.

Graduate Courses Applied to EE Electives

Under special circumstances you may petition, as an undergraduate, to apply up to 4 credits earned in graduate courses (other than graduate seminars and courses labeled EE 500) toward your minimum 58 required EE credits. Before such a request can be approved, you must demonstrate that you have the required background for the graduate courses. Consult the EE Advising Office for additional information.

Written and Oral Communication (12 credits)

This requirement includes two components described below: English Composition and Additional Writing Requirements

English Composition

At least 5 credits of English Composition must be taken from the UW's approved list of composition courses. These courses include:

If you have transfer credit that you think is similar to the courses above, but which did not transfer exactly as any of the courses above, please check with the EE Advising Office.

Additional Writing Requirements

Approved Non-EE Electives (10 credits)

You may petition to substitute Natural Science classes not listed (such as Atmospheric Sciences, Astronomy, Earth and Space Sciences, etc.), at the level of 300 and above. Courses not listed above must be approved for substitution before they will be allowed to count toward this requirement.

Visual, Literary and Performing Arts and Individuals and Societies (25 credits)

A total of 25 credits is required, with a minimum of 10 credits in each separate area. VLPA/I&S courses are designated in the quarterly time schedule and the UW course catalog.

Free Electives (9 credits)

These credits can be fulfilled by any courses for which the University of Washington gives credit, except courses which duplicate or parallel courses for which you have already received credit. Please note that students who choose to take STAT/MATH 390 for the Statistics requirement need only earn 8 Free Elective credits.

S/NS and CR/NC Grading

You may not apply any courses graded Satisfactory/Non-Satisfactory (S/NS) to any distribution or major requirement, but you may use them as Free Electives. You may apply courses graded Credit/Non-Credit (CR/NC) where appropriate.

Registration

You should plan your quarterly schedule of classes well in advance of your assigned registration day. You should also meet an adviser to discuss any questions regarding your schedule or to confirm that your schedule of courses covers your requirements. Staff in the EE Advising Office can also answer questions regarding course availability, scheduling, etc. Be sure to register for courses on your assigned registration day as many EE courses tend to fill up quickly. If you need to take a course that has closed, check the on-line time schedule several times a day to see if someone has dropped the course. Waiting lists are only started on the request of an instructor and are kept in the EE Advising Office. If you still haven't gained a space by the first day of classes, plan to attend the class for the first week to see if a space opens up or if the instructor will let you overload.

Applicability of Requirements

The BSEE requirements apply to all students admitted to the department in or after Autumn quarter 2006 and until such time as a new curriculum or amendment is issued. Students admitted while this curriculum is in effect will not be subject to additional degree requirements except those necessary to comply with accreditation requirements.

If you are a returning student who was originally admitted to the department in a previous quarter, different requirements may apply to you. Please consult the EE Advising Office for guidance.

Changes in policy and administrative procedures can be applied to students admitted before the effective date of this curriculum, as long as such changes do not modify the total number of credits required for the BSEE degree and the distribution of those credits.

 

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