Software and Societal Systems Department › Master of Software Engineering Programs › For Applicants › MSE Online › Plan of Study

Plan of Study

The MSE Online is a part-time, 24-month-long program, consisting of six semesters, one of which is dedicated to writing the final term paper. The program typically begins in the Fall semester, and consists of synchronous meetings with program faculty, and asynchronous lectures and assignments.

Courses are typically divided into 7-week long "mini" courses that allow students to concurrently learn a wider range of topics, while scaffolding learning to more advanced topics later in the program. For example, the fall semester is broken into two mini semesters, mini-1 and mini-2.

A dedicated student can anticipate completing the program in 6 semesters (2 years). The maximum amount of time allowed to complete the program is 7 years. Sample 2-year courses of study are below. Note that the course is different depending on whether you enter the program in the fall or spring semester, in a year ending in an even or odd number.

In Spring 2025, we will be accepting applicants for Cohort D, Fall 2025 start.

How is online different from on-campus?

The MSE Online program offers the same curriculum focused on state-of-the art practices taught by the same faculty who teach our full-time campus students. Because MSE Online students are hand-selected to be actively working in software development, and to have an aptitude for reflective practice, we replaced the on-campus project with a term paper advised by our top faculty.

If you’re looking for the on-campus experience, or want to apply what you learn to one of our industry-sponsored projects, check out our on-campus program.

Course of Study

Cohort A →

Fall start, Even year

All classes in the courses of study plans are 6-unit, mini courses unless otherwise noted.

Year 1

Fall Semester

17-619 Product Management Essentials I
17-622 Agile Methods
17-626 Requirements for Information Systems or 17-627 Requirements for Embedded Systems

Spring Semester

17-632 Software Project Management
17-642 Software Management Theory
+ 6 Elective units

Summer Semester

17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment (full semester, 12 units)
+ 6 Elective Units

Year 2

Fall Semester

17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I (full-semester, 3 units)
17-611 Statistics for Decision Making
17-614 Formal Methods
17-623 Quality Assurance

Spring Semester

17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II (full-semester, 3 units)
17-635 Software Architecture
17-643 Quality Management
+ 12 Elective Units

Summer Semester

17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders or 17-697 Directed Study (full semester, 6 units)

Cohort B →

Spring start, Odd year

All classes in the courses of study plans are 6-unit, mini courses unless otherwise noted.

Year 1

Spring Semester

17-632 Software Project Management
17-642 Software Management Theory
+ 6 Elective units

Summer Semester

17-611 Statistics for Decision Making
17-622 Agile Methods
17-635 Software Architecture

Fall Semester

17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I (full-semester, 3 units)
17-619 Product Management Essentials I
17-614 Formal Methods
17-623 Quality Assurance
17-626 Requirements for Information Systems or 17-627 Requirements for Embedded Systems

Year 2

Spring Semester

17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II (full-semester, 3 units)
17-643 Quality Management
+ 12 Elective Units

Summer Semester

17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment (full semester, 12 units)
+ 6 Elective Units

Fall Semester

17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders or 17-697 Directed Study (full semester, 6 units)

Cohort D →

Fall start, Odd Year

All classes in the courses of study plans are 6-unit, mini courses unless otherwise noted.

Year 1

Fall Semester

17-611 Statistics for Decision Making (mini-1)
17-614 Formal Methods (mini-1)
17-623 Quality Assurance (mini-2)

Spring Semester

17-635 Software Architecture (mini-3)
17-643 Quality Management (mini-4)
+ 12 Elective Units

Summer Semester

17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment (full semester, 12 units)
+ 6 Elective Units

Year 2

Fall Semester

17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I (full-semester, 3 units)
17-619 Product Management Essentials I
17-622 Agile Methods
17-626 Requirements for Information Systems or 17-627 Requirements for Embedded Systems

Spring Semester

17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II (full-semester, 3 units)
17-632 Software Project Management
17-642 Software Management Theory
+ 6 Elective units

Summer Semester

17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders or 17-697 Directed Study (full semester, 6 units)

Cohort E →

Spring start, Even year

All classes in the courses of study plans are 6-unit, mini courses unless otherwise noted.

Year 1

Spring Semester

17-635 Software Architecture
+ 12 Elective units

Summer Semester

17-636 DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment (full semester, 12 units)
+ 6 Elective Units

Fall Semester

Year 2

Spring Semester

17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II (full-semester, 3 units)
17-632 Software Project Management
17-642 Software Management Theory
17-643 Quality Management

Summer Semester

17-611 Statistics for Decision Making
17-622 Agile Methods
+ 6 Elective Units

Fall Semester

17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders or 17-697 Directed Study (full semester, 6 units)

Note on Elective Courses

MSE Online students may enroll in electives at Carnegie Mellon that are offered in the remote modality (REO). Please note that not all CMU courses will be available to MSE Online students. Prior to registration, please confirm with your academic advisor to ensure that the elective course is eligible to be taken by MSE Online students. Note, more REO modality classes are added to the university schedule of courses every semester. Independent study can also be a possibility. Please see program FAQs for independent study proposal process.

Examples of elective courses taken include:

05-692 Interaction Design Overview
10-601 Introduction to Machine Learning
10-703 Deep Reinforcement Learning & Control
11-611 Natural Language Processing
15-319, 15-619 Cloud Computing
17-625 API Design
17-629 Product Management Essentials II
17-630 Prompt Engineering
17-634 Applied Machine Learning
17-644 Applied Deep Learning
17-647 Data Intensive and Scalable Systems
17-657 Design Thinking for Software Engineers
17-660 Designing and Managing Software Systems Platforms
17-685 Dynamic Network Analysis
17-691 Machine Learning in Practice
17-695 Design Patterns
17-765 Autonomous Self-Adaptive Systems Using Reinforcement Learning

Available REO Courses

Course Offerings and Policies

For planning purposes, a matrix of MSE online courses with information on course activities and policies for required and common program elective courses is updated each semester. The information for any given course is subject to change and should be verified with the course instructor prior to enrollment.

MSE Course Matrix

MSE Course Matrix

Upcoming Courses

SPring 2025 — core

17-604 Communications for Software Leaders II (Full Semester)

17-632 Software Project Management (mini-3)

17-642 Software Management Theory (mini-4)

17-643 Quality Management (mini-4)

SPring 2025 — ELECTIVES

17-630 Prompt Engineering (Full Semester)

17-634 Applied Machine Learning (mini-3)

17-619 Product Management Essentials I (mini-3)

17-629 Product Management Essentials II (mini-4) - 17-619 prerequisite

17-644 Applied Deep Learning (mini-4)

17-647 Data-Intensive and Scalable Systems (mini-4)

17-691 Machine Learning in Practice (mini-4)

17-695 Design Patterns (mini-4)

Summer 2025 — core

17-636 DevOps for Secure Development and Deployment (full semester)

17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders (full semester)

17-611 Statistics for Decision Making (mini-5)

17-635 Software Architecture (mini-5)

17-622 Agile Methods (mini-6)

Summer 2025 — ELECTIVES

17-693 Negotiations for Software Leaders (mini-5)

17-660 Designing and Managing Software Systems Platforms (mini-6)

17-657 Design Thinking (New Course) (mini-6)

Fall 2025 — Core

17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I (full semester)
17-679 Thesis Writing for Software Leaders (full semester)

17-611 Statistics for Decision Making (mini-1)
17-619 Product Management Essentials I (mini-1)
17-614 Formal Methods (mini-1)

17-612 Business and Marketing Strategy (mini-2)
17-623 Quality Assurance (mini-2)
17-626 Requirements for Information Systems (mini-2)
17-627 Requirements for Embedded Systems (mini-2)

Fall 2025 — elective

17-695 Design Patterns (mini-1)

17-624 Advanced Formal Methods (mini-2)
17-625 API Design (mini-2)
17-629 Product Management Essentials II (mini-2)