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.
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
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
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)
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
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)
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
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
17-603 Communications for Software Leaders I (full-semester, 3 units)
17-612 Business & Marketing Strategy
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)
17-632 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
Examples of elective courses taken include:
05-692 Interaction Design Overview10-601 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
17-630 Prompt Engineering
17-634 Applied Machine Learning
17-644 Applied Deep Learning
17-647 Data Intensive and Scalable Systems
17-660 Designing and Managing Software Systems Platforms
17-685 Dynamic Network Analysis
17-691 Machine Learning in Practice
17-692 Product Management Essentials for Engineers
17-695 Design Patterns
17-765 Autonomous Self-Adaptive Systems Using Reinforcement Learning