Skip to main content

Frequently Asked Questions - Online BSEE Degree Completion Program

1. What are the admission requirements for the program?

The equivalent of the following Clemson courses must have been completed with at least a B average.  The applicant should submit a Preliminary Application Form to the ECE Undergraduate Program Coordinator after successfully completing these courses.  Transfer equivalency is determined by the Clemson academic department which teaches the course under consideration. 

    • ENGL 1030 – Accelerated Composition (3 credit hours)
    • CH 1010 – Chemistry I (4 credit hours)
    • CH 1020 – Chemistry II (4 credit hours)
    • CPSC 1110 – Elementary Computer Programming in C/C++ (3 credit hours)
    • MATH 1060 – Calculus of One Variable I (4 credit hours)
    • MATH 1080 – Calculus of One Variable II (4 credit hours)
    • PHYS 1220 – Physics with Calculus I (3 credit hours)
    • PHYS 2210 – Physics with Calculus II (3 credit hours)

It is also strongly recommended that a student complete the following additional courses before entering the online BSEE program:

    • MATH 2060 – Calculus of Several Variables (4 credit hours)
    • MATH 2080 – Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations (4 credit hours) 

2. What if I don't meet the GPA requirements for admission?

Although these are the credentials that we anticipate the student will need in order to be successful in the program, we will consider applicants whose GPA is somewhat lower than 3.0 if there is other sufficient evidence of academic potential. 

3. Will it be necessary for me to come to the Clemson campus? What about labs and senior design projects?

(a) All ECE lecture courses required by the BSEE degree are offered online.  Multiple ECE technical electives are also offered online (a total of three are required by the BSEE program.) 

(b) Two ECE capstone design courses, ECE 4950 and ECE 4960, involve a team-based design project. Students will satisfy this requirement by joining a team of ECE students on or off campus and will work together to satisfy the course requirements.  

4. How will the course material be presented?

Lectures for most of our online ECE courses have been prepared as custom audio-visual presentations.  Students view the presentation slides and hear the professor speaking. Students can also see highlighting, marking, and writing that the professor enters as he or she presents the lecture.  Students can view the lectures at any time, stop/start them, and replay them as many times as needed. 

5. What access will I have to professors? 

Professors are available via email, phone, and scheduled Zoom meetings.

6. How long will it take for me to earn a degree? 

The BSEE degree requires a total of 48 courses (128 credit hours).  The requirements can be categorized as follows:
Courses on Preliminary Application form: 10 courses (36 credit hours)
Required ECE courses, ECE Technical Electives, and ECE capstone design courses:
         18 courses, (56 credit hours)
ECE laboratories:  7 Laboratory Courses (7 credit hours)
Other (General Education and Intro. To Engineering): 13 courses (29 credit hours) 

Therefore, if you have completed all the “Other” courses before you enter the program and take 3 ECE courses plus associated labs per year, it will take about 6 years after you enter the program to complete the ECE part of the EE curriculum.  Additional time will be likely be required if you have not already completed courses that qualify for transfer credit for all courses in the “Other” category. 

7. How often will online classes be will be offered? 

Each ECE course is required by the BSEE program and at least three ECE technical electives are offered online at least once a year.  Most of these courses are offered during one of the two 5-week summer sessions.  Some courses are offered online during the fall and spring semesters.  

8. Can the program be entered in any semester?

Yes

9. Is there a time limit for completing the program?

There is no time limit. However, if a student does not maintain continuous enrollment, there is a possibility that he or she will have to adapt to any changes in degree requirements that were implemented while they were not enrolled. 

10. After I start taking classes from Clemson, will it be possible to take courses from other schools and transfer them to Clemson? 

This is possible. However, Clemson has a "residency policy." For this program, students must complete at least 31 of their final credits through instruction at Clemson. Transfer courses are approved on a case-by-case basis. 

11. What level of performance is required to progress through the program?

In order to enroll in an ECE course at Clemson, a student must have made a grade of C or better on all prerequisites for that course. 

12. What level of performance is required for graduation? 

The following requirement must be met: GPA of at least 2.0 on all courses taken from Clemson. 

13. Are there any other rules I should be aware of? 

Department rules state that a student is permitted a maximum of 2 attempts to make a C or better on each ECE course at Clemson. In some exceptional cases, a 3rd attempt is permitted, but that is absolutely the upper limit for attempts that will be approved.

14. Which of my previous undergraduate courses will transfer for credit? 

Prior coursework will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and you will need to provide a syllabus for each course you wish to be considered for transfer credit. Engineering Technology courses generally do not transfer.

15. Is it possible to take any of the prerequisite courses online? 

Some, but not all, of these courses are offered online by Clemson University.  There are other schools, including Colorado Community College Online, that offer online courses that may be transferred to Clemson.

16. I already have a degree in another field - can I still participate in the BSEE program? 

Yes.

17. Is the online completion program accredited?

The Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Electrical, Computer, Communications, Telecommunication(s) and Similarly Named Engineering Programs Program Criteria. The online format is one mode of delivery of this accredited program. Visit our accreditation information page to learn about the Program Educational Objectives and Student Outcomes. 

18. When should I apply?

You should apply only for the term in which you plan to enter and take your first class. If you do not enroll for the term you originally applied for, you will need to submit a new application and pay a $75 re-application fee. Application deadlines can be found here on the undergraduate admissions page.

19. How much is the tuition for each course?

Tuition and fees for courses at Clemson can be found on the student financial services website. Please note the cost per credit hour of ECE online courses for any given semester. Only ECE-designated undergraduate courses are at the special in-state +10% tuition rate. All other course requirements outside of ECE will be at the appropriate in or out-of-state rates. Tuition and fees may change without notice, and miscellaneous fees may apply.

For answers to additional questions, please contact:

Patty McNulty
Undergraduate Student Services Manager
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Clemson University
pmcnult@clemson.edu 

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum

You can view the entire Electrical Engineering curriculum and which courses are available online on our Curriculum page.