working full time and pursuing a MS in engineering

HereWeGo2
Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:04:50 +0000

Are you already working, or is this more theoretical? Some areas of the country (Wash DC, for example), have MANY graduate degree programs in engineering; employers will pay (with some limits) the tuition and fees for employees. A few schools with such programs locally include JHU, GWU, UVA, and Virginia Tech. These are generally taught after work hours to accommodate working engineers. You can plan on completing at least 2 courses per year up to perhaps 5, depending on if you take one or 2 courses per semester and any summer classes. As ken285 said, it could take as few as 2 years (or less if you are a workaholic) and as many as 5.

An evening program may be better if you want to add to your credentials in your current or a related field, rather than make a huge career change. There may be some limits on course selection, and while some schools value their evening and part-time students, some see them as a cash cow to support the day program. I earned two masters degrees earned at night, and some of my absolute best professors ever (leading practitioners in their fields, bringing in current examples of how to apply what we were studying), as well thankfully only a very few of my worst. One observation of the students - they’re generally older, more mature, and focused. It’s a big time commitment, and financial for many students. Your social life will suffer, but it isn’t fatal - I met my wife while working on degree #1 and we had our 1st child while I was working on degree #2.