Graduate Admissions
Admission to Aerospace Engineering Graduate Degrees
Earning an advanced degree in aerospace engineering from Illinois prepares you for success in exceptional academic, industrial and professional careers. You can start now.
Illinois graduate programs lead to the degrees of Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in aerospace engineering. The M.S. and M.Eng. are also offered as online degree programs.
M.Eng.
The Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) is a coursework-only, industry-focused master's degree offered both online and on campus. Students gain hands-on skills and are poised to accelerate their careers.
Ariette Kaberlein, M.Eng '25, said about getting her degree, "I've loved being able to dive deeper in the specific aerospace subject matter that I find most interesting through my grad classes. I also feel a stronger sense of confidence and independence within my courses, which allows be to better customize my educational experience to my career goals.”
Read about Kaberlein's why she served as an aerospace grad ambassador ...
M.S. Non-Thesis
The Master of Science (M.S.) non-thesis is a coursework-only degree program offered online or on campus. It blends practical experiences with advanced, in-depth academic work that can be leveraged to pursue a doctoral degree in the future.
Angel Agrawal completed her M.S. non-thesis in 2024. She said, "I didn't have a specific thesis or research project. Instead, my program focused more on coursework and practical applications, which suited my goals and learning style better. This approach allowed me to gain a broad range of skills and knowledge that are directly applicable to real-world problems in aerospace engineering."
Read about how Agrawal chose a specialty and her internship ...
M.S. with Thesis
The Master of Science (M.S.) with thesis is an on-campus, research-oriented degree that prepares students for doctoral programs or careers in research. This program centers collaboration with faculty and features opportunities for independent study.
Kanishka Deepak earned his M.S. with thesis in 2024. During his program, he was selected for the NASA L’SPACE Academy, where he collaborated on a proposal for a Mars re-entry vehicle design.
"This project allowed me to apply my aerodynamics expertise in a highly innovative context," he said. "Additionally, along with a colleague, we developed a proposal for an in-space manufacturing project focusing on UV rigidizable reinforcement for deployable hypersonic decelerators, further expanding my experience in aerospace engineering solutions."
Ph.D.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree requires vigorous research alongside faculty and peers as well as a part-time teaching assistantship for at least one semester. Both traditional and direct admit (no M.S. requirement) are available.
Hamza El-Kebir completed his Ph.D. in 2024. He described a turning point in his program.
"In the third year of my Ph.D., I was on the fence about committing to applying my knowledge in aerospace control theory to biomedical applications. As part of my work with Prof. Bentsman, I was already largely invested in applying control theory to study thermal behavior of live tissue in response to radio frequency ablation–a technology that shares many physical similarities with hypersonic flows–but I was never quite certain to what extent and in what way I would want to pursue this work in the future."
Admission to Aerospace Engineering Graduate Degrees
Focus Areas
You may pursue major studies in one of the following general areas:
Certificate Programs
Enhance your career path by earning a certificate. Up to 12 credit hours of coursework can be transferred toward a master's degree. Certificates are offered in:
Graduate Contacts
Huck Beng Chew
Associate Head &
Director of Graduate Studies
Siggi Schroth
Graduate Advisor
Jeff Rudisill
Graduate Advisor