The faculty of Georgia Tech grants advanced degrees in engineering, science, management, computing, architecture, city and regional planning, public policy, and other technology-related areas. The goals for graduate studies and research are to establish an educational environment that will strengthen students’ personal and professional development, to encourage students and faculty to pursue the discovery and generation of new knowledge through research, to investigate ways of applying such knowledge for the benefit of society and humanity, and to foster the development of new tools, objects, and ideas.

Students whose interests and aptitudes lead them beyond the limits of the traditional undergraduate curriculum may broaden their knowledge of a given field and pursue independent inquiry through graduate study. A graduate education is of particular benefit to students interested in careers in research, management, development, design, or consulting; to those who aspire to formulate and administer policy; and to those who desire careers in higher education.

Graduate Student Work Loads

Full-time students must be enrolled for at least 12 credit hours on a letter grade or pass/fail basis. As an exception, the advisor and school chair may allow up to three hours out of the minimum 12 to be taken on an audit basis in fall and spring semesters; in summer semesters, the advisor and school chair may allow up to six hours out of the 12 minimum to be taken on an audit basis. Hours in excess of the required 12 may be taken on any basis. Full-time students working exclusively on thesis research should be registered for 18 or more hours of 7000 or 9000 level courses (master's or doctoral thesis courses) in fall and spring semesters, and for up to 16 hours during summer semesters.

The maximum load for graduate students in good standing is 21 hours in fall/spring and 16 hours in summer. The minimum load is three hours, except for the semester of graduation. During the semester of graduation, a student is permitted to register for only one hour of master’s or doctoral thesis courses (7000 or 9000). This exception may be used only once for each degree.

Students with fellowships, graduate research or teaching assistantships, traineeships, tuition waivers, or student visas, and those assigned to the Institute by the armed forces for the purpose of pursuing a degree are required to enroll full time. Part-time doctoral students engaged in research for their Ph.D.s should meet the minimum enrollment requirement and register for the number of 9000 level hours consistent with the time they and their faculty advisors spend on the dissertation research.

Graduate Policies and Regulations