College of Engineering
Programs of Instruction
Admission Requirements
Undergraduate Admission
All students, whether domestic or international, are strongly encouraged to submit standardized test scores, either ACT or SAT.
Admission to Graduate Programs
The minimum requirements for admission to the graduate degree programs in this College differ slightly between programs and are listed in the Bulletin entry for each program.
Each application will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee of the appropriate department which may need to evaluate additional credentials, such as, but not limited to, course work taken, and letters of recommendation.
The minimum requirements for non-degree graduate admission (or admission prior to declaring a graduate degree program) are the same as the minimum requirements for admission to the Graduate School and are listed in the Bulletin entry for the Graduate School, but applicants wishing to register later for a graduate degree must ensure that they will at that time satisfy the requirements for that degree.
College Requirements
Undergraduate Study Requirements
Admission to the University of South Alabama constitutes admission to the College of Engineering for those students wishing to major in engineering. Incoming students should specify a particular discipline in the College as a major as soon as practical in order to receive proper counseling to pursue their engineering course work. Transfer students must declare a major and have all transfer credit evaluated by the Admissions Office. The department chair will approve transfer credit for engineering degree credit except where substitutions are involved; substitutions require the approval of the dean. Transfer students are encouraged to have departmental evaluations accomplished prior to their first registration for classes.
Entering freshmen students not adequately prepared to enter the degree program may be required to take additional preparatory course work. Such preparatory work will not be counted toward the major degree program.
Engineering students with less than 15 credit hours are required to take EG 101 Intro to Engineering & Design. This requirement for EG 101 can be waived by the student’s advisor if the student demonstrates exposure to the material covered and most likely is not going to benefit from this course. An appropriate math, science or engineering course must be substituted if the student does not take EG 101.
Students must have the prerequisites for the courses in which they enroll; students who enroll without prerequisites are subject to administrative withdrawal. Prerequisites are satisfied by courses taken either at the University of South Alabama or by acceptable transfer credit.
General Education Requirements for Undergraduates
Engineering undergraduate students must comply with the University’s general education requirements. In the area of Humanities and Fine Arts, engineering students are required to take a total of at least 9 semester hours with a minimum of 3 semester hours in literature and a minimum of 3 semester hours in the arts. In the area of History, Social, and Behavioral Sciences, engineering students are required to take at least 9 semester hours with a minimum of 3 semester hours in history and a minimum of 3 semester hours from among the other disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Individual degree programs specify additional requirements.
Professional Component Standing for Undergraduate Students
It is important that students make adequate progress in departmental majors within the College of Engineering, so each program of study has established a set of courses that must be satisfactorily completed with a specified minimum grade before a student is allowed to proceed with more advanced courses. Professional Component Standing (PCS) within a program indicates that these courses have been satisfactorily completed. The requirements for PCS by all students in all engineering programs include the following six courses at minimum grade “C”, in addition to the program-specific requirements:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EH 101 | English Composition I 1 | 3 |
| EH 102 | English Composition II | 3 |
| CH 131 & 131L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Lab | 4 |
| MA 125 | Calculus I | 4 |
| MA 126 | Calculus II | 4 |
| PH 201 | Calculus-Based Physics I (+Lab) | 4 |
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Students who have an English ACT score of 27, or a written SAT score of 610, can opt out of EH 101. Students not exempted from EH 101 are required to take it as a prerequisite for EH 102.
PCS is awarded by the appropriate department chair when the student completes the PCS requirements for both the College of Engineering and the study program. All undergraduate programs of study in the College of Engineering require Program PCS for enrollment in most 300- and 400-level courses; see the program requirements for additional details.
Minors in Disciplines Other than Engineering
Students wishing to complete a minor in disciplines other than engineering must complete the published requirements for that discipline.
Honors Program in Engineering
To receive a designation of “Departmental Honors” students must have a GPA of at least 3.5 at the time of graduation and complete an Honors Senior Project in their major. The Honors Senior Project requirement may be satisfied in either of two ways.
- By completing an Honors Senior Project course that requires completion of a research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
- By completing a special honors design project as part of the capstone engineering design requirement under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
It is required that there be both a written report and an oral presentation of the results of the Honors Senior Project.
Students participating in “Departmental Honors” may also elect to take the University Honors Seminar and participate in other University Honors Activities upon recommendation of their major advisor.
Choice of Bulletin for Undergraduate Degree Requirements
After an absence of one calendar year or when transferring into an engineering program, students must use the Bulletin in effect at the time of readmission or transfer, or a later version. No student may use a Bulletin older than six years from the date of graduation.
Requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree
To become a candidate for a Bachelor of Science degree in one of the five major disciplines within the College of Engineering, the student must satisfy the general requirements of the University as set forth in “Academic Policies and Procedures”, and must have satisfactorily completed the program of instruction specified by the major department. In addition to these requirements, the Engineering student must have at least a GPA of 2.00 or C-level competency in all subjects taken in the student’s major department at the University of South Alabama.
Mechanical and Civil Engineering students are required to take and make a "good faith" effort to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination prior to their anticipated date of graduation. Students should be aware of the deadline established by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) for submission of examination application materials. Failure to meet the deadline could result in delayed graduation.
A transfer student must complete at least 25% of the credit hours required for the degree from upper-division courses with at least 16 hours in the upper level of the student’s major department at the University of South Alabama.
Computer Ownership Policy
All students in the College of Engineering are required to own a personal laptop computer that conforms to the current college minimum standards at the time they enter engineering level courses. For more information, consult the Laptop Policy at https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/engineering/resources/laptoppolicy.pdf.
Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s Program
The College of Engineering allows well-qualified undergraduates in the program to follow an “Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s” (ABM) study plan. This plan permits up to six credit hours of graduate coursework to count towards both the Bachelor’s (as Technical Electives) and the Master’s degrees, so that the Master’s degree is earned faster than usual. (The coursework concerned must individually satisfy the requirements of both degrees.) See a departmental advisor for specific details.
ABM students must meet all requirements for admission to the Graduate School and the respective graduate degree program that may exceed Graduate School minimums. A complete Graduate School application is required.
General ABM Eligibility Requirements
- Cumulative undergraduate GPA at least 3.0
- Completed at least 90 credit hours
- Completed at least 30 credit hours at USA
A student who withdraws or is dismissed from the ABM program may not count graduate coursework towards both degrees. Graduate courses for which an undergraduate student did not earn an “A” or “B” grade may not be counted towards the graduate degree.
ABM students must be full-time students and must complete all degree requirements for the Master’s degree within three semesters of the semester in which they were admitted to the Graduate School. An exception for a fourth semester may be granted where an additional semester is required for final revisions to and submission of a defended thesis. Exceptions to the ABM policy are at the discretion of the Dean of the Graduate School.
Graduate study requirements
The requirements for each graduate program of study are stated in the Bulletin entry for that program.