Master’s Program with Tuition Waiver
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unusual job-search situation for many of you who recently finished your undergraduate degree at UIC. To help you make the next few months as productive as possible and to enhance your future position as a job candidate, the College of Engineering is introducing a significant fall 2020 tuition waiver for recent graduates who begin a master’s degree in engineering or computer science this fall. This program is open to graduates who finished their undergraduate degree in the College of Engineering in 2019 or 2020 and to current students who plan to finish their undergraduate degree this August.
The preapplication phase of this program has closed, but the FAQ remains below for alumni and students who applied to this program and may want to revisit the questions and answers.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This tuition-waiver program is open to individuals who graduated from the UIC College of Engineering in May 2019, August 2019, December 2019, or May 2020. It also is open to current College of Engineering undergraduate students who will graduate in August 2020.
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We are accepting applications through this waiver program for all 12 of our UIC engineering and computer science master’s programs. This includes:
- MS in Bioengineering
- MS in Bioinformatics
- MS in Chemical Engineering
- MS in Civil Engineering
- MS in Construction Engineering and Management
- MS in Computer Science
- MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- MS in Materials Engineering
- MS in Mechanical Engineering
- MS in Industrial Engineering
- Master of Energy Engineering
- Master of Engineering
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Yes. While you are more likely to be admitted to a master’s degree program in the field you pursued as an undergraduate, you are allowed to apply up to three programs under this waiver. You also may be interested to know that the Master of Energy Engineering and Master of Engineering are professionally oriented degree programs that are accessible to students coming from any UIC Engineering undergraduate background.
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Yes. If you are accepted to this program, you may choose the number of credit hours you want to take and receive a partial base tuition credit for part-time study. See the next question for more detail.
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We waive base tuition depending on the number of credit hours you take in fall 2020:
- We will waive $5,935 of base tuition for 12 credit hours.
- We will waive $3,957 of base tuition for 6 to 11 credit hours.
- We will waive $1,978 of base tuition for up to 5 credit hours.
What does that mean in terms of a master’s degree? A student who is accepted to this program and enrolls in 12 credit hours can complete up to three master’s courses using this tuition waiver — which is one-third of the credits required for most of our master’s programs.
For this special program, students are only permitted to take up to 12 credit hours during the fall 2020 semester.
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After you receive your tuition waiver in fall 2020, you can continue enrolling in courses toward your chosen master’s program at your own pace at regular tuition.
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For the fall 2020 semester, participants in this program are responsible for paying the engineering tuition differential and university-assessed fees.
For any courses you take in spring 2021 and beyond, participants in this program are responsible for full tuition (based on your residency, e.g. in-state or international), the engineering tuition differential, and university fees.
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If you are eligible for this waiver program but submitted an application for a College of Engineering master’s program before it was announced:
- You will automatically be included in this waiver program if your application was accepted.
- You will automatically be considered for this waiver program if your application is still awaiting a decision.
In either of the cases above, no additional action is needed on your part.