Colorado School of Mines to launch online master’s degree in mechanical engineering

An online master’s degree in mechanical engineering launching next year at Colorado School of Mines will offer the same depth and rigor of the on-campus experience with the convenience of online learning.

The Mines Board of Trustees approved the new non-thesis master’s degree this spring. Mines has begun accepting applications for the first term, which will start in 2023.

“Colorado School of Mines is home to one of the top mechanical engineering programs not only in the U.S. but also globally,” said Carl Frick, professor and head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Mines. “This fully online master’s degree gives us the opportunity to extend the quality education that Mines is known for to students regardless of geography and time zone.”

The non-thesis master’s program was designed with flexibility in mind, both for working engineers looking to advance their careers and for graduate students looking to continue their education without having to relocate for a residential program. The fully online classes will be eight weeks long, with high-quality prerecorded lectures specifically designed for online learning, regularly scheduled opportunities for live interaction with faculty and the flexibility to complete assignments when it best fits a student’s schedule. Online instructors will include the same Mechanical Engineering faculty who teach the on-campus versions of the courses, employing best practices for dedicated online instruction.

Students can also customize their path based on interests and existing expertise. A total of 10 courses are required for the non-thesis MSME degree, with electives available in additive manufacturing, combustion, continuum mechanics, finite element analysis (FEA), fluid mechanics, fracture mechanics, heat transfer and more. Core areas align with the department’s research strengths – solid mechanics, materials and manufacturing; biomechanics; and thermal fluid and energy systems. Students should expect to spend 15 to 20 hours a week on coursework during the term and can complete the program part-time in five semesters, or less if they take more than one class per eight-week term.

“This is the same non-thesis MS we offer on campus – we’re not pulling any punches here,” said Tony Petrella, program director and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Mines. “We’re simply leveraging online instruction to provide broader access to the richness of our residential graduate program – without the geographic and scheduling constraints. The requirements for the degree, the learning goals, and the value will all be the same.”

For more information about graduate admissions at Mines, go to mines.edu/graduate-admissions/.