Frequently Asked Questions

The University of Maryland has a continuous registration requirement. This means that all graduate students must register for courses and pay associated tuition and fees each semester, not including summer and winter sessions, until the degree is awarded. You can learn more about this policy at the Graduate School's website. If a student is not able to register in a given fall or spring semester, a Waiver of Continuous Registration or Leave of Absence for Childbearing, Adoption, Illness or Dependent Care may be appropriate to submit. 

Please note that a student who has not registered or has not submitted a waiver or leave of absence by the first day of classes for the semester is at risk of program admission cancellation. 

For information on advising, please click here.

Review your program curriculum, the MAGE course scheduling webpage, and the Testudo Schedule of Courses website to formulate a tentative plan of study for the semester. Additional course information is available in the Graduate Catalog.  

Detailed information on how to register for courses can be found on the Registrar website. For course dates, please see the Academic Calendar. 

If you require permission to enroll in a course on Testudo, please click here.

MAGE students requesting permission to take 400-level undergraduate courses through the Computer Science department should make that request here.

Please refer to this page for a basic guide to course sections.

You may audit a course, provided that the course is set up to have an audit option available in Testudo. However, please be aware of the following policies surrounding auditing:

• Courses registered for the audit grading option are not included in the calculation of credits for the maintenance of full-time status.
• Audited courses will not count towards degree progression and, as such, if a student wishes to use the course towards a degree program, it would have to be retaken under a regular grading method.
• Audited courses cost the same as regular grading method courses.
• Audited courses may affect loan repayment and status. Please check with the Office of Financial Aid before choosing this selection.

Generally, it takes a few days after the point of registration for the appropriate charges to appear in your Testudo account and bill updates are run around the third week of each month.  Visit the pages below to learn  more about payment methods and due dates. 

• Payment methods
• Billing due dates
• Your bill

To obtain a full refund on any course, you must drop it before coursework begins for that semester. Courses dropped during the semester may be subject to partial refunds. Contact Sonja Dietrich at sdietric@umd.edu for more information. 

Syllabi for ENPM (and certain non-ENPM) courses offered each semester will be posted on the MAGE course scheduling webpage. Textbooks for your classes will be listed on Testudo. Certain course materials are only available via the University Book Center.

You will use the Canvas Online Learning Management System to access all of your courses. Detailed information and videos can be accessed at elms.umd.edu. Courses are not accessible to students on Canvas until a few days before the classes are scheduled to begin. If your course is not accessible on the first day of classes, please contact the instructor or Sonja Dietrich at sdietric@umd.edu.

Students enrolled in online sections may require proctors for their exams. You will be notified if your course requires proctoring by the Distance Education Technology Services office or  MAGE at the beginning of the given semester.  More information on proctoring can be found on the Proctoring FAQ page.

ENPM808 is an independent study course that may be available as an alternative to a technical elective. This requires the approval of your program advisor and a professor willing to work with you to formulate and complete the independent study. If you are interested in pursuing this option, please begin discussing it with your advisor far in advance of the semester you wish to complete the project. Contact email mage-advising@umd.edu for more information. 

You will have to apply for graduation by completing the graduation application via Testudo, which is due towards the beginning of the semester that you intend to graduate. To qualify for graduation, you will need to haved complete the full course curriculum for your program, fulfilled all provisions placed upon you at the point of admission, and maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. To ensure you do not miss any deadlines, we recommend that you email mage-advising@umd.edu when you have a tentative graduation semester identified. We will send individualized emails with any deadlines and instructions you will need. 

Please see Degree Planning Sheets here.

Students enrolled in in-person sections are expected to be in the classroom. The lectures are posted for review purposes and for extreme circumstances in which a student is not able to attend class.

Students are strongly encouraged to be in class starting on the first official scheduled day of classes. However, with your professor's permission, you may arrive after the first day of lectures. The latest day for a student to arrive to campus is the last day of Schedule Adjustment (approx. 2 weeks into the semester).

F1 visa holders arriving after the first day of classes will need a travel letter from MAGE approving late travel. MAGE will need permission from all instructors whose classes will be missed, and will not approve travel after the schedule adjustment period (approx. 2 weeks into classes). Being able to watch lectures online is not an acceptable reason to arrive after the first day of classes.

Please note that you may be blocked from registering if you have not yet fulfilled your admission provision(s) surrounding the submission of your official Bachelor’s and/or Graduate transcripts, your Immunization forms, or if you have not yet fulfilled your English proficiency condition. While the absolute deadline for fulfilling these conditions is the end of your first semester of study, you will not be able to enroll for future semesters until they are fulfilled. If this is the case, please contact the Coordinator for Academic Affairs to discuss your situation further.

Failure to attend the Academic Integrity Information Session and/or complete the Academic Integrity Module by the end of your second semester will result in an administrative hold on your account that would prevent registration for your third semester. 

Failure to pay a past due balance could result in a "financial ineligibility" block. Please contact billtalk@umd.edu with questions regarding your bill. 

All students can submit their 10 Course Plan using this link here.

All graduate students must register for courses and pay associated tuition and fees each semester, not including summer and winter sessions, until the degree is awarded. If a student is unable to attend for a particular semester, to maintain their student status, they must either fill out a Waiver of Continuous Registration Request Form or Leave of Absence Request Form. If you are an international student, the impacts of taking a semester off should first be discussed with MAGE and ISSS.

The deadline for to accept your offer and register for courses is the day before the first day of classes of the semester you applied for. The absolute deadline (with a late fee) to do so is the end of the Schedule Adjustment period. The Schedule Adjustment period for the current semester is listed on the Course Schedule page under "Important Dates."

However, we strongly suggest enrolling in courses at your earliest convenience in order to secure a spot in the courses you want. Each incoming student should have an advising meeting with the MAGE Senior Academic Advisor to go over the overall requirements of the program and to plan first semester coursework.  Please schedule an appointment through this site: https://advancedengineering.umd.edu/advising  

Please note, international students will need to upload all the requirements for your I-20 to iTerp by June 1st, in order to begin the F1 visa process for Fall. You can find directions on how to log-in to the iTerp system here: http://globalmaryland.umd.edu/offices/international-student-scholar-services/logging-iterp. International students can, and should, proceed with registration prior to actually obtaining the I-20/visa.

Students in the Bridge program undertake semi-intensive English study during their first semester (UMEI005, any graduate student section).  The English class meets 4 days per week for 2 hours each session.  In addition to this English class you can take 1 class in your academic program during your first semester.

You may take the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE exam again.  If the Graduate School receives a score by July 15th that is sufficient to waive the English Bridge Program, they will do so. If they do not receive a new higher score, then you will be required to enroll in the Bridge program.

UMD also has a new program called the VOXY-UMD Bridge Program that was created for students in your situation. For $246.00 (a fraction of the cost of the English Bridge Program cost) you will receive two months of online English instruction to better prepare you to retake the TOEFL or IELTS. After the program you will need to take the TOEFL or IELTS again and if the score is sufficient for The Graduate School to remove your Bridge Program placement, we will do so.

Please see full information on the necessary scores here: https://gradschool.umd.edu/admissions/english-language-proficiency-requirements

Students in the Advanced English Writing Program program undertake semi-intensive English study during their second semester (UMEI007, any graduate student section).  In addition to this English class you can take 2 classes in your academic program during your second semester.

You may take the TOEFL/IELTS/PTE exam again.  If the Graduate School receives a score by the end of the first semester (specific deadline TBD) that is sufficient to waive the Advanced English Writing Program they will do so. If the Graduate School does not receive a new higher score then you will be required to enroll in the Advanced Writing course for your second semester.

We do have a new program called the VOXY-UMD Bridge Program that was created for students in your situation.  For $246.00 (a fraction of the cost of the Advanced English Writing Program cost) you will receive two months of online English instruction to better prepare you to retake the TOEFL or IELTS. After the program you will need to take the TOEFL or IELTS again and if the score is sufficient for the Graduate School to remove your Advanced English Writing Program placement, they will do so.

Please see full information on the necessary scores here: https://gradschool.umd.edu/admissions/english-language-proficiency-requirements

In order to gain acceptance to a Master of Science program, you would need to apply to that program directly. There is a chance that if you begin in the M.Eng. program, you can switch to the M.S., but it is not an easy or guaranteed process, and you would still need to be accepted to the program. We would suggest reaching out to the department to see if you are admissible before making any concrete decisions regarding an M.S. program. Please keep in mind that M.S. programs have different deadlines, admissions processes and requirements, and different courses than the M.Eng. program.

Students in the MEng program pay a special tuition rate, which does not differ between residents and non-residents of Maryland. MS Students pay regular University of Maryland in-state and out-of-state tuition. That is why you see the difference in cost.

The majority of our full-time students take 2 years to complete the 10 course (30 credits) program, completing 3 courses (9 credits) each of their first 3 semesters and then 1 course (3 credits) in their last semester. It is possible for the program to be completed in 1.5 years depending on courses offered and selected.  Please make an appointment with the MAGE Senior Academic Advisor to plan out your studies during your first semester in the program:https://advancedengineering.umd.edu/advising.

We do not have more detailed hiring data, but our students find employment in a variety of companies.  Please note that the University does not have specific placement services and, of course, cannot guarantee a placement after graduate study, however we do offer two career centers to assist you with your future job search: the University Career Center and the President’s Promise and an Engineering Co-Op and Career Center.  More information about these offices, their services, and their events can be found at http://www.careers.umd.edu/ and http://www.coop.eng.umd.edu/

The M.Eng. program is not able to offer any financial assistance to students and, as such, you would not be considered for any form of financial assistance automatically.  That being said, you can find more information on funding options - including GA and TAships - here: mage.umd.edu/funding .

Please note that any research would not count towards your degree progress, but it is certainly possible to do so if you are able to locate a position.  Again, M.Eng. students are eligible to apply for GA/TA/RAships, as are MS and PhD students. However, these positions are all competitive and should not be counted on as a form of continuous funding nor is this part of the degree. Additionally, each department has a different process for assigning TA/RA positions, so you would need to be in touch with appropriate departments directly.

There are also Administrative Assistantships (https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=&query_v0_posted_at_date=&801=&1950=4&803=&804=&805=&806=&commit=Search) and hourly positions (https://careers.umd.edu/students/gain-experience/student-employment). 

There is no research associated with the Master of Engineering program.  Generally, students who are particularly interested in integrating research into their degree programs opt for a Master of Science or Ph.D. program. That being said, we have had students go from an M.Eng. program to a Ph.D. program based on their background and research experiences. You would want to talk further to Ph.D. programs you are interested in about this, as it is ultimately at their discretion.

ENPM808 is an Independent Study course where the student completes a project on a topic relevant to their academic program.  Independent studies are all very different depending on the faculty member the student works with and the topic at hand, but all need to have a specific end and output by the end of the semester (usually an exam, paper, or presentation).  Please note that independent study projects cannot be open-ended research.

The Master of Engineering program is designed to be accessible to full-time working professionals in addition to full-time students. Many courses run out of our department (i.e. ENPM courses) are offered one time a week for 2.5 hours, at either 4pm or 7pm.

Information about registration can be found here. Each incoming student should have an advising meeting with the MAGE Senior Academic Advisor to go over the overall requirements of the program and to plan first semester coursework.  Please schedule an appointment through this site: mage.umd.edu/advising.

Information about off-campus housing and other campus resources can be found here.

You can pay online through Student Financial Services. Your bill is due based on when you register for courses. You can see the billing due dates here. Please note there is no enrollment deposit for the M.Eng. program.

After confirming your enrollment at the University of Maryland, new students will be able to access the Accessibility and Disability Service Online Portal and register for accomodations. You will need your University Directory ID and password to access the portal and will be required to submit supporting documentation of your disability before completing your registration for services. For more information about registering for services and guidelines for supporting documentation, please visit the Prospective ADS Student page. 

ADS is open Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, year-round. To contact by phone, please call (301) 314-7682 or e-mail at adsfrontdesk@umd.edu.