University of California, Irvine campus

Engineering

MSE Software Engineering at University of California, Irvine

University of California, Irvine, United States

Programme overview

The Master of Software Engineering (MSWE) program is a highly focused degree program that prepares students to acquire deep knowledge of software engineering – both in terms of foundational skills and in terms of application of that foundation to practice. At the completion of the program, students will be knowledgeable in the underlying principles of software engineering and will have acquired solid practical skills. They will be able to effectively participate in large-scale software development efforts by applying a range of techniques for design, development, validation, and verification of high-quality software.

Faculty: Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences  |  Study mode: full-time  |  Location: Irvine, CA, United States

Career pathways

The program consists of four thrusts: (1) programming breadth, provided by a set of courses whose purpose is to solidify and broaden the students’ knowledge of the computing landscape through programming; (2) software engineering principles, introduced via a set of courses covering the fundamental technical knowledge in software engineering; (3) professional development, covered by courses discuss

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Applicants are evaluated on the following: Demonstrated interest in pursuing a career as a software engineer (evidence of this may be in the form of contributions to open source projects, extra-curricular activities at the undergraduate level involving software development, current or past employment as a software developer, course selections as an undergraduate, or having been involved as a programmer in at least one non-trivial software application).

USD 63,200 for the whole programme (2026-27). Programme Fee for the cohort entering Fall 2026 (self-supporting programme, one rate for all students). Listed as Master of Software Engineering; same Program Fee for full-time (5 quarters) and part-time (8 quarters) tracks. Excludes Student Services Acce Source

Graduate applications are submitted online through the UCI graduate application portal; the non-refundable application fee is $135 for U.S. citizens and lawful U.S. permanent residents and $155 for all other applicants. Deadlines are set by each programme. GRE is required by some programmes only; TOEFL or IELTS English proficiency is required of graduate applicants unless waived.

Apply through the official page: https://grad.uci.edu/admissions/

Explore more study programmes

Engineering

BA Social Ecology

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Aerospace Engineering

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Applied Physics

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Civil Engineering

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Computer Engineering

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Computer Science

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

Engineering

BS Data Science

University of California, Irvine, United States

Degree
Bachelor's
Next intake
UCI operates on a quarter system (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer quarters). First-year and transfer ap

View all study programmes →

Ready to start your study abroad journey?

Book a free consultation with our expert counsellors and take the first step towards your dream university.

Copyrights © 2026 StudyMapped. All rights reserved.