MAE Graduate Admissions
Interested in accelerating your Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering career? We offer 3 different graduate degrees, including an online ME degree.
Our Programs
We are looking for exceptional Master’s of Engineering (ME), Master’s of Science (MS) and Doctoral (PhD) candidates to join our team as we uncover new advances in technology and explore creative ways to solve challenging problems! MAE at UVA has a proven track record of outstanding research and teaching with strong inter-departmental and inter-school collaborations, and is committed to increasing diversity among our faculty and graduate student populations. Our research program ensures excellence and national prominence in these core focus areas:
- Biomechanical Engineering for Health
- Cyber-Physical Systems and Autonomy
- Sustainability in Energy, Manufacturing and Transportation
Our faculty and students possess numerous academic accolades, research publications, and generous research funding that place us among the nation’s elite mechanical and aerospace engineering programs. UVA MAE’s faculty and graduate programs are dramatically increasing in size, diversity, and quality. We have experienced steady growth in incoming graduate students from under-represented groups historically excluded from engineering. Averaged over the past two years, 23% of our incoming PhD students are women and 10% of our incoming students identify as members of minoritized groups. MAE also boasts tenured faculty with an average of $573K in research expenditures, an average H-index of 33, and four new nationally-recognized fellows. More broadly, UVA Engineering is a national leader among large U.S. public engineering schools in several aspects including:
- #1 in Four-Year Graduation Rates
- #1 Percentage of Women Graduates
- #1 PhD Enrollment Growth since 2015
With one of the highest graduation rates of underrepresented minority undergraduate students and one of the highest percentages of women engineering students among public universities, UVA is fundamentally committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and staff. UVA is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applications from all, including women, members of minority groups, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. We also welcome others who would bring additional dimensions of diversity to the university's research and teaching mission. We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through each person's perspectives and lived experiences.
Our Degrees
Our program is designed to accommodate non-traditional students with undergraduate degrees in scientific or engineering fields other than Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering. Students with undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology have been successful in the program.
Master’s of Engineering: Our ME self-pay degree allows you to finish your advanced degree within as little as one year. Our ME students have special access to up to two graduate-level Commerce courses covering topics such as management of sustainable development, manufacturing under a global economy, and business negotiations. These courses are offered by the faculty of UVA’s top-ranked McIntire School of Commerce. This combination of courses provide MAE ME graduates with world-class knowledge and expertise that can be leveraged towards advanced corporate entry and/or a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Can’t join us in Charlottesville for your ME courses? No problem! UVA Engineering is a top-ranked school for online Master’s programs. Please visit the Virginia Engineering Online home page for more information about our online ME program.
Master’s of Science/Doctor of Philosophy: Students enrolled in our research-based MS and PhD programs start their UVA graduate careers working in a lab on Day 1. It is important for your application success that you identify and contact MAE faculty who work in research areas that you are interested in! Financial support may be provided by the department in the form of a fellowship, teaching assistantship, or research assistantship. Students enrolling into the PhD program who already have a MS or ME degree in a STEM discipline will automatically receive a bulk transfer of 24-credits - that’s 66% of your required coursework!
Charlottesville, Virginia
Centrally located in the rolling foothills of Virginia, Charlottesville boasts a thriving intellectual community and cultural life with easy access to recreational venues. For more information about UVA and the Charlottesville area, please see http://www.virginia.edu/life/charlottesville and https://embarkcva.com/.
Applications
Please apply online at https://engineering.virginia.edu/departments/mechanical-and-aerospace-engineering/apply/mae-graduate-admissions. R Review of applications for Fall 2023 semester will begin in December 2022 and continue through April 2023. Please apply before January 6, 2023 for consideration for entrance fellowships.Review of applications for enrollment for the Spring 2024 semester will begin October 1, 2023.
You are required to submit letters of recommendation and college transcripts. Applicants are not required to take the Graduate Record Examination General Test for application to the Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 semesters. You are not required or encouraged to take any subject test. Students for whom English is not their native language are required to demonstrate proficiency in English by completing the TOEFL exam administered by the Educational Testing Service. They are also encouraged to take the Test of Spoken English (TSE).
Need More Information?
For questions about the application process, please contact Jamia Tate, MAE Graduate Coordinator, at jlt4uy@virginia.edu. Also visit the UVA SEAS Graduate Admission home page.
The University of Virginia is fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty, students, and staff. We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person's perspectives and lived experiences. We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.