Students receiving a D.Engr. with a major in software engineering are expected to achieve and demonstrate a solid foundation and depth in software engineering practice, a breadth across the engineering discipline, and a significant and industrially relevant engineering innovative experience through the D.Engr. praxis.
The objective of a Doctor of Engineering degree is to provide students with adequate preparation to meet doctoral standards in an applied science or engineering practice. A D.E. degree is distinguished from a Ph.D. degree in that a Ph.D. is expected to make a significant advance to scientific knowledge, whereas a D.E. is expected to make a contribution to science by studying its implementation and participating in the transformation of knowledge into technology.
In addition to meeting the Lyle School of Engineering requirements for the D. Engr. degree, candidates are required to satisfy the following: The graduation requirements fall into the categories of completion of a specified number of graduate credit hours in appropriate subjects and completion of a praxis. Doctoral students must maintain at least a 3.000 GPA every term and at least a 3.300 overall (cumulative) GPA during their course of study.

Twenty-four credit hours of core software engineering courses. These credit hours must come from graduate-level courses in software engineering, as specified.
Twelve credit hours of core engineering management courses. These credit hours must come from graduate-level courses in engineering management, as specified
Fifteen credit hours in a technical specialty. These credit hours must be taken in software engineering, computer science, computer engineering, engineering management, systems engineering, or other technical areas consistent with anticipated doctoral work demands.
Fifteen credit hours of electives. All elective credit hours must come from graduate-level courses and must be approved by the advisory committee. These courses should, in some way, complement and strengthen the student's degree plan. They should broaden the student's understanding of the issues and problems relating to the application of software technologies to different engineering disciplines.
Twelve credit hours of praxis. These credit hours must be taken in residence. The student enrolls for these credit hours in the course of preparing the praxis project.

Any deviation from the stated requirements must be approved in writing from the student’s adviser and department chair.
Core Courses in Software Engineering
Required Courses
The following courses or their equivalents must be included in the degree plan:
CS 7314 - Software Testing and Quality Assurance
CS 7315 - Software Project Planning and Management
CS 7316 - Software Requirements
CS 7319 - Software Architecture and Design
Additional Courses
In addition, at least four of the following courses must be taken:
CS 8312 - Software Generation and Maintenance
CS 8313 - Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
CS 8314 - Software Metrics and Quality Engineering
CS 8315 - Software Acquisition, Legal, and Economic Issues
CS 8316 - User Interface Design
CS 8317 - Software Reliability and Safety
CS 8340 - Advanced Topics in Software Engineering
Recognition of Previous Postbaccalaureate Coursework:
Students with an M.S. in software engineering, engineering management or other related areas may apply up to 30 credit hours of their M.S. degree credits toward their D.Engr. with a major in software engineering, subject to approval of their supervisory committee.
The student must perform a suitable engineering praxis proposed by the student and approved by the praxis adviser and the supervisory committee.