Program Overview

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

The Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree provides students with expertise in science, mathematics, and engineering, while also showing students how to apply their education to real-world problems. A degree in electrical engineering gives students the opportunity to engage in work as a design, production, testing, consulting, research, teaching, or management professional in a wide variety of careers. Students often work in the biomedical industry, aerospace, the computer industry, embedded systems, the power and renewable energy industry, telecommunications, instruments, and academia.

Program Overview

• Learn how to apply your education to real-world problems
• Establish a portfolio of up-to-date skills and abilities
• Gain hands-on prototyping skills that prepare you for success

Department and College

• Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering
• College of Engineering and Applied Science

Related Programs

• Computer Engineering—Minor
• Electrical Engineering—Minor
• Energy Engineering—Minor
• Electrical and Computer Engineering—BS
• Electrical Engineering—MS, Professional MS, ME, PhD, BAM

Academic Plan and Requirements

To earn the BS in electrical engineering, students must complete 128 credit hours. The degree provides a foundation in the traditional areas of electrical engineering in the first three years of the program.

Technical Electives and Advanced Courses

• Students also get the opportunity to explore technical electives in other engineering disciplines, as well as advanced elective courses such as:
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Fundamentals of Computer Security
  • Undergraduate Optics Lab
  • Power Electronics and Photovoltaic Power Systems Lab
  • Special Topics including Engineering Applications in Biomed, Building Quantum Computers, and Cryptocurrency Security

Additional Degree Option

• Bachelor’s-accelerated master’s: A combined bachelor's (BS) and master's (MS) degree is offered for highly motivated undergraduate students. The BAM program allows students to take advanced courses at an accelerated pace, engage in an independent research project, and obtain both degrees in five years.

Career Opportunities and Salary

• Median salary of CU Boulder electrical engineering students 1–5 years after graduation: $91,100
• Common job opportunities for graduates include software engineer, radio frequency engineer, product engineer, field engineer, and application developer
• Companies that employ CU Boulder electrical engineering alumni include Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Apple, Zayo Group, and Cisco Systems

University and Program Rankings

• Top 20 public U.S. university for engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2020)