Master’s program · Rossin College of Engineering
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering
Lehigh University’s master’s programs in Chemical Engineering build advanced command of thermodynamics, reaction engineering, transport processes and mathematical methods, and let you shape the rest of your degree around your own goals.
- Credits30
- Typical length1.5–2 years
- DeliveryOn campus, hybrid or fully online
- Degree awardedMaster of Science or Master of Engineering
- GRENeither accepted nor reviewed
On this page
Overview
What the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering is
The two degrees suit different goals. The MS is for students who want sustained research experience. You work with a faculty research advisor, and the project builds your ability to carry out independent technical inquiry. The M.Eng. is for engineers who want to advance in industry. It is built entirely from coursework, with interdisciplinary electives you choose to widen your technical and strategic range.
Students arrive from chemical engineering, other engineering disciplines and the foundational sciences, and both degrees are designed for that mix. Everyone starts from the same core, so you learn alongside classmates with different backgrounds and finish prepared to take on complex global challenges.
A 30-credit degree, typically 1.5–2 years of full-time study, delivered on campus, hybrid or fully online.
Research areas
Research aimed at global challenges
Across these areas, the department’s faculty and students work on some of the largest and most complex problems of our time: supplying energy sustainably, protecting the environment, developing new medicines and biological technologies, creating materials with new capabilities, and using computation to design and control complex processes. Master’s students can take part through electives and, in the MS, through research for a report or a thesis.
Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Many advances in health depend on understanding and controlling biological molecules and the processes that make them at scale. Work in this area applies chemical engineering principles to biomolecules and living systems, with the aim of better therapies, diagnostics and bioprocesses.
Energy and the Environment
Supplying energy while protecting air, water and climate calls for cleaner ways to produce, store and use it. This area applies chemical engineering to energy conversion and to the prevention and cleanup of environmental harm.
Materials and Interfaces
Technologies from medicines to electronics to everyday consumer products depend on materials whose behavior is set at the nanoscale and at surfaces and interfaces. Researchers in this area design and study functional nanomaterials and the colloids, emulsions and interfaces that govern how complex mixtures behave.
Focus topics: Functional Materials and Nanotechnology, Colloids, Emulsions, and Interfacial Science.
Computations, Systems, and Machine Learning
Modern chemical and biological processes involve more variables than intuition or experiment alone can manage. This area uses simulation, systems analysis and machine learning to predict how processes behave and to design them better.
Curriculum
What you study
Both degrees require 30 graduate credits and share a 12-credit core and a 2-credit professional development course. They differ in how the remaining credits are used: the MS adds technical electives and independent research, while the M.Eng. adds chemical engineering electives and free electives.
- Core courses, 12 credits. Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (CHE 400), Chemical Reaction Engineering (CHE 410), Transport Processes (CHE 415) and Mathematical Methods in Engineering I (CHE 452). Both degrees require all four.
- Professional development, 2 credits. CHE 496 covers safety, ethics and communication. MS students may take either Safety, Ethics, and Communication or Graduate Professional Development, and M.Eng. students take Graduate Professional Development.
- MS technical electives, 10 credits. Courses at the 300 or 400 level from chemical engineering or other departments. CHE 460, CHE 480, CHE 481 and CHE 490 do not count here. CHE 455 Seminar (1 credit) may be included, up to 3 credits in total.
- MS research, 6 credits. Independent research with a faculty research advisor that ends in either a research report or a thesis. A report is registered through CHE 460 Chemical Engineering Project and CHE 480 or CHE 481 Research, and a thesis through CHE 490. A report is submitted to your advisor, and a thesis is submitted to your advisor and the department. Thesis requirements and submission deadlines are strictly enforced.
- M.Eng. chemical engineering electives, 4 credits. Courses in chemical engineering at the 300 or 400 level. CHE 455 Seminar (1 credit) may be included, up to 3 credits in total.
- M.Eng. free electives, 12 credits. Courses at the 300 or 400 level from chemical engineering or other departments, excluding CHE 490. This is where you build the interdisciplinary breadth that suits your goals.
- Thesis and exams. Neither degree requires a thesis or a comprehensive exam. M.Eng. students complete coursework only.
- Course-level rules. At least 24 credits must be at the 300 and 400 level, with at least 18 of them at the 400 level, and MS research or thesis registration counts toward that 400-level total. At least 18 credits must be in chemical engineering (CHE), with at least 15 of them at the 400 level. You need a B- or better in at least 18 credits of your program and in every 300-level course in your major field, and no course graded below C- counts toward the degree. Courses with an ESLP or EAPC subject code, CHE 300, CHE 379, CHE 380, and doctoral-only 400-level courses cannot be counted.
| Code | Course | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| CHE 400 | Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics | Thermodynamics applications in chemical engineering. |
| CHE 410 | Chemical Reaction Engineering | Chemical kinetics for reactor design and operation. |
| CHE 415 | Transport Processes | Momentum, energy, and mass transport fundamentals. |
| CHE 452 | Mathematical Methods in Engineering I | Analytical math methods for engineering: ODEs, transforms. |
These four core courses are required in both degrees. The Lehigh University Course Catalog is the official source for degree requirements, and requirements can change from year to year. Confirm your own plan against the catalog listing below and with your academic advisor.
Careers
Where graduates work
Chemical engineering alumni work in the life sciences, manufacturing, energy and technology.
Lehigh chemical engineering alumni work most often in the life sciences, followed by manufacturing, information technology, education, natural resources and healthcare. Typical roles include process engineer, process control engineer, research engineer, research scientist and principal scientist. Many alumni later move into leadership as engineering directors, founders, presidents and chief technology officers.
Employers where our alumni most often work include:
- Merck
- Air Products
- ExxonMobil
- Intel
- Regeneron
- Linde
- Bristol Myers Squibb
- Honeywell
Alumni also work at PBF Energy, Dow, Brooks Instrument, Lummus Technology, The Lubrizol, SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) For Petrochemical and EMD Electronics.
Based on current employers of Lehigh chemical engineering alumni who graduated between 1996 and 2025. Class of 2025 master’s graduates across the Rossin College averaged $100,000 in starting salary.
Tuition and funding
What it costs, and what help is available
Base tuition for this 30-credit degree is $52,050.
- Qualified applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships as high as 20% of tuition, with no separate application required.
- International students are considered on the same basis as domestic applicants.
- Merit-based and alumni tuition scholarships are available. Employees of EdAssist-affiliated companies are eligible for a 20% tuition discount on this program.
How to apply
What a complete application needs
- Academic record
A GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is preferred, and international GPAs are evaluated against that standard. A trend of strengthening grades in your final semesters is taken into account. You will also submit official transcripts, a personal statement, a resume, and letters of recommendation.
- Background
MS applicants hold at least a bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent from a foreign institution, in chemical engineering or a related engineering discipline by the time they enroll, and applicants with degrees in related sciences such as chemistry, physics or biology are also welcome. The M.Eng. is open to applicants with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from an accredited institution, and applicants with backgrounds in related science and engineering fields, such as chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering or environmental engineering, are encouraged to apply.
- Holistic review
The graduate program director reviews each application as a whole, in consultation with program faculty.
- GRE
GRE scores are neither accepted nor reviewed.
- English proficiency
International applicants submit a TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Duolingo, Cambridge English or Pearson Test of English score that meets the minimums in the table below.
- Application fee
$50, non-refundable.
- Deadlines
December 15 for a spring start, May 15 for a summer start, and July 15 for a fall start.
| Test | Overall | Speaking | Writing | Reading | Listening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOEFL iBT | 81 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 16 |
| IELTS | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.0 |
| Duolingo | 125 | 125 | 120 | 125 | 110 |
| Cambridge English | 176 | 176 | 169 | 176 | 169 |
| Pearson Test of English | 68 | 53 or above on each band | |||
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What are the MS and M.Eng. in Chemical Engineering at Lehigh?
They are two 30-credit master’s degrees in chemical engineering. The MS centers on faculty-led research that ends in a research report or a thesis, and the M.Eng. is a coursework-based degree for engineers who want to advance in industry. Both build on the same core in thermodynamics, reaction engineering, transport processes and mathematical methods.
How do the MS and the M.Eng. differ?
After the shared core and professional development course, the MS adds 10 credits of technical electives and 6 credits of independent research with a faculty advisor. The M.Eng. replaces the research with 4 credits of chemical engineering electives and 12 credits of free electives at the 300 or 400 level, so it is entirely coursework.
How many credits are the degrees, and how long do they take?
Each degree is 30 credits and typically takes 1.5 to 2 years. Faster completion may be possible through academic planning with your advisor.
Do I have to write a thesis or take a comprehensive exam?
No. Neither degree requires a thesis or a comprehensive exam. MS students complete 6 credits of research that ends in either a research report or a thesis.
What is the difference between the research report and the thesis?
Both come from independent research with a faculty research advisor. A report is registered through CHE 460 and CHE 480 or CHE 481 and is submitted to your advisor. A thesis is registered through CHE 490 and is submitted to your advisor and the department, and thesis requirements and submission deadlines are strictly enforced.
What courses does every student take?
Four core courses totaling 12 credits: Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (CHE 400), Chemical Reaction Engineering (CHE 410), Transport Processes (CHE 415) and Mathematical Methods in Engineering I (CHE 452). Every student also takes a 2-credit professional development course, CHE 496, on safety, ethics and communication.
What are the admission requirements?
A bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent from a foreign institution, by the time you enroll. The MS looks for a degree in chemical engineering or a related engineering discipline and also welcomes applicants with degrees in chemistry, physics or biology. The M.Eng. is open to applicants with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and applicants from related science and engineering fields are encouraged to apply. A GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is preferred, with consideration for a trend of strengthening grades in your final semesters.
Is the GRE required for the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering?
GRE scores are neither accepted nor reviewed for any Rossin College graduate program.
What English proficiency scores do international applicants need?
Minimum overall scores are 81 on the TOEFL iBT, 6.5 on the IELTS, 125 on Duolingo, 176 on Cambridge English, and 68 on the Pearson Test of English. Each test also has minimum speaking, writing, reading and listening scores, listed in the application requirements section above.
When are applications due?
December 15 for a spring start, May 15 for a summer start, and July 15 for a fall start.
How is the program delivered?
On campus, hybrid or fully online. Consult the program contact for the current term-by-term format.
What does it cost, and is funding available?
Base tuition is $52,050 for the 30-credit degree. Qualified applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships as high as 20% of tuition, with no separate application required. International students are considered on the same basis as domestic applicants.
What scholarships apply to this program specifically?
Merit-based and alumni tuition scholarships are available. Employees of EdAssist-affiliated companies are eligible for a 20% tuition discount on this program.
Which department offers this program?
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
What do graduates earn?
Class of 2025 master’s graduates across the Rossin College averaged $100,000 in starting salary.
How do I apply?
Apply through Lehigh’s graduate application. A complete application includes transcripts, a personal statement, a resume, letters of recommendation, English-proficiency scores where applicable, and a $50 application fee. Deadlines are December 15 for a spring start, May 15 for a summer start, and July 15 for a fall start.
What elective courses can I choose from?
Electives are chosen with your advisor. Courses students can choose from include Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics II, Heterogeneous Catalysis and Surface Characterization, Rheology, Mass Transfer, Multivariable Process Control, Chemical Engineering in the Life Sciences, Bioseparations, and Biochemical Engineering Laboratory, among others. The Lehigh course catalog carries the full list.
Contact
Talk to the program
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
HST Building, 124 East Morton Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering »
General inquiries go to engineering@lehigh.edu.