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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREES
MASTER’S DEGREES - M.S.
Master of Science (M.S.) degree: A student completes coursework and conducts independent research overseen by a professor. The Master of Science requires a written thesis and oral defense; the level of research effort is commensurate with two (2) typical academic courses.
Note: If a student selects an M.S. degree, their research advisor is also the academic advisor.
M.S. DEGREE GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:
An M.S. degree requires a minimum of 31 graded, graduate-level credits. Courses taken in CS must be 6000 or above to fulfill this requirement. 6 credits of non-CS 5000 level courses may be used to count towards the MS degree. Courses must be approved by the advisor and the Master’s Program Graduate Director (MGPD).
A graded credit means that the course resulted in a letter grade (A, B, C…) as opposed to an audited course (AU), a pass/fail or credit/no credit course (CR/NC).
No grade lower than a “B” will be accepted towards satisfying the M.S. degree requirements. While a course with a passing grade lower than B will count in the GPA, it will not count toward degree requirements.
M.S. DEGREE (31 credits):
- 1 credit of CS 6190 (Computer Science Perspectives).
- 12 credits of graded, graduate-level CS breadth electives comprised of a minimum of 3 credits (graduate-level 6000 and above) in any four of the six focal areas (tracks) listed below.
- 12 credits of graded, graduate-level CS electives (graduate-level 6000 and above) or other graduate courses approved by the advisor and the Master’s Graduate Program Director.
- 6 credits of CS 8999 Thesis must be taken with the research advisor (3 credits in each of two semesters). These 6 credits reflect the execution, writing, and presentation of the Master’s thesis. CS 7995 (Supervised Project Research) cannot be used.
- Engineering Thesis & Dissertation Assessment form (The Graduate Coordinator prepares this form and sends it to their final examination committee on the day of their defense)
M.S. RESEARCH:
The research activity requires a written thesis and oral presentation. While the exact content of the thesis is under the control of the advisor, a CS M.S. thesis typically includes an identification of a problem, commentary on why the problem is of importance, a review of the state of the art, a hypothesis regarding the expected outcome of the research, how the research was accomplished, what research results were obtained, an explanation of whether the original hypothesis was or was not verified, summary/conclusions, and topics for future research.
The assessment of the student’s M.S. degree is based upon a written thesis and an oral defense.
TRANSFER CREDITS
Students should consult “Transfer Credits” in the School of Engineering and Applied Science—Academic Rules section of the Record for information about transferring courses toward their graduate degree. Whether any individual transfer course counts toward CS master’s degree requirements is determined by the Master’s Graduate Programs Director (MGPD).
BREADTH AREAS and COURSES (6000 level and above)
