Curriculum & Program Requirements

Regular Track

The core curriculum consists of four courses of 4 credits each.

All students in the MS in computer science program must take three of these four courses. The fourth course may be taken as an elective.

Other CSCI 500 level courses are to be taken as electives. All students must take a minimum of 16 credits of electives. These electives may include the fourth core class. A maximum of 4 credits of CSCI 400 level credits may be used for electives, but must be approved by the graduate committee before enrollment. The electives are often in support of the research area of the student.

All students are required to take graduate seminars. CSCI 590 (1-credit course) must be taken first for a total of 3 credits (complete in 3 quarters). Then CSCI 591 (2-credit course) must be taken for a total of 6 credits (complete in 3 quarters) giving a total of 9 credits of seminar.

In addition to the core courses, elective courses, and graduate seminars, all students in the MS in computer science program are required to take a minimum of three research experience courses. The research experience courses are tied to one of a number of ongoing projects in the computer science department. Effectively, the student is joining that research team effort by registering for these courses. As such, the student should discuss their intentions with the faculty members involved in that project prior to registering for these courses. The research experience course is CSCI 692, 5 credits, and must be taken 3 or 4 times (which gives 15 or 20 credits in total). To receive credit for the research classes, the student must write a research paper by the final quarter of research that is submitted to a refereed conference or journal with advisor approval and present their research in CSCI 591. The total credits of research and elective credits must be 35 or 36 credits.


Component	Explanation	Credits
Core Courses	3 courses x 4 credits each	12
Graduate Seminar	CSCI 590 (1-credit course, 3 times) CSCI 591 (2-credit course, 3 times)	9
Electives / Research Experience Select A OR	A: 4 research experience classes (4 x 5 credits) and 4 electives (4 x 4 credits)	36
Electives / Research Experience B	B: 3 research experience classes (3 x 5 credits) and 5 electives (4 x 5 credits)	35
	Total Credits:	56 or 57

You have to take CSCI 590 prior to taking CSCI 591. As you have to take 6 quarters of graduate seminars, you are set to graduate in 6 quarters at a minimum.
A maximum of 4 credits of CSCI 400 level credits may be used for electives, but must be approved by the graduate committee before enrollment.
Credits of any graduate-level class that was taken while you were still an undergraduate and that class does not meet any of the B.S. requirements can be transferred to the graduate program. Please talk to the graduate advisor to confirm.
The number of transferred credits cannot exceed 12.

This track is designed for students in the Computer Science Pre-Master's Program.

Component	Explanation	Credits
Graduate Seminar	4 CSCI 591 (2-credit course x 4 times)	8
Electives / Research Experience Select A OR	A: 4 research experience classes (5 x 4 credits) and 3 electives (4 x 3 credits)	32
Electives / Research Experience B	B: 3 research experience classes (5 x 3 credits) and 4 electives (4 x 4 credits)	31
	Total Credits:	39-40

You are set to complete in 4 quarters (as you are required to do 4 times of CSCI 591). To complete all MS requirements in only one additional year (i.e., 3 quarters), you must have 2 credits of CSCI 591 taken during your undergraduate study transferred into the degree, take 3 research experience courses, 4 electives and the remaining 6 hours of CSCI 591 in three quarters.
Credits of any graduate-level class that was taken while you were still an undergraduate and that class does not meet any of the B.S. requirements can be transferred to the graduate program. Please talk to the graduate advisor to confirm.
The number of transferred credits cannot exceed 12.