The Master of Science program is available to both day and evening division students. All candidates must complete at least 33 hours of graduate level course work, including the following:

• 15 hours of regular computer science course work at the 600 level
• 3 hours of either CS 691 or CS 699
• 15 additional hours of computer science course work at the 500 or 600 level. Students in Plan II, and students in Plan I with no more than three hours of credit for CS 699, may include up to three hours chosen from the following options:
  a) CS 585;
  b) internship (CS 589); or
  c) approved graduate-level course work in other departments
• Students with a specialization must satisfy those requirements. Other students must complete CS 505 and CS 612.

Candidates must maintain a 3.0 grade point average overall, as well as a 3.0 average in computer science courses. See the Graduate Student Policies for more information about selection of courses.

Students may pursue the M.S. degree under one of two plans.

Plan I

Plan I is the thesis option. Students must prepare a formal thesis while enrolled in CS 699 for at least 3 credits. No more than 6 hours of CS 699 may be included in the required total of 33 hours. The thesis must be defended at a public meeting. Enrollment in CS 699 is restricted to students who have completed at least 18 hours of course work and have an overall grade point average of 3.5 or better. More information on thesis requirements is available here.

 

Plan II

Plan II is the non-thesis option. Students must complete a project while enrolled in CS 691 for at least 3 credits. No more than 3 hours of CS 691 may be included in the required total of 33 hours. Enrollment in CS 691 is restricted to students who have completed at least 18 hours of their program and who have an overall grade point average of 3.0 or better. Some available CS 691 projects are given here. Plan II students are required to develop a written report as part of the CS 691 project. The project will be evaluated by the project supervisor and by one additional CS faculty member using the form given here.

 

Oral Presentation

All graduate students are required to give an oral presentation as part of their Master's Degree requirements. Students pursuing the thesis option (Plan I) will use their thesis defense as their presentation. Students pursuing the non-thesis option (Plan II) will give a presentation on their project. More information about this requirement is available here.