Computer Science (MS)

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Offered by the Department of Computer Science , College of Arts and Sciences .

Admission to the Program

In addition to meeting the minimum university requirements for graduate study, applicants must have adequate undergraduate preparation or experience in computer science. Students entering the program without the appropriate background will be expected to take certain undergraduate courses as a prerequisite. Applicants must submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) aptitude test.

Degree Requirements

30 credit hours of approved graduate work.
- CSC-520 , CSC-521 , CSC-540 , and all coursework for comprehensive, and thesis or nonthesis requirements must be passed with grades of B or better.
Comprehensive examination: satisfied by completion of CSC-694 Capstone Project or CSC-797 Master’s Thesis Research in Computer Science with grades of B or better.
6 credit hours of thesis or nonthesis option:
- Thesis option: CSC-797 Master’s Thesis Research in Computer Science with grades of B or better and an oral defense of the thesis
- Nonthesis option: 6 credit hours with grades of B or better from the following:
  CSC-694 Capstone Project and 3 credit hours from the following:
  CSC-636 Advanced Database Management Systems
  CSC-637 Database Administration
  CSC-689 Topics in Computer Science
  CSC-690 Independent Study Project

Course Requirements

Required (15 credit hours)

CSC-520 Algorithms and Data Structures (3) (or equivalent)
CSC-521 Design and Organization of Programming Languages (3) (or equivalent)
CSC-540 Computer System Organization and Programming (3) (or equivalent)
CSC-565 Operating Systems (3)
CSC-570 Database Management Systems (3)

Electives (9 credit hours)

Complete 9 credit hours from the following:

CSC-510 Legal Issues in Computing (3)
CSC-535 User Interface Analysis and Design (3)
CSC-543 Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (3)
CSC-544 Object-Oriented Programming (3)
CSC-546 Introduction to Computer Networks (3)
CSC-568 Artificial Intelligence (3)
CSC-589 Topics in Computer Science (3)
CSC-596 Selected Topics: Non-Recurring (1-6)
CSC-610 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (3)
CSC-636 Advanced Database Management Systems (3) (if not used to fulfill nonthesis option requirement)
CSC-637 Database Administration (3) (if not used to fulfill nonthesis option requirement)
CSC-689 Topics in Computer Science (3)
CSC-691 Internship (1-6)
CSC-696 Selected Topics: Non-Recurring (1-6)

Thesis or Nonthesis Option (6 credit hours)

Complete one of the following options:

Thesis Option

CSC-797 Master’s Thesis Research (1-6) (6 credit hours required)

Nonthesis Option

Required

CSC-694 Capstone Project (3)

Nonthesis Electives

Complete 3 credit hours from the following: