Computer Science, M.S.

Minimum Total Hours (Thesis): 30

Minimum Total Hours (Non-Thesis): 33

Program Code: M235 (Online M236)

No more than 6 credit hours of C S 5990 Independent Study are permitted for the Thesis and Non-Thesis with project options. No more than 3 credit hours of C S 5990 Independent Study are permitted for the Non-Thesis without project option.
No more than 6 credit hours of C S 5970 Graduate Seminar are permitted, even with a change in subject.
No more than 6 credit hours of graduate courses outside of C S are permitted, and require prior approval of the graduate liaison.
No more than 3 credit hours of G4000 level courses outside of C S are permitted. No more than 9 credit hours of C S G4000 level courses are permitted.

Thesis Option

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Courses
C S 5903	Graduate Perspectives on Computing (or equivalent, as approved by the graduate liaison) ¹	3
C S 4413	Algorithm Analysis (or substitute, as approved by the graduate liaison)	3
Four courses (12 hours), one selected from each of four approved breadth area lists (Systems, Theory, AI/ML, and People & Data) maintained by the School of Computer Science ²		12
Electives
Choose 6 hours of any thesis-related Computer Science graduate courses (as approved by the student's thesis committee) ³		6
Thesis
C S 5980	Research for Master's Thesis	6
Total Credit Hours		30

¹: Students in the online M.S. program may substitute a C S 5000 level course with prior approval of the graduate liaison.
²: One 3 hour graduate course outside of C S (with prior approval of the graduate liaison) or one C S 5970 may be selected to satisfy at most one of the four breadth areas (as approved by the student's thesis committee).
³: May include any C S graduate courses. May include MATH 5743, MATH 4753, or MATH 4073. May include other graduate courses outside C S with prior approval of the graduate liaison.

Non-Thesis Option

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Courses
C S 5903	Graduate Perspectives on Computing (or equivalent, as approved by the graduate liaison) ¹	3
C S 4413	Algorithm Analysis (or substitute, as approved by the graduate liaison)	3
Four courses (12 hours), one selected from each of four approved breadth area lists (Systems, Theory, AI/ML, and People & Data) maintained by the School of Computer Science		12
Electives
Choose 9 hours for the selected non-thesis option:		9
For the non-thesis without project option, choose 9 hours of any Computer Science graduate courses ²
For the non-thesis with project option, choose 3 hours of any Computer Science graduate courses, plus 6 hours of any project-related Computer Science graduate courses (as approved by the student's project committee) ²
Choose 6 hours for the selected non-thesis option:		6
For the non-thesis without project option, choose two additional courses (6 hours) from one of the four approved breadth area lists (Systems, Theory, AI/ML, and People & Data) maintained by the School of Computer Science.
C S 5880	Graduate Project (for the non-thesis with project option)
Total Credit Hours		33

¹: Students in the online M.S. program may substitute a C S 5000 level course with prior approval of the graduate liaison.
²: May include any C S graduate courses. May include MATH 5743, MATH 4753, or MATH 4073. May include other graduate courses outside C S with prior approval of the graduate liaison.

General Requirements for all Master's Degrees

The master’s degree requires the equivalent of at least two semesters of satisfactory graduate work and additional work as may be prescribed for the degree.

All coursework applied to the master’s degree must carry graduate credit.

Master’s degree programs which require a thesis consist of at least 30 credit hours. All non-thesis master’s degree programs require at least 30 credit hours.

Credit transferred from other institutions must meet specific criteria and is subject to certain limitations.

Courses completed through correspondence study may not be applied to the master’s degree.

To qualify for a graduate degree, students must achieve an overall grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the degree program coursework and in all resident graduate coursework attempted. A student must also have at least a 3.0 in all coursework (including undergraduate coursework if any).

Additional information for master's degree students may be found in the Graduate College Bulletin.