General MS Degree Requirements

In addition to the basic requirements of the university, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering requires master’s degree candidates to complete a program of study consisting of at least 30 semester hours of graduate level computer science courses while maintaining a grade point average of at least 3.0. According to the Graduate School Rules, graduate courses with grades below B- cannot be applied toward the completion of the graduate degree. With prior approval by the Graduate Committee a student may substitute up to nine semester hours with graduate mathematics or other engineering courses.

Student need to submit an approved Plan of Study to the department during the first semester of their admission. An academic advisor will consult with students to develop a Plan of Study. Students may choose Plan I (Thesis), Plan II (MS Project), or Plan III (Course Only). Both Plan I and II require successful defense of thesis or project in student’s graduating semester.

• Plan I-Thesis: Students take 24 hours of graduate course work, and additionally write and defend a thesis, which counts for 6 hours of graduate thesis work.
• Plan II-MS Project: Students take 27 hours of graduate course work, and additionally write and defend a MS project report, which counts for 3 hours of graduate MS project work.
• Plan III-Course Only: Students take 30 hours of graduate course work consisting of a minimum of four out of five Category A courses, and four category B courses. In the final semester, graduating students must submit a final written research report on a subject specified by the CSE Faculty Committee.

Students are allowed a maximum of 3 credit hours of CS Independent Study (except in Plan II, course-only option).

Students may only take graduate engineering or graduate mathematics courses that are offered toward an MS degree in a degree-granting department, while at least 21 hours must be CS. It is advisable that students get prior approval of a graduate CS advisor before taking any course that does not have a CSCI prefix. For example, courses offered through Continuing Education are not counted toward an MS degree in Computer Science.

The only exception for a student to take a graduate course from any other department is when the course satisfies all of the following conditions:

1. It appears in a graduate program.
2. It is taken instead of 3 hours of CS Independent Study.
3. It is approved by the CS Graduate Committee.

No more than 6 credit hours may be in the form of on-line courses.

Adequate Progress toward MS in Computer Science Degree

Students are expected to finish the MS degree program within five years. Candidates for the MS degree may not get credit for a course taken longer than five years before the date on which the degree is to be granted.

Students who do not enroll for any course work relevant to computer science in a given semester (summer semesters excluded) must supply the Department of Computer Science and Engineering with a written statement describing the reason for the inactivity. Students who are inactive for three consecutive semesters (summer semesters excluded) will be removed from the program, and must re-apply for admission.

Students may choose either Plan I (thesis) or Plan II (MS project) or Plan III (course only option).

For up-to-date information, please refer to the current graduate handbook from the CSE department website under Degree Programs.