New Students must demonstrate adequate knowledge of Operating Systems and Programming in C/C++/JAVA before beginning the graduate program. We typically require two prerequisite courses. Both the courses do not have to be necessarily taken before you begin to take courses toward your degree. Rather, the prerequisites are usually taken concurrently with classes on your degree plan. The two prerequisites are as follows:
→ COSC 4302: Operating Systems
→ COSC 4304: Foundations of Programming
Students may be excused from a prerequisites course if they are able to pass a competency closed book exam administered in the department given on the content of the associated course. Before each semester a competency test is given for each prerequisite course by the Computer Science department for a fee of $75 per examination. Each examination may be taken only once but examinations do not have to be taken before the first semester of enrollment. The tests can be taken later in the student's program, but courses requiring one or more of the two prerequisite courses, mentioned above cannot be taken unless either the prerequisite course has been completed successfully or the corresponding competency test has been passed.
You may take these courses at other accredited universities, and we will accept those transfer credits. If you have already taken these courses at an accredited university, you do not need to take them again. You only need to show your transcript when you arrive. Keep in mind, however, that the same course titles may not indicate the same course content. In particular, we find that very few incoming students who have not already studied in the U.S. know C++ very well, and that almost none of them can program multithread applications in a UNIX environment.
In addition, to the prerequisites, our M.S. program requires either nine courses and a thesis or 11 courses and a one-semester project. In both cases, an oral defense is required in addition to a written report. If you are a full time student taking nine credit hours (i.e. three courses) during the Fall and Spring semesters and one course during each of the two five-week summer sessions, you will finish all of your work within two years.
(6 courses; 16 semester hours )
Students in the Master's program in Computer Science are required to establish competence in several areas considered basic to the field of Computer Science. At least 28 hours of graduate work in computer science and a thesis or project are required for a Master's degree in Computer Science. In order to qualify for the Master's degree, the student must have a 3.0 GPA in all computer science courses and must earn a grade of B or better in each of the core courses. The Core Requirement consists of the indicated number of courses.
Beginning Spring 2009, graduate students will be required to choose one of the following electives: Simulation, Model Checking, Real-Time Systems, or Advanced Computer Architecture.
Students in the Master's program in Computer Science are encouraged to specialize at least in two of the designated seven areas of specialization. They have to complete at least 6 credit hours in each of the areas to complete their specialization. So they have to complete a total of 12 credit hours from the courses mentioned in the specialization areas (6 hours from each area).
Specialization Areas and Courses