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Changes in Degree Requirements

What are the main changes in the MS CS degree requirements?

  1. The MS CS degree requirements have been simplified. There are no concentrations associated with the degree. Instead courses are divided into five broad areas - Artificial Intelligence and Databases, Programming Languages and Software Engineering, Systems and Networks, Theoretical Computer Science, and Visual Computing. Students have to take courses in at least three of these five areas to meet the breadth requirement associated with the degree.
  2. Students can now take up to four preapproved courses in the MS-SWE, MS-INFS, and MS-ISA programs and count them towards the MSCS degree.
    • The pre-approved courses from these programs are listed in the MSCS brochure
  3. CS 583 (Algorithms) is the only required course. Previously, there were four core (required) courses - CS 583, CS 571, CS 540, and CS 580.
  4. Courses are now classified into two categories - basic courses and advanced courses. Advanced courses are courses that have another graduate course as a pre-requisite. The list of basic and advanced courses can be found in the MSCS brochure. As before, students are required to take at least five advanced courses for the MSCS degree.

Transition Questions

I entered the MS CS program before Fall 2007. Will the new rules apply to me or the old rules?

You can elect to follow the new rules or the rules that were in effect when you joined the program. We believe that the new rules are a significant improvement over the old rules, but if you have already completed most of your course requirements under the old rules, it may be more convenient to follow the old rules.