What are the changes in the course requirements?

  1. The number of required courses has been reduced. Students are required to take only 12 credits of advanced courses in addition to CS 700 for a total of 15 credits corresponding to courses. Previously, students were required to take 24 credits (8 courses) including CS 700.
  2. As part of the degree requirements, students will need to sign up for CS 800 - a one (1) credit course - Computer Science Colloqium - for at least two semesters. This is not a course in the traditional sense. Instead, during the course of the semester, students are required to attend at least 5 departmental colloquia including talks by distinguished speakers, faculty candidates, and GMU faculty.
  3. As part of the degree requirements, students will need to sign up for 1 credit of CS 990 - Doctoral Dissertation Presentation. Typically, a student should sign up for this course in the semester prior to the semester in which she plans to present her proposal.
  4. Students with an approved MS degree can receive a reduction of credit of 30 hours towards the 72 hours required for the PhD. Previously, students could only receive a reduction of credit of 24 hours.