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Computer Science, MS

This graduate degree offers specializations in artificial intelligence, parallel systems, and/or software engineering and is suited for students with or without an undergraduate degree in computer science. For those with a computer science bachelor’s degree, this is an opportunity for further study and research in the science of computing.

For those without a computer science degree, this is an excellent opportunity to gain the training and skills needed to launch a new career or enhance a current career, though some background coursework may be required. There are three options available in this graduate degree. Plan A and plan B require students to complete a graduate thesis or report in their specialization areas. Plan C is a coursework only option.

Availability

This program is available at the Uintah Basin Campus via the following Instruction Type(s):

Interactive Broadcast

Courses are delivered via state of the art video conferencing technology. Students meet at a designated time and location.

Admissions

Students must be admitted to the USU School of Graduate Studies. For current enrollment criteria and an application, call (435) 797-1189 or apply online at www.usu.edu/graduateschool/apply.

General admissions requirements include:

  • Bachelor’s degree from accredited institution
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Official transcript of all university/college coursework
  • GRE exam score (minimum quantitative reasoning score in the 80th percentile)
  • Three strong letters of recommendation

In addition to the enrollment criteria required with the application, students in this program should have experience with computing and programming in two high-level languages, a course in data structures and algorithms, as well as a working knowledge of calculus and statistics.

Requirements

All computer science graduate students must satisfy the departmental placement requirement. This requirement is met either by passing an examination or through coursework (B- grade or better) in computer algorithms (CS 2420 or 5050) and in two of the following five subject areas: computer architecture & organization, operating systems, computability (CS 5000), programming languages/compilers (CS 5300), software engineering (CS 5370 or CS 6370). The rules governing placement requirements are explained more fully on the department’s Web site (www.cs.usu.edu).

More Info

For additional information follow the links below.

Contact Us

For specific questions regarding this program including admissions, courses, and requirements contact:

Dr. Donald H. Cooley
Logan
Program Coordinator
Phone:435-797-2451
Fax: 435-797-3265
don.cooley@usu.edu

Steven Allan
Logan
Graduate Program Coordinator
Phone:435-797-4205
Fax: 435-797-3265
steve.allan@usu.edu

Through the Utah Education Network (UEN), the Computer Science Department of Utah State University offers a Master of Science in Computer Science (MS/CS) degree. Courses are taught by regular USU faculty and are delivered by IP video. In addition to audio and video from USU, students are able to ask questions through an audio uplink.

This degree is suited for students with or without an undergraduate degree in computer science. For those holding a BS/CS, this degree represents an opportunity for further study and research in the science of computing. For those without a BS/CS, while some background coursework may be required, the MS/CS is an excellent opportunity to gain the training and skills needed to launch a new career or upgrade a current career.

Students pursue a Plan A (Thesis), Plan B (Report), or Plan C (Coursework) option. Students not needing to complete background or preparatory courses can complete the coursework for this degree in as little as four semesters. The completion of the thesis or report typically requires another one to two semesters.


Plan A or B

Students in the graduate program will take courses in a broad spectrum of topics. Also, as part of their degrees, they will be expected to complete a graduate thesis or report in one of the following areas of specialization:

Artificial Intelligence

  • Computer vision and image processing
  • Evolutionary computation
  • Neural networks
  • Robotics
  • Software agents
  • Speech and language processing

Bioinformatics

  • Sequence analysis
  • Visualization
  • Micro-arrays
  • Evolutionary computation

Distributed, Parallel, and Concurrent Computing

  • Autonomous negotiating teams
  • Fault-tolerant systems
  • High performance computing models
  • Nano-concurrency
  • Parallel applications

Software Systems

  • Development and management processes
  • Distributed systems design
  • Graphics and visualization
  • Object-oriented software development
  • Computer and network security
  • Software quality assurance
  • User interfaces design


Plan C

For students not wishing to complete a thesis or report, the Plan C option is available. This is a coursework only MS/CS degree.

Upon admission to the graduate program, a student is assigned a graduate advisor. This person will work with the student to select appropriate courses. As soon as it is feasible, the student should register for the Computer Science Seminar (CS 6900, 1 credit). This course includes a series of video tapes showing departmental faculty explaining their research interests and presenting possible thesis or report topics. For Plan A or B, on the basis of these presentations and their personal and professional goals, students should then select their major (thesis or report), professor and supervisory committee. Their major professor then becomes their graduate advisor. Prior to registration, a candidate’s supervisory committee must approve all graduate courses outside the Department of Computer Science. During any semester, CS6950 Directed Readings in Computer Science, and CS6900 Seminar, are also available. Contact the program coordinator concerning these courses.

Courses:

 Course requirements vary depending on the plan students choose to pursue. Plan A and B students complete a graduate thesis or report in an area of specialization. Plan C students complete additional coursework. Areas of specialization include:

Artificial Intelligence

  • Assistive Technologies
  • Computer Vision and Image Processing
  • Evolutionary Computation
  • Machine Intelligence
  • Neural Networks
  • Robotics
  • Autonomous Agents
  • Speech and Language Processing

Parallel Systems

  • Fault-Tolerant Systems
  • High-Performance Computing Models
  • Nano-Concurrency
  • Parallel Applications

Software Engineering

  • Data Mining
  • Software Engineering
  • Distributed System Design
  • Mobile Systems
  • Object-Oriented Software Development
  • Computer and Network Security
  • Software Quality Assurance and Testing
  • Web-based Systems
  • Bioinformatics

Students should work with graduate faculty in selecting courses for their areas of specialization.