10: North Carolina State University (NCSU)
North Carolina State University’s program is considered a terminal professional degree program, meaning that the course is based solely on coursework and attendance at colloquia (www.csc.ncsu.edu). There is no thesis or final examination requirement. Most students are enrolled on a part-time basis.
NCSU offers both on-campus and distance educational opportunities. Degrees can be earned in Computer Science and Computer Networking. Students are required to take 9 core classes, 12 computer science graduate electives and 9 other electives, totaling 31 credit hours.
Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0. Students can choose to perform independent study as part of their coursework provided they attend classes at NCSU and work with a faculty advisor. Students must complete all coursework within six calendar years in order to receive their MS.
9: University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh’s MS program is designed to prepare students for jobs in the CS industry. Students are expected to be active participants in their education through coursework and independent study, participate in research and work with fellow students.
The MS degree requires 30 hours of coursework. Students choosing a thesis option take 8 courses, plus their thesis work. Students choosing to work on a project take 9 courses plus their project. Each course must be completed with a grade of “B” or better.
Students taking the thesis option will work with an advisor to select a thesis committee of at least three faculty members, including their advisor. Students will defend their thesis at a final oral presentation. Thesis students are required to take both core and elective classes pertaining to their thesis topic.
Students choosing the project option must select a project with their advisor and receive approval of the project report from their advisor. Students must take core and elective courses as well as complete coursework in directed research.
8: Drexel University
Drexel MS candidates take 45 quarter credit hours maintaining a 3.0 GPA throughout the program. Students must complete a Plan of Study by the seventh week of the first quarter of study. Students can choose a thesis or non-thesis option.
Students choosing to write a thesis must find a thesis supervisor and defend their thesis prior to receiving their MS. Thesis students take 3 hours of research classes, then 6 credit hours to learn to write and defend their thesis. Non thesis students are required to take additional coursework to earn credits for graduation.
All students are required to meet the breadth and depth requirements of the department.
7: Colorado State University
Colorado State’s Master of Computer Science (MCS) degree is a coursework only degree, completed with a minimum of 35 hours of coursework. Students are required to have a planned program of study, approved by their adviser by the second semester of study. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 to remain in the program. Applicants must have experience in programming, data structure, computer organization, operating systems and program design.
In addition to on-campus coursework, Colorado State also offers an online MCS degree. Students not enrolled in the program may take online coursework. Individuals can earn up to 14 credits, or three courses, online prior to applying for admission to the program.
6: Washington State University
Washington State University offers MS programs in algorithms and theory of computing; computer networks and distributed computing; graphics, computational geometry and image processing; and knowledge discovery (school.eecs.wsu.edu). Thesis and non-thesis options are available. Thesis projects can attract funding from government and private sources.
5: University of California – Santa Barbara (UCSB)
UCSB calls itself “a young, energetic and dynamic department, world renowned for its strong research program and award winning faculty” (www.cs.ucsb.edu). UCSB has research in areas such as bioinformatics, architecture, database and information systems and software and security.
The MS program can be completed with a thesis, a project or a comprehensive exam. All students are required to complete basic coursework and are guided through the program by a faculty advisor. Each student chooses a Study Plan and works it with their adviser. Those writing a thesis must defend it prior to receiving their MS. Students creating a project must do a 30 minute presentation. Students taking the comprehensive examination have two attempts to pass.
4: Purdue University
Purdue offers both an on-campus and online programs for their MS program, with and without a thesis option. Applicants are expected to have proficiency in programming languages, advanced mathematics and system architecture. Students choosing to write a thesis take eight 3-credit courses, plus their thesis. Non-thesis students take ten 3-credit courses.
Purdue offers three multidisciplinary programs in their MS program: Computational Science and Engineering; Computational Life Science; Statistics-Computer Science Joint Masters. MS students have the benefit of the relationships Purdue has established with corporate partners, allowing students to obtain fellowships and get real world experience.
3: Georgia State University
Located on the school’s Atlanta campus, Georgia State’s program is consistently ranked as one of the best MS programs in the Southeastern United States. Georgia State is actively involved in research in algorithms, graphics and visualization, bioinformatics and networks and visualization. The program requires a BS in Computer Science, a statement of background and goals and three letters of recommendation.
Students must receive a minimum grade of “B” in all coursework. Students have a thesis option or project option depending on their goals. All work is supervised by graduate faculty. Like the University of Nebraska, students must pass an oral exam in defense of their thesis or project prior to receiving their MS.
Georgia State offers an MS with a Bioinformatics concentration with either a thesis or project option. Candidates take additional coursework in chemistry, biology and biostatistics.
2: University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Students wanting to attend the University of Nebraska must have a solid background in Computer Science and Mathematics. The University of Nebraska offers a thesis option for those who plan to pursue additional education in CS and a project option for those who plan to stop their studies upon receiving their Master’s. Both programs require students to work with a committee comprised of three faculty members who oversee the thesis or project through its completion. All students are required to pass a final oral exam to receive their degree.
Both programs have breadth and depth requirements. Students must attend a minimum of 15 master’s thesis presentations, doctoral oral presentations or departmental colloquia. Masters project presentations do not count toward these hours.
Students taking the thesis option take an additional 24 hours of regular coursework as well as complete their thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. Students also take thesis coursework and 9 hours of advanced coursework. Students are expected to contribute original research to their thesis.
Project coursework consists of 30 hours of regular coursework and 3-6 hours of project work approved by the student’s supervisory committee. Projects are not required to have original research, but they are expected to be of exceptional quality.
Oral exams are 2 hours long during which students must defend their project or thesis to the committee.
1: University of Illinois
Located in Urbana, the University of Illinois’ School of Computer Science is based in the Thomas M. Seibel Center for Computer Science. This “living lab explores and evaluates emerging technology” (www.cs.illinois.edu). The University of Illinois offers two options for those seeking to obtain their Masters of Computer Science.
The first option is a Master of Science (M.S.) based in research that requires 28 credit hours of coursework and 4 credit hours of thesis work. Students must first complete both breadth and depth coursework maintaining a grade of a B-. Additionally, students write their master’s thesis and take coursework on thesis research. Students must begin thesis work by their third semester in the program. Students may be eligible for research or teaching assistant-ships to help with tuition expenses. All requirements must be met within 5 consecutive semesters. Only the fall and spring semesters are counted.
The University of Illinois also offers a Professional Master’s (MCS). This is a non-thesis degree that requires 32 hours of graduate coursework. Coursework can be completed on campus or part-time online. Students are ineligible for teaching assistant-ship in this program.
MCS students are required to take the same breadth courses as those in the MS program. However MCS candidates take 12-16 hours of coursework. They then complete an additional 12 hours of coursework at the 500 level or higher. The program must be completed within 5 years.
Both programs require a minimum number of classes be completed on campus at Urbana. Up to 12 hours of previous coursework can be transferred toward either degree if they are applicable to the program requirements.
Sources:
http://cs.illinois.edu/current-students/graduate-students/professional-masters-mcs
http://cse.unl.edu/grad/mscsgen.shtml
http://www.cs.gsu.edu/?q=graduate_programs
http://www.cs.purdue.edu/graduate/index.html
http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/graduate/
http://school.eecs.wsu.edu/graduate/
http://www.drexel.edu/cs/academics/grad/ms/requirements/
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/cstop/csacademics/csdistancelearning.php
http://www.cs.pitt.edu/grad/ms.php
http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/graduate/degrees/ms.php
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