Curriculum Requirements
Introductory Courses
No Introductory Course may be substituted for any other course at any level.
Introductory courses may be waived for any of the following conditions based on faculty review:
- The student has the appropriate course work to satisfy an Introductory Course.
- The student has appropriate and verified professional experience to satisfy an Introductory Course.
- If an exam is available, the student passes a Graduate Assessment Examination (GAE) in the Introductory Course area.
Foundation Courses
Major Elective Courses
Twenty-eight credit hours of Major Electives are required. Graduates of the MS in Computer Science program must be proficient in at least one broad area of Computer Science listed below. For this reason students will take the remaining twenty-eight credit hours as follows:
- Twelve credit hours (typically taken as three 4-credit courses) from one area.
- SIxteen credit hours (typically taken as four 4-credit courses) from any area, including the option to take the SE Studio Capstone, the 2-course GAM studio sequence, the 1-course CS capstone, the Research Colloquium course, or write an MS Thesis, or develop an MS Research Project.
The courses in each area are listed below. The Independent Study courses (CSC 695) may be taken for up to 8 credits and at most 4 credit hours of CSC 695 can count towards the chosen area.
Areas
Software and Systems Development
Theory
Data Science
Database Systems
Artificial Intelligence
Software Engineering
Game and Real-Time Systems
Human-Computer Interaction
Research and Thesis Options
As part of their electives, students have the option of signing up for the Research Colloquium, or completing a Research Project, or writing a Master Thesis, or participating in a Graduate Internship.
Research Colloquium
Master's Research
Master's Thesis
Graduate Internship
Degree Requirements
Students in this degree program must meet the following requirements:
- Complete a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours in addition to any required introductory courses of the designated degree program.
- Complete all graduate courses and requirements listed in the designated degree program.
- Earn a grade of C- or better in all courses of the designated degree program.
- Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
- Students pursuing a second (or more) graduate degree may not double count or retake any course that applied toward the completion of a prior graduate degree. If a required course in the second degree was already completed and applied toward a previous degree, the student must meet with a faculty advisor to discuss a new course to be completed and substituted in the new degree. This rule also applies to cross-listed courses, which are considered to be the same course but offered under different subjects.
- Students pursuing a second master's degree must complete a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours beyond their first designated degree program in addition to any required introductory courses in their second designated degree program.
Students with a GPA of 3.9 or higher will graduate with distinction.
For DePaul's policy on repeat graduate courses and a complete list of academic policies see the DePaul Graduate Handbook in the Course Catalog.