

The Master of Science degree in Computer Science provides students with an educational and research environment to develop career paths through necessary training with emerging technologies. Graduates have the technical knowledge and skills necessary for success within the information and high technology industries.
The M.S. degree in Computer Science has two culminating options: thesis or non-thesis. Students planning to pursue a Ph.D. degree an/or academic research should select the thesis option. Students planning to pursue applied research and development in industry may select the non-thesis option. The thesis option requires original research and a written thesis. The non-thesis option requires a capstone project and an optional industrial internship.
The Computer Science major includes the following optional concentrations:
Students opting to not pursue a concentration will create a 12-credit hour individualized plan of study with their advisor.
For more information about graduate admissions, visit the graduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit the international admission website.
For more information about graduate admissions, please visit the Graduate Studies admission website. For more information on international admission, visit the Office of Global Education’s admission website.
Prospective students must successfully have completed high-level algebra, geometry and calculus coursework (equivalent to the following Kent State courses: MATH 12002, MATH 12003, and MATH 21001). In addition, it is strongly recommended that students successfully have completed coursework in computer science, including programming, data structures, abstraction, operating systems, combinatorial analysis and discrete structures, (equivalent to the following Kent State courses: CS 13001, CS 23001, CS 23022, CS 33211, CS 35101, and CS 46101). Highly qualified students lacking preparation in certain standards areas may be admitted.
Applications submitted after this deadline will be considered on a space-available basis.
Graduates of this program will be able to:
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Major Requirements | ||
CS 69191 | MASTER'S SEMINAR | 2 |
Core Courses, choose one course each from four out of the five categories: 1 | 12 | |
Computational Data Science Category | ||
See courses under Computational Data Science concentration | ||
Computer Engineering Category | ||
See courses under Computer Engineering concentration | ||
Computer Security Category | ||
See courses under Computer Security concentration | ||
Software and Application Category | ||
CS 57201 | HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION | |
CS 63005 | ADVANCED DATABASE SYSTEMS DESIGN | |
CS 63100 | COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH INFORMATICS | |
CS 63901 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING METHODOLOGIES | |
CS 63902 | SOFTWARE EVOLUTION | |
CS 64401 | IMAGE PROCESSING | |
CS 64402 | MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS AND BIOMETRICS | |
CS 67101 | ADVANCED COMPUTER GRAPHICS | |
CS 67301 | SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION | |
CS 67302 | INFORMATION VISUALIZATION | |
Theory and Algorithms Category | ||
CS 63301 | PARALLEL AND DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING | |
CS 64201 | ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | |
CS 64301 | PATTERN RECOGNITION PRINCIPLES | |
CS 66101 | ADVANCED TOPICS IN ALGORITHMS | |
CS 66105 | PARALLEL AND DISTRIBUTED ALGORITHMS | |
CS 66110 | COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY | |
Culminating Requirement, choose from the following: | 6 | |
CS 69099 | CAPSTONE PROJECT (taken twice) | |
CS 69099 & CS 69192 | CAPSTONE PROJECT and GRADUATE INTERNSHIP 2 | |
CS 69199 | THESIS I 3 | |
Additional Requirements or Concentrations | ||
Choose from the following: | 12 | |
Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 32 |
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Major Requirements | ||
Computer Science (CS) Electives | 12 | |
Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Concentration Requirements | ||
Concentration Electives, choose from the following: | 12 | |
CS 54001 | COMPUTER SCIENCE III - PROGRAMMING PATTERNS | |
CS 54201 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | |
CS 54202 | MACHINE LEARNING AND DEEP LEARNING | |
CS 63005 | ADVANCED DATABASE SYSTEMS DESIGN | |
CS 63015 | DATA MINING TECHNIQUES | |
CS 63016 | BIG DATA ANALYTICS | |
CS 63017 | BIG DATA MANAGEMENT | |
CS 63018 | PROBABILISTIC DATA MANAGEMENT | |
Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Concentration Requirements | ||
Concentration Electives, choose from the following: | 12 | |
CS 53301 | SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FOR ROBOTICS | |
CS 53302 | ALGORITHMIC ROBOTICS | |
CS 53303 | INTERNET OF THINGS | |
CS 53305 | ADVANCED DIGITAL DESIGN | |
CS 53334 | HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION | |
CS 63201 | ADVANCED OPERATING SYSTEMS | |
CS 63304 | CLUSTER COMPUTING | |
CS 63305 | MULTICORE COMPUTING | |
CS 63306 | EMBEDDED COMPUTING | |
CS 65101 | ADVANCED COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE | |
CS 65202 | ADVANCED COMMUNICATION NETWORKS | |
CS 65203 | WIRELESS AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS | |
CS 65301 | SYSTEM MODELING AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION | |
Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Concentration Requirements | ||
Concentration Electives, choose from the following: | 12 | |
CS 53202 | SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION | |
CS 53203 | SYSTEMS PROGRAMMING | |
CS 55203 | COMPUTER NETWORK SECURITY | |
CS 57205 | INFORMATION SECURITY | |
CS 57206 | DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY | |
CS 57207 | DIGITAL FORENSICS | |
CS 57221 | INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOLOGY | |
Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Courses taken for the core cannot be counted again as an elective or concentration course. The list of courses offered each semester, including department-approved special topics, is available in the department's graduate office.
Students may complete a capstone-related elective course in place of an internship with approval from the graduate coordinator.
Students selecting the thesis option must form a master's thesis committee, which will include the advisor and at least two other graduate faculty members. The thesis topic and committee must be approved by the advisor and graduate coordinator. The final version of the thesis must be approved by the advisor, thesis committee and graduate coordinator.
Candidates for the Master of Science with a thesis option must successfully complete 24 credit hours of graduate courses in CS, of which at least ten credit hours must be at the 60000 level, and only 12 credit hours can be at the 50000 level. In addition, two credit hours of the Master's Seminar (CS 69191) are required. Only three credit hours of Research (CS 69098) may be counted toward the degree. However, students are permitted to take this course multiple times. Culminating experience for the MS thesis pathway is original research, writing, and successfully defending a Master's thesis for which six credit hours are earned in Thesis I (CS 69199) and Thesis II (CS 69299).
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