The University of Minnesota's Requirements for the Master of Science in Computer Science Degree

The M.S. requires a minimum of 31 credits, with at least 14 of these from CSci courses (at least 3 of which must be 8xxx courses) and 6 from outside the department. Students must complete a breadth requirement of four courses in three different areas: theory, systems, and applications. For Plan A, at least 10 thesis credits are required; for Plan B, three Plan B project credits are required. Students must also complete 1 credit of CSci colloquium, which cannot be counted toward the other requirements. Students are expected to maintain a GPA of at least 3.25 for all courses listed on their degree program.

Language Requirements - None.

Final Exam - The final exam is oral.

The University of Minnesota's Requirements for the PhD in Computer Science Degree

Although Graduate School has no requirement for total credits on a doctoral degree program, the computer science programs requires at least 43 course credits, of which 13 must be Computer Science program courses. Credits used to obtain a master's degree can be used to obtain a doctoral degree. The Graduate School does require at least 12 credits in a supporting program or in a minor field. A minor must also be approved by the DGS of the program from which the minor is taken. The Graduate School also requires a minimum of 24 thesis credits in addition to course credits. There is no foreign language requirement for doctoral students in the Computer and Information Sciences program.

Your doctoral degree program cannot be submitted until after you have passed the WPE. Your degree program must be submitted to the DGS no later than the end of the semester following the passing of the WPE. You will be expected to complete the courses listed on your doctoral degree program with a GPA of at least 3.45.

All requirements for the PhD degree must be completed by five years from the end of the semester following the semester in which the student passes the preliminary oral examination. A petition may be submitted to the Graduate School to extend this time limit. The Computer Science Program and the Graduate School are both quite strict about extending this limit. Petitions for a second extension are almost never granted.

Full course offerings listed here.

Course web sites by semester here.

Course Schedules

• Fall
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Streaming only)
• Spring (Streaming only)

Tentative plan (for MSCS)

Completed

• 3 CR Introduction to Compilers
• 3 CR Operating Systems
• 3 CR Advanced Compiler Techniques
• 3 CR; 1 related course from outside CSci department (see list below)
• EE 5371 - Computer Systems Performance Measurement and Evaluation
• 3 CR; 1 course from area of Applications
• CSci 5707 - Principles of Database Systems
• 3 CR; Elective ( CSci 5106 Programming Languages)
• 3 CR; Elective ( EE 5364/CSci 5204 Advanced Computer Architecture)
• 1 CR Computer Science Colloquim
• 3+CR Plan B Project
• 3 CR; 1 related course from outside CSci department (see list below)
• EE 8301 - Reconfigurable Computing

Courses I'm taking right now

• 3 CR; 1 course from area of Theory
• CSci 5451 - Intro to Parallel Computing




List of Some Untaken Classes for Reference

• CSci 5302 - Analysis of Numerical Algorithms
• CSci 5304 - Computational Aspects of Matrix Theory
• CSci 5403 - Computational Complexity
• CSci 5421 - Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures
• CSci 5471 - Modern Cryptography
• CSci 5525 - Machine Learning.
• EE 5531 - Probability and Stochastic Processes.
• Math 5165 - Mathematical Logic
• Math 5707 - Graph Theory and Non-enumerative Combinatorics
• CSci 5107 - Fundamentals of Computer Graphics
• CSci 5511 - Artificial Intelligence I
• Math 5707 - Graph Theory and Non-enumerative Combinatorics
• EE 5581 - Information Theory and Coding
• EE 5301 - VLSI Design Automation I
• EE 5501 - Digital Communications
• EE 5531 - Probability and Stochastic Processes.
• EE 5381 - Telecommunication Networks.
• Phil 5201 - Symbolic Logic I
• Phil 5202 - Symbolic Logic II
• Phil 5211 - Modal Logic
• Phil 5221 - Philosophy of Logic

For the PhD degree, the following must be added to the 31 credits of the MSCS program

• 3 CR; 1 related course from outside CSci department (see list above)
• 3 CR; 1 related course from outside CSci department (see list above)
• 3 CR; 1 additional breadth course from area of Theory (see list above)
• 3 CR; 1 additional breadth course from area of Applications (see list above)
• 0 CR; Take and pass the Written Preliminary Exam
• 0 CR; Take and pass the Oral Preliminary Exam
• 24 CR; Doctoral thesis credits (10 credits in one and 14 in next semester)

This page updated on January 11, 2007.