Master of Science in Computer Science Degree Requirements

The Graduate School provides general requirements for the Master of Science in all departments at CU Boulder. The following requirements specifically pertain to students pursuing a Master of Science in the Department of Computer Science. It supplements the Graduate School requirements; in all cases not specifically mentioned below, the general Graduate School requirements are understood to apply.

Table of Contents

External Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students

Plan of Study

Students will be expected to submit a , in consultation with their departmental advisor, during the first semester of study. Changes to the plan of study must be approved by the advisor.

While pursuing the research based MS degree in CS, you may select between two options:

  • Thesis Option: Complete 24 credits of course hours, according to the course requirements mentioned below, and take 6 thesis credits. You must also fulfill other MS degree requirements as stated by the department. Learn more about the thesis option requirements.Ìý
  • Non-Thesis Option: Complete 24 credits of course hours, according to the course requirements mentioned below, and take 6 credits of independent study hours. You must also fulfill other MS degree requirements as stated by the department.

Advising

Research based Master's students are advised by the Sr. Graduate Advisor when they start the program. If a student chooses to do Independent Study research work, the Sr. Graduate Advisor continues as their academic advisor throughout the program. If a student chooses to do a master's thesis, typically their thesis supervisor serves as their research/thesis advisor and the Sr. Graduate Advisor will continue with academic advising. Students consult with the Sr. Graduate Advisor to plan their course of study and any academic advising.Ìý

Course Requirements

View the pre-fall 2019 course requirements 

The research-based MS requires 30 total credits of approved graduate-level courses.Ìý

Required Professional Development (3 credits) 

The research-based MS requires students to complete the following three 1.0 credit professional development courses. All students must earn a B or better (not a B-) in these courses.Ìý

  • CSCI 5000 Intro to MS Resaerch (1 credit) - taken during first fall.
  • CSCI 5100 Research Colloquium (1 credit) - taken any semester.
  • CSCI 5100 maybe taken twice at the most but not more than that. Alternately, students may elect to take any other approved graduate level 1.0 credit course, which is not Independent Study research hour.

Breadth courses requirement (9 credits) 

Computer Science courses are listed in three bins. All students must earn a B or better (not a B-) in one 5000-level course (not 6000 or higher) from each of the bins.

  • Breadth Course Bins 
    • One course required from each of three bins (9 credits)
    • Highly recommended to complete this requirement by end of year 1.
    • Bins get updated every 2-3 years.
    • By petition to the Graduate Committee, similar transferred graduate work done elsewhere may be used to satisfy part of this requirement.Ìý

Elective Courses (12 credits)

Any 12 credits with the following restrictions:

  • One THREE credits class may be Professional Internship class.
  • No more than two non-CS classes: Students may take no more than total 6 credits of non-CS classes and count towards their degree requirement,  as long as these classes are at graduate level (5XXX and above) and are offered at CU Boulder.
  • CSEN students may not take NetEng Fundamentals classes (CSCI 5010; CSCI 5020 or CSCI 5030) and count towards their degree.
  • CSEN Research based students may not take MSCPS project based capstone classes (CSCI 5040; CSCI 5050; CSCI 5340 and CSCI 5350) and count towards their degree.

Research-based courses (6 credits)

Total 6 credits of either independent study or MS thesis hours. These hours cannot be taken during the first semester. A minimum GPA of 3.3 is required to be eligible to enroll in research credits. Students need at least a B (not B-) or better grade to complete this requirement. The deadline to add these hours in any given semester is always the first Wednesday after classes begin.

Graduation Checklist

The following Graduate School forms must be submitted to the Grad Advisor for approval.

IMPORTANT: Check the Graduate School deadlines prior to the start of the semester.

MS Research Based - Independent Study Option

  • Apply to Graduate. Students must apply through the to graduate. This notifies the Graduate School and your department that you intend to graduate. If you do not complete the requirements for graduation, you must log back in and re-apply to graduate for the new graduation date. You must apply to graduate online whether or not you plan to attend the ceremony.
  • Candidacy Application for Advanced Degree 

MS Thesis Option

  • Apply to Graduate. Students must apply through the to graduate. This notifies the Graduate School and your department that you intend to graduate. If you do not complete the requirements for graduation, you must log back in and re-apply to graduate for the new graduation date. You must apply to graduate online whether or not you plan to attend the ceremony.
  • Candidacy Application for Advanced Degree 
  • Master's Examination Report 
  • Final Grade Card - this is an online form initiated by the Grad Advisor
  • Thesis Approval FORM (TAF), initiated by the student.

Transfer Credit

Master's students may request a maximum of nine semester hours taken at another University or within CU (either taken as a non-degree student OR taken as a non-CS student) to be transferred. All transfer requests must have departmental approval, please reach out to your graduate advisor for steps on how to request review of credits. You will need your syllabi, unofficial copy of your transcript, and a confirmation that the classes have not been used towards any other degree (Bachelor’s or higher).Ìý

Grades

The Graduate School requires that to receive a master's degree, a student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 in all courses taken as a graduate student. No grade lower than a C can be counted towards the master's degree. No grades lower than B can be counted towards breadth and research requirements.

Adequate Progress

Any student who does not enroll for any course work relevant to Computer Science in any one semester (summer semesters excluded) must supply the department with a written statement describing the reasons for such inactivity and the student's current intentions concerning work towards the degree. This statement must be received by the department by the end of the eighth week of the semester in question. Failure to do so will be regarded as evidence of a lack of interest in continuing in the program. Similarly, any student who does not enroll for any Computer Science course work for three consecutive semesters (summer semesters excluded) will be regarded as showing a lack of interest in continuing in the program. In either case, the student may be asked to explain to the department why the student should not be removed from the degree program, with the department making the final decision on the removal.

Academic Standards

Minimum Grades & GPA Requirements

Students must complete a total of 30 credit hours of approved graduate level course work with a grade of C or better and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00.

Any student, who fails to maintain a 3.00 grade point average or to make adequate progress toward completing a degree, as assessed by the student’s academic/research advisor, will be subject to suspension or dismissal from the Graduate School upon consultation with the major department. The final decision on suspension or dismissal will be made by the Dean of the Graduate School. See the Graduate School Rules for additional information.

Incomplete (I) Grades

An incomplete (I) grade is given only when students, for documented reasons beyond their control, have been unable to complete course requirements in the semester enrolled. A substantial amount of work must have been satisfactorily completed before approval of such a grade is given. The final grade (earned by completing the course requirements or by retaking the course) does not result in the deletion of the (I) from the transcript. A second entry is posted on the transcript to show the final grade for the course. At the end of one year, (I) grades for courses that are not completed or repeated are regarded as (F) and are shown as such on the student’s transcript. Courses with grades of (I) are not included in the computation of grade point averages until a final letter grade has been awarded in that course.

Time Limit

All requirements for the research based MS degree must be completed within four years of the start of course work.

Repeat Exams

A student who fails the oral thesis defense may retake the failed exam once, in a later semester. In doing this the student may switch between the thesis and the non-thesis option of the program. A maximum of two attempts is allowed.

Switching to the Course-Based MS

You may switch between the research-based and course-based MS degree options once for genuine academic reasons on a case-by-case basis via petition to the Graduate Committee. You may not switch during the term you plan to graduate. Your last term officially begins after census date of the prior term. Please fill out the petition form and submit it to the graduate advisor via email.

Moving from MS to PhD 

Research-based MS students may transfer to the PhD program at any time during their academic career at CU Boulder. Learn how to move from MS to PhD.Ìý

Thesis vs. Non-Thesis

Students who elect to do a thesis receive 6 hours of thesis credit towards the required 30 hours of coursework. They must also take an oral comprehensive exam on their thesis work and submit their thesis to the graduate school for approval. Students electing the non-thesis option must complete 6 hours of independent study research. The Indepdendent Study hours may be spread over two or more terms. Master's thesis defense must be scheduled following Graduate School deadlines and the exam committee plus date of defense must be sent to your Graduate Advisor at least two weeks before the exam is held via email.

Thesis Option Requirements

Thesis Advisor Selection

In order to enroll in the MS Thesis program, students must first secure a thesis advisor. There are various ways to finding an advisor during your first Fall semester, which are as follows:

  • The Department organizes pre-research advising sessions, wherein faculty will present their work and share contact information if you are interested in working with them.
  • Almost every lab has group meetings or reading group classes. You may reach out to the PhD student in that lab to see if their advisor is fine letting you attend these meetings.
  • You may also reach out to faculties of the classes you are taking if you are interested in that area.

MS Thesis Plan

MS Thesis students must submit the MS Thesis Plan Form.Ìý This notifies the Grad School and your advisor that you are opting for the Thesis option. If your plans change and you switch to the Independent Study option, you will have to email your academic advisor and they will notify the Grad School of the same.

MS Thesis Hours

6 credits of MS thesis hours (CSCI 6950) must be completed. Students may split these hours however they like but they must discuss this with their faculty advisor. Students are not able to register for MS thesis credits on their own and should submit the online petition for enrollment. Your advisor will add these hours for you.

Written Thesis

The written thesis must comply with Graduate School rules and procedures in terms of format and submission and meet set deadlines. Students are required to submit the full written thesis electronically at the .

Thesis Defense

Students must pass a thesis defense, which is a final examination on the thesis and related topics. In the defense, students are expected to explain their research clearly and concisely. This is an opportunity for recognition of completed MS Thesis research. It is also an opportunity for discussion and formal evaluation of the thesis. The thesis defense may occur before or after the final electronic submission of the written thesis to the Graduate School but must take place prior to the end of the final semester.

Thesis Advisor & Committee 

The student must find a thesis topic and a thesis committee; these are usually done in parallel. The committee must include three faculty and your advisor is automatically one of these and is the committee Chair. The other members need to have Graduate faculty appointment with Graduate School, who will agree to serve. The Chair’s policy requires that at least two members of the committee have to be tenured or tenure track CS faculty. If the chair of the committee is a faculty who holds a courtesy appointment with CS, they will be considered equivalent to a CS faculty for committee role purposes. There does not have to be a non-CS member on the committee, however if you wish to have an external member, that is also an option.

The thesis topic must be acceptable to the committee and the committee must believe that the student is capable of doing the research needed to complete a thesis on this topic.

When you are ready to defend

 Once students are ready to defend their MS Thesis:

  1. Please email the list of your committee members to your academic advisor (staff) as soon as you decide and at least 3 weeks before your defense date, so that they may check Graduate Faculty Appointments for your committee members.Ìý Once they give you an okay on your committee list, please go to the step #2.
    • For any external (non-CU) members, your academic advisor will need the most updated short resume of the member to process their faculty appointment to allow them to serve on your committee. This process takes anywhere from three weeks to a month, in some cases.
  2. Please read the instructions for the Master's Final Examination Form very carefully and follow instructions there to complete the process for your DocuSign Exam form.

Final Steps

  • Please complete the Thesis Approval Form (TAF) process through docusign where you will identify your committee chair and one other member to sign the form.Ìý The two members will receive the form simultaneously with a copy of your thesis attached for their review, to ensure that the committee approves the final version with any revisions requested by the committee. Once complete with approval signatures, you will receive the final version of the form, and you will save the pdf document and submit to UMI/Proquest as a supplementary file along with their thesis or dissertation. The thesis submission will not be complete without this supplementary form.Ìý The form is located on our academic forms website, and step by step instructions are included as well.
  • Your academic advisor will be processing your final grade report online, a day before your defense and your advisor will receive a notification to submit the final grade after your defense.
  • Also, please remember to meet set deadlines to submit documents to Graduate School.
  • Finally, submit the following information to your academic advisor a week before your defense to announce your defense.
    • Name
    • Title
    • Committee
    • Date/Time/Venue of defense
    • One paragraph abstract
    • A few sentences of biographical note about yourself.