Computer Science, MS

Program Requirements

To receive full admission to graduate study in computer science, a student must have taken intermediatelevel undergraduate computer science, including computer organization, data structures, operating systems, either algorithms or theory of computation, and either compilers or survey of programming languages; and basic mathematics including discrete mathematics. An applicant with minimal deficiencies may be admitted with prerequisites, while one with several deficiencies may be required to satisfactorily complete prerequisite work as a non-degree student prior to admission as a graduate student.

A candidate for the MS degree must satisfactorily complete an approved program of at least 30 graduate hours. Students may elect one of two options to satisfy the degree requirements: a coursework-only option or a thesis option. The thesis option requires six hours of research credit as part of the 30-hour requirement. Students may take up to six hours of approved courses in areas outside the department.

Combined BS/MS in Computer Science

Clemson Computer Science students may begin a Master of Science degree program while completing the Bachelor of Science degree and use a limited number of courses to satisfy the requirements of both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. The following requirements apply:

1. Undergraduate students must have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.4 and must have completed the junior year prior to taking graduate courses. Students are required to maintain this minimum grade-point average to continue enrollment in a combined degree program.
2. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are not required to be submitted as part of the Graduate School application; however, applicants are encouraged to submit GRE scores to receive full consideration for graduate fellowships and assistantships upon completion of the BS degree.
3. Students in a combined degree program are conditionally accepted to the graduate program until completion of the BS requirements. Students with this conditional acceptance are not eligible for a graduate assistantship until the conditional acceptance is removed.
4. Up to nine semester hours from any 6000- or 8000-level computer science courses may be used to satisfy the requirements of the BS degree.
5. Graduate courses taken as an undergraduate may be included in the graduate program of study; however, any 6000-level course that has a corresponding required 4000-level counterpart in the BS or BA in Computer Science or the BS in Computer Information Systems may not be counted toward the MS degree. Since approval of the graduate program of study is required by the student’s graduate advisory committee, students should consult their academic advisors before selecting courses to be included in the graduate program.

Students interested in this combined degree program should discuss it with the Computer Science graduate program coordinator and undergraduate program advisor. Students pursuing Senior Departmental Honors should also meet with the Computer Science Honors Coordinator. Application to this program should be made by the end of the junior year but may be made at any time from the junior year until one semester prior to the expected BS graduation. Application details are available in the Undergraduate Announcements.

The Computer Science faculty envision students enrolled in this combined degree program will typically complete nine hours of graduate credit while completing their BS degree requirements and complete the remaining requirements for the MS degree in one calendar year or less of graduate study.