CSEN MS Degrees: Research vs Course options

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Students pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science can choose between two options:

The following comparison highlights the key differences between the Research-Based and Course-Based CSEN Master’s tracks, covering degree requirements, learning outcomes, evaluation criteria, and career pathways, to help students choose the option that aligns best with their goals.

CSEN MS - research based

CSEN MSCPS - course based

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 30 credit hours of graduate-level coursework, including:

  • 9 credits of required Breadth courses (minimum grade: B or better)
  • 3 credits of required three 1.0-credit Professional Development classes
  • 6 credits of required research hours, fulfilled through a thesis or independent study research
  • 12 credits of Electives

Students must complete 30 credit hours of graduate-level coursework, including:

  • 9 credits of required Breadth courses (minimum grade: B or better)
  • 6 credits of required Capstone Project classes
  • 15 credits of Electives
  • If a sub-plan is declared Students must complete 12 credits of applicable sub-plan courses from electives and BIN (Breadth-Intensive) courses, with a B or better grade.

Learning Outcomes

  • Become knowledgeable in a subfield of computer science, and make a research contribution to the subfield.
  • Have the ability to solve technical problems in computer science through writing code, pseudocode, technical writing, and/or applying foundational concepts from a variety of subfields.
  • Have the ability to cast large, societal, and/or complex problems as computational problems.
  • Have the ability to communicate clearly about their ideas and their research.
  • Have the ability to solve technical problems in computer science through writing code, pseudocode, technical writing, and/or applying foundational concepts from a variety of subfields.
  • Have the ability to cast large, societal, and/or complex problems as computational problems.
  • Have the ability to communicate clearly about their ideas and their capstone project.

Evaluation Method

  • Successfully completing the REQUIREDÌýBreadth classes with a B or better grade.
  • Successfully completing the required course work with a minimum GPA of 3.0.
  • Formulating a research thesis and defending it against a panel of experts, OR conducting an independent study research work under the supervision of a faculty member for a total SIX graduate level credits.
  • Successfully completing the REQUIREDÌýBreadth classes with a B or better grade.
  • Successfully completing the required course work with a minimum GPA of 3.0.
  • Successfully completing the REQUIRED capstone project as part of the required project classes with a B or better grade for a total SIX graduate level credits.

Career Outcomes

The career outcomes of these two options aren’t different. Graduates go on to secure career opportunities in companies like AMD, Amazon, Apple, Inovonics, Rivian, Meta, Micron, Qualcomm, Seagate, Tesla, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Western Digital, Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft. Goldman Sachs, MathWorks, Cisco, NASA, VISA, Splunk, HP, Lilly, Samsung, IBM, and many more tech, financial, health, data companies

Students interested in getting involved in a research career or exploring PhD options will benefit from the research based option.

Diploma

The degree earned in their diploma following either of these options is the same.

Why choose one option vs. the other

  • Students interested in exploring research opportunities, getting published or pursuing PhD as their career goals should choose the research based option.
  • Students interested in industry opportunities should explore course based options
  • Students interested in completing a DUAL degree with the Engineering Management degree should explore course based options.
  • Students interested in specializing in various sub plans should explore the course based options.

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