Texas State CS  > Graduate Studies > Degree Offerings

Degree Offerings

Background Requirements

Students are required to fulfill background course work if they do not have adequate undergraduate computer science background. The background requirements may be reduced if evidence is presented which show that the applicant has taken equivalent courses elsewhere prior to enrollment at Texas State. Background work must be completed before enrolling in graduate courses. Background courses are offered at Texas State and sometimes at the RRHEC campus in North Austin at various times; some background courses can be taken at other institutions.

The minimum undergraduate background requirements for computer science and software engineering majors are:

• CS 1428, CS 2308, CS 2318, CS 3339, CS 3358, CS 3409, 6 hours of advanced CS electives (3000-4000 level), and either CS 4318 or CS 4328. These courses must be completed with no grade less than a "C" and no more than two "C's".
• Eleven hours of mathematics courses with no grade below "C" which includes three hours of Discrete Mathematics (MATH 5358 or equivalent) and eight hours of Calculus (MATH 2471, MATH 2472).

In general, these requirements may be reduced if evidence is presented which shows that the applicant has taken equivalent courses elsewhere prior to enrollment at Texas State. Background work must be completed before enrolling in graduate courses.

Master of Arts

The Master of Arts degree with a major in computer science requires:

• Completion of at least 18 semester hours of graduate course work in computer science, including the 15-hour core required for computer science majors.
• One of these two options:
  • Thesis option (30-semester hour degree): A thesis is required, and it must be accepted by a departmental supervisory committee of graduate faculty members, the department chair, and the graduate dean. The thesis program requires a minimum enrollment of 6 hours in thesis (CS 5399A, CS 5399B). Thesis credit requirement information is provided in the "Degree Information 'Thesis Requirements'" section of the catalog. Completion of an approved minor of 6 graduate hours, which may or may not be from the sciences, is also required.
  • Non-thesis option (36-semester hour degree): Completion of a minimum of 9 additional graduate computer science hours plus an approved 9 hour minor, which may or may not be from the sciences, are also required.

Master of Science in Computer Science

• Completion of at least 18 semester hours of course work in computer science, including the 15-hour core required for computer science majors.
• One of these two options:
  • Thesis option (30-semester hour degree): A thesis is required, and it must be accepted by a departmental supervisory committee of graduate faculty members, the department chair, and the graduate dean. The thesis program requires a minimum enrollment of 6 hours in thesis (CS 5399A, CS 5399B). Thesis credit requirement information is provided in the "Degree Information 'Thesis Requirements'" section of the graduate catalog. Completion of an approved minor of at least 6 graduate hours in the sciences (or the student not selecting a minor may replace the minor with 6 graduate hours of computer science courses) is also required.
  • Non-thesis option (36-semester hour degree): Completion of a minimum of 9 additional graduate computer science hours plus an approved minor of at least 9 graduate hours in the sciences (or the student not selecting a minor may replace the minor with 9 graduate hours of computer science courses) are required.

Computer science majors must complete 15 graduate hours of core course work, including CS 5346, CS 5329, CS 5391, and at least one course from each of the following groups:
Group 1: CS 5306, CS 5310, CS 5332
Group 2: CS 5318, CS 5338

Master of Science in Software Engineering

The Master of Science degree with a major in software engineering requires:

• Completion of 21 semester hours of graduate software engineering core course work.
• One of these two options:
  • Thesis option (30-semester hour degree): Completion of an additional 3 graduate computer science hours. A thesis is required and must be accepted by a departmental supervisory committee of graduate faculty members, the department chair, and the graduate dean. The thesis program requires a minimum enrollment of 6 hours in thesis (CS 5399A, CS 5399B). Thesis credit requirement information is provided in the "Degree Information 'Thesis Requirements'" section of the graduate catalog.
  • Non-thesis option (36-semester hour degree): Completion of CS 5394 and an additional 12 graduate computer science hours.

Software engineering majors must complete 21 graduate hours of core course work, including CS 5389, CS 5391, CS 5392, CS 5393, CS 5396, and two courses (6 hours) selected from CS 5306, CS 5310, CS 5329, CS 5332, CS 5346. Non-thesis students must also complete CS 5394.