Graduate Curriculum Summary

The M.S. in Computer Science, as proposed, requires the completion of thirty (31) semester credit hours to be completed over a two-year period. Students enrolled will have the option of either doing a thesis (Plan A) or not doing one (Plan B). For the Plan A curriculum, six (6) semester credit hours are devoted to original research, while Plan B curriculum requires the completion of six (6) extra elective credits and an independent Master’s project.

For Plans A and B, 13 semester credit hours through five courses constitute a core curriculum that must be completed before a student is allowed to establish his/her candidacy for the M.S. Degree Plan A. If the student elects to follow Plan A, he/she is appointed a Thesis Advisor by the Chairperson of the Department of Computer Science in accord with the regulations of the Graduate School.

The five core courses address the first seven content areas of the fourteen total areas referenced by the ACM. The remaining content areas are addressed in elective offerings in accord with the backgrounds and research interests of the faculty members to anchor the overall graduate program.

Thus, the Plan A curriculum requires completion of 5 core courses for 13 semester credit hours, 4 elective courses for 12 semester credit hours, and  6 semester credit hours of thesis research for a total of 31 semester credit hours.

The Plan B curriculum requires completion of four core courses for 13 semester credit hours, and 5 elective courses for 15 semester credit hours, and one course of independent master’s project  for 3 semester credit hours for a total of thirty (31) semester credit hours. These overall plans are designed for students to complete at Texas Southern University once admitted. Transfer students will not be recruited. However, in the event that a student wants to transfer credits from an accredited institution of higher learning to the University for use in fulfilling requirements for the M.S. in Computer Science, the Dean of the Graduate School must be contacted directly for review of the request. If the request for transfer credits is approved by the Dean, official notification is provided to the Office of the University Registrar to include these credits on the student’s official transcript. The following two restrictions apply to these transfer credits: no more than six (6) semester credit hours may be transferred at the graduate level, and credits accepted for transfer must have been earned with grades of “B” (3.00) or better.

The five core courses are listed below. Reference is made to the ACM content area(s) addressed at the end of each course title:

1. COSC5311    Algorithmic Analysis and Data Structures, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: PF, PL and AL
2. COSC5331    Advanced Computer Architectures, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: AR
3. COSC5341    Operating Systems, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: OS and NC
4. COSC5351    Theory of Computation, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: DS and AL
5. COSC5199    Graduate Seminar in CS, 1 semester credit hour, ACM content areas: NC, HC, and PL

The following courses are intended as electives for the degree program with ACM content areas noted:

• COSC5345    Computer Networks, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: NC and OS
• COSC5347    Cryptography and Computer Security, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: SP and NC.
• COSC5353    Formal Languages and Automata, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: PL, AL
• COSC5371    Artificial Intelligence, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IS
• COSC5383    Data Mining, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IM
• COSC5391    Web Services, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: NC, HC, and PL
• COSC6361    Advanced Topics in Software Engineering, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: SE
• COSC6381    Advanced Database Management Systems, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IM
• COSC6396    Special Topics in Computer Science, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible
• COSC6397    Independent Master’s Project, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible
• COSC6X98   Master’s Thesis Research I, 1-3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible
• COSC6X99   Master’s Thesis Research II, 1-3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible