Admission to the Program requires measures in accordance with the requirements for admission to the Graduate School at Texas Southern University. The entire admission process will be under the direction of the Graduate Committee in the Department of Computer Science and the Graduate Council in the Graduate School at the University.
For unconditional admission, the University requirements, as well as the Program requirements, are as follows:
- Graduation with a bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent, from an accredited college or university. An example of the “equivalent,” as indicated, maybe an international student who has graduated from a college or university that issues a diploma or certificate instead of a degree.
- A satisfactory undergraduate sequence of courses in the proposed major.
- A grade point average in all undergraduate work of 2.50 (C+) or better or a grade point average of 3.0 for the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate coursework.
- A score of at least 550 on the TOEFL, if the applicant has a degree from a non-US university
Conditional admission may be given to applicants who do not satisfy all the requirements for unconditional admission in accordance with existing University procedures. However, the final disposition of these cases ultimately rests with the Dean of the Graduate School.
In addition to the general requirements for admission referenced above, applicants for admission to graduate standing in Computer Science requires the applicant to present evidence of having completed the following courses with the minimum number of semester credit hours indicated with grades of “C” or better:
- Object Oriented Programming/C++ or JAVA (3)
- Computer Architecture (3)/Computer Networks (3)
- Data Structures (3)
After successfully completing the course requirements described below, students admitted to the Program must pass a department-administered Qualifying Examination upon completing those courses designated as “core courses” for the M.S. in Computer Science. Passing the examination is a requirement after no more than two attempts and before embarking upon a thesis if the curriculum plan described below requires a thesis (Plan A).
A student’s designation to “candidacy status” cannot occur for the M.S. in Computer Science until successful completion of the Qualifying Examination.
An overall summary of the general requirements for the M.S. in Computer Science follows:
- Completion of thirty (31) semester credit hours in Computer Science (500 and 600 Level) as described below through Plan A or Plan B with a grade point average of 3.00 or better.
- Completion and presentation (through an oral defense) of a thesis to a committee composed of members of the Department of Computer Science and representatives of the Graduate School if the Plan A curriculum of study is the choice.
- Completion of a total of six (6) semester credit hours advanced electives (600 level) and an Independent Master’s Project if the Plan B curriculum of study is the choice.
- Completion of a graduation application.
