Master of Science in Computer Science

The Master of Science (M.S.) in Computer Science is a research-oriented degree that can be counted toward the Computer Science Ph.D.

CS 599Thesis Research (minimum applied toward degree)4
Breadth Requirement - One course from each of three different (out of eight) core areas9-12
Advanced courses – One 500-level course from one of the three areas selected in the Breadth Requirement; Remaining hours from any 500-level CS course (500-590 or 598) except CS 591 or CS 597. An approved 500-level non-CS course may satisfy 4 credit hours of this requirement; CS 599 (thesis) may satisfy 4 credit hours of this requirement.12
Elective courses (subject to Other Requirements and Conditions below) 4-7
Total Hours32

Other Requirements1

Other Requirements and Conditions may overlap
A minimum of 16 CS credit hours must be taken from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.
A minimum of 12 500-level credit hours overall.
A maximum of 4 hours of CS 591 and CS 491 may be applied toward the degree.
A grade of B- or higher is required for Breadth Requirement course work.
At most, 12 semester credit hours of previous graduate course work may be transferred and applied to the M.S. degree requirements and 12 credit hours of non-degree graduate courses completed in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign may be transferred and applied to the M.S. degree requirements.
It is each student's responsibility to secure a M.S. thesis advisor and start thesis research no later than the beginning of the third semester in the program.
All degree requirements must be completed within five consecutive semesters (only fall and spring semesters are counted).
The minimum program GPA is 3.0.