Program Overview

Master of Science in Software Engineering

The Master of Science in Software Engineering program requires a minimum of 33 semester credit hours.

Program Faculty

The program faculty includes:

• Professors: Farokh B. Bastani, Ovidiu Daescu, Gopal Gupta, Kevin Hamlen, Dung T. Huynh, Andrian Marcus, Yu-Chung (Vincent) Ng, Tien Nguyen, Simeon C. Ntafos, Kamil Sarac, Bhavani Thuraisingham, W. Eric Wong, Weili Wu, I-Ling Yen
• Associate Professors: Lawrence Chung, Cong Liu, Benjamin Raichel, Rym Zalila-Wenkstern
• Assistant Professors: Shuang Hao, Shiyi Wei
• Professors Emeriti: Balaji Raghavachari, Kang Zhang
• Professors of Instruction: Ebru Cankaya, John Cole, Timothy (Tim) Farage, Richard Goodrum, Shyam Karrah, Pushpa Kumar, Nhut Nguyen, Greg Ozbirn, Miguel Razo-Razo
• Associate Professors of Instruction: Sridhar Alagar, Gordon Arnold, Anjum Chida, Michael Christiansen, Chris I. Davis, Karen Doore, Neeraj Gupta, Khiem Le, Mehra Nouroz Borazjany, Mark Paulk, Jason W. Smith, Laurie Thompson, Jeyakesavan (Jey) Veerasamy, James Willson, Nurcan Yuruk
• Assistant Professors of Instruction: Eric Becker, Ranran Feng, Kamran Khan, Karen Mazidi, Richard K. Min, Anarag Nagar

Admission Requirements

The University's general admission requirements are discussed on the Graduate Admission page. The student entering the Computer Science MS program should have an undergraduate preparation equivalent to a baccalaureate in a quantitative science, including calculus and linear algebra. However, special arrangements (requiring more than the minimal number of semester credit hours) can be made for students with good undergraduate preparation in other fields. Minimum requirements are:

• Bachelor's degree which includes 2 semesters of calculus and 1 semester of linear algebra.
• Strong foundation in programming.
• A GPA (grade point average) of at least 3.0 (last 60 semester credit hours).
• GPA in quantitative courses of at least 3.3.
• GRE revised scores of 308, 153, 155, and 4 for the combined, verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing components, respectively, are advisable based on our experience with student success in the program. Applicants are admitted on a competitive basis.

Core Requirements

Course Requirements:

• SE 6329 Object-Oriented Software Engineering
• SE 6361 (CS 6361) Advanced Requirements Engineering
• SE 6362 Advanced Software Architecture and Design
• SE 6367 (CS 6367) Software Testing, Validation and Verification
• SE 6387 Advanced Software Engineering Project Credit will be given for only one of the following courses if students take them together to satisfy Computer Science and Software Engineering degree plan requirements: SE 6329 Object-Oriented Software Engineering and CS 6359 Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Students must satisfy the core requirements by either earning a 3.19 minimum grade point average OR by earning a 3.0 minimum grade point average in the five core courses and taking an extra approved elective (beyond the minimum degree requirements of 33 semester credit hours) and maintain the required GPA.

Electives

• Five (15 semester credit hours) 6000/7000 level elective CS courses, or
• Six semester credit hours of thesis or project courses plus three elective courses (6 + 9 = 15 semester credit hours), with approval of a graduate advisor; a minimum grade point average of 3.0 is required. Courses that are prerequisites to the student's core requirements are especially recommended. Approved electives must be taken to make a minimum of 33 semester credit hours.

Program Details

While the Department of Computer Science offers both the Master of Science in Computer Science and the Master of Science in Software Engineering degrees, students are not permitted to pursue both degrees. Students changing program from MSCS to MSSE or MSSE to MSCS must submit a new online graduate application. The admissions committee in the department will review the application and make a decision.