Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Curriculum

Summary of Requirements for the
M.S. Degree in Computer Science
24 credits of graduate coursework (with the thesis option) or
30 credits of graduate coursework (with the non-thesis option):

  • including the four required breadth courses with B’ or better (12 credits total)
  • containing no regular graduate course taken with pass/fail grading
  • containing at most 3 credits of some combination of CMSC 699, CMSC 791, and CMSC 696
  • containing at most 6 credits transferred from another university with prior approval
  • containing at most 6 credits of non-CMSC courses with prior approval
A minimum overall GPA of 3.0
6 credits of Masters Thesis Research (CMSC 799) (with the thesis option) or
3 credits of Research Project (CMSC 698) with the non-thesis option
Successfully completing and defending the thesis with the thesis option or
Successfully completing and obtaining approval on the scholarly paper
Completing the program within a maximum of five years
Completing each of the milestones according to the timeline specified in Section 3.3
M.S. Timeline/Milestones)

Summary of Requirements for the
Ph.D. Degree in Computer Science
33 credits of graduate coursework

  • including the breadth requirements (12 credits total)
  • containing no regular graduate course taken with pass/fail grading
  • containing at most 6 credits of some combination of CMSC 696, CMSC 699, CMSC 800, and CMSC 898
  • containing at most 9 credits of non-CMSC courses with prior approval
A minimum GPA of 3.0
Passing the Comprehensive Examination / Portfolio
Passing the Preliminary Examination and Admission to Candidacy
12 credits of Dissertation Research (CMSC 899) taken after Admission to
Candidacy, taken over at least two semesters (Summer semesters typically do
not count)
Completing and successfully defending the Dissertation
A minimum of three years of full-time graduate study or its equivalent, with
at least one year of full-time study completed at UMBC
Completing each of the milestones according to the timeline specified in
Section 4.5 Ph.D. Timeline/Milestones