CS Master’s Program

As a graduate student in the CS department, you can take advantage of:

Small classes taught by highly regarded faculty members
Opportunities to participate in cutting edge research
A collegial department atmosphere, where students and faculty interact frequently

Masters Program Information

CS Masters’ Handbook

The handbook addresses many of the questions you may have about the CS Master’s program.

2023 Handbook

Previous Handbooks

We are always excited meet with our students or prospective students to discuss your questions. Feel free to contact any of the Masters’ Program representatives:

Dr. Jerry Alan Fails – Graduate Coordinator, jerryfails@boisestate.edu | (208) 426-5783
Dr. Amit Jain – Department Chair, ajain@boisestate.edu | (208) 426-3711
Jordan Morales – Department Manager (CS Admin Office), jordanmorales@boisestate.edu | (208) 426-5759

Application and Admission Requirements

Applicants must have either a baccalaureate degree in computer science, or a baccalaureate degree in a related field plus substantial course work and/or professional experience in computer science, with an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Start the application for MS in Computer Science by clicking the button below. It will walk you through the steps needed and will prompt you for the appropriate information.
Apply for the Masters in Computer Science

Application Review

Completed applications will be reviewed by the Computer Science Graduate Committee.

Applicants who meet the stated requirements and whose computer science background is deemed sufficient will be admitted to the program with Regular status. Admission to the program is competitive.
Applicants whose computer science background is deemed deficient may be granted admission with Provisional status. In this case the applicant will be required to pass specific undergraduate computer science courses in order to remove the deficiency and be granted Regular admission status.
Unless otherwise specified, all deficiencies must be removed within two years of Provisional admission to the program. Time spent in Provisional status counts toward the limit of five years (or up to seven years if an extension is granted) allowed for completion of the degree.
The program requires a minimum of 30 credit hours and a typical full-time student finishes the program in two years. A part-time student might take 3-4 years. The degree program is flexible allowing students to work with their adviser to shape it to their needs. More thorough degree requirements and course offerings can be found in the most recent Graduate Catalog.

For more information contact

Jerry Alan Fails

CS Graduate Committee Chair
Office: CCP 257
Phone: (208) 426-5783
Email: jerryfails@boisestate.edu

Application Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the Minimum TOEFL or IELTS Score for International Students?

See Boise State University TOEFL and IELTS requirements. Meeting this minimum requirement does not guarantee admission.

What is the Minimum GRE Score?

Effective January 25, 2021, our program no longer requires applicants to submit GRE scores.

What is the Minimum GPA?

3.0. Meeting this minimum requirement does not guarantee admission.

What should I put in my Statement of Purpose?

Highlight your strengths, acknowledge past weaknesses and what you have done to overcome those or strengthen yourself in light of those weak elements. Follow the elements identified in the Graduate Catalog (specific page) and application. All statements of purpose are checked for plagiarism.

What is the Application Procedure? When are the Application Deadlines?

See Boise State University’s Graduate College checklist. Applications must be submitted no later than May 1st for Fall admission and October 15th for Spring admission.

How can I Submit an Assistantship Application?

When submitting your application online, you can specify whether or not you would like to apply for graduate assistantship. There is no additional form for assistantship application. For priority consideration for assistantship funding, applications must be submitted by January 15th for fall admission or October 15th for the spring admission. Other funding opportunities can be found on the graduate school website.

Are there Tracks or Specializations in the MS CS Program?

There are no tracks or specializations; students are able to choose any subset of courses in consultation with their advisor. You may view individual faculty pages and/or a list of faculty sorted by research areas.

My Baccalaureate Degree is not in Computer Science. May I Apply for the MS CS?

Regular admission requires foundational knowledge in computer science, including introductory programming courses, data structures, and calculus (e.g. a minor in Computer Science). We welcome students transitioning from other backgrounds and encourage them to seek this foundation before applying. The statement of purpose instructions in the Graduate Catalog (specific page) and application guide applicants on how to share their preparedness for starting the program.

What are the Tuition Rates and Fees?

See Boise State University Financial Services Tuition Information.

Helpful Links

Graduate Admissions
Graduate Catalog
Overview of obtaining a Masters in Computer Science (Degree Guidelines)
Current Graduate CS course schedule

Degree Guidelines

Getting Started

Research Advisor

Each student is assigned an initial, temporary advisor with whom they can consult to register for graduate courses in their first semester. Students should talk to other faculty about their various research so as to find that which interests the student. The student should find a permanent advisor within the first semester, but no later than the second semester in the program. Once you have selected an advisor, you should complete the Change of Advisor Form. The student’s advisor is the primary mentor and will be actively engaged in the student’s academic, research, and professional activities. The student’s advisor also provides direction on the student’s academic plan and may provide funding support through grants and fellowships. Frequent interaction between the student and advisor is essential for student success. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule regular meetings and communicate often with their advisor.

Thesis vs. Project

Students work with their advisor to choose either the thesis or project option. A thesis is larger in scope, from six to nine credits. A thesis is research where questions are formed and addressed; a project involves developing a technological artifact – often developing software. A project is typically smaller in scope, from three to six credits. Both require the student to write a full report. See the graduate catalog for further discussion on what is a thesis versus what is a project.

Course Plan

Students are required to take Graduate Courses related to Computer Science (21-27 credits). All courses should be selected by the student and approved by their advisor and the graduate coordinator.
Students can take up to three credits of independent study. Students can also take up to three credits of Practicum (industrial internship). These must be approved by the student’s advisor, committee, and the graduate program coordinator. See next section on how to create a committee.

To view the course descriptions of these courses, go to the Graduate Computer Science Catalog hosted by the Office of the Registrar. Please note that the semester offerings of these electives are accurately reflected in this table, but may not be up to date in the course catalog.

*The courses CS 501, CS 503, CS 505, CS 516, CS 517 and CS 518 are restricted to students in the CS Teacher Endorsement Graduate Certificate or Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction programs.

Number	Name	Offering	Frequency
CS 501*	Computer Science Principles	summer only	1
CS 503*	Teaching and Learning Computer Science	fall only	1
CS 505*	Teaching and Learning Computer Science II	spring only	1
CS 507	Computing Foundations for Computational Science	fall only	1
CS 508	Network and System Foundations for Cybersecurity	spring only	1
CS 510	Databases	fall and spring	1
CS 516*	Introduction to Web Development	fall and spring	1
CS 517*	Mobile Application Development	fall and spring	1
CS 518*	Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Computer Science to Women and Minorities	summer only	1
CS 521	Design and Analysis of Algorithms	fall (even years)	0.5
CS 523	Cyber Physical Systems	spring (even years)	0.5
CS 524	Cyber Security of Critical Infrastructures	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 525	Computer Networks	fall only	1
CS 530	Parallel Computing	fall (even years)	0.5
CS 531	Advanced Programming Languages	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 533	Introduction to Data Science	fall only	1
CS 534	Machine Learning	spring only	1
CS 535	Large-Scale Data Analysis	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 536	Natural Language Processing	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 537	Introduction To Information Retrieval	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 538	Recommender Systems and Online Personalization	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 539	Social Media Mining	fall (even years)	0.5
CS 541	Computer Architecture	fall only	1
CS 547	Digital Forensics	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 550	Programming Language Translation	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 552	Operating Systems	fall and spring	1
CS 554	Advanced Operating Systems	spring (even years)	0.5
CS 555	Distributed Systems	spring (even years)	0.5
CS 557	Artificial Intelligence	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 561	Theory of Computation	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 564	Visualization Techniques	fall (even years)	0.5
CS 565 / Math 565	Numerical Methods II	check math course catalog	-
CS 566 / Math 566	Numerical Methods II	check math course catalog	-
CS 567	Applied Cryptography	fall (even years)	0.5
CS 569	Human Computer Interaction	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 572	Object-Oriented Design Patterns	spring only	1
CS 573	Advanced Software Engineering	fall only	1
CS 574	Advanced Software Quality	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 575	Software Security	spring only	1
CS 622	Advance Network Security	spring (odd years)	0.5
CS 633	Deep Learning	fall (odd years)	0.5
CS 637	Advanced Topics in Information Retrieval	spring (even years)	0.5
CS 667 / Math 667	Advances in Applied Cryptography	spring (even years) check math course catalog	0.5

Thesis/Project Process

Select Topic & Work on Research

Students must define and refine the topic of their thesis or project (in their first semester) with their advisor. Students should work on their research topic throughout their studies.

Form a Committee

The student’s thesis or project will be advised and evaluated by a committee. Students should work with with their advisor to select and invite an additional two or three faculty members to participate on the committee. The norm is three members (including the advisor) and the maximum is four members. Typically the members of this committee are faculty within the Department of Computer Science. However, there can be one committee member that is from outside the Department of Computer Science (from another academic department on campus or industry). When the student and advisor have decided on the committee, the student should discuss this with them to make sure that they agree to serve on the committee. Fill out the “Appointment of Supervisory Committee” form (available from the Graduate College website) and submit to Graduate College. A complete directory of faculty and staff can be found on the Computer Science website.

Apply for Admission to Candidacy

The student needs to apply for Admission to Candidacy to the Graduate College. This must be done nine months before the student intends to graduate. The deadline is stated in the Academic Calendar for the semester the student intends to graduate, not in the Academic Calendar for the semester during which the student submits this form. This also means that the student must complete their thesis/project proposal before this deadline. The Application for Admission to Candidacy form can be found on the website for Graduate College. Part of the candidacy form is to plan out the rest of the your program of study which the student should make in consultation with their advisor. It then becomes a “contract” for the student to follow. Any changes need to be done via a graduate Academic Adjustment form.

Propose Thesis/Project

The student must write a thesis or project proposal working closely with their advisor. Proposal defense should be publicly announced. The student then presents this proposal to their committee in a formal presentation. This must be done at least one semester before the semester that the student intends to graduate. After proposal, Proposal Acceptance Form must be completed by the student and signed by all members of committee plus the Graduate Coordinator and then turned in to the CS Admin Office for department record. Detailed instructions for the proposal can be found in Appendix A of the CS Graduate Student Handbook.

Write the Thesis/Project Report

The student then writes the thesis or project report and presents it to their supervisory committee (refer to the Finish Line below for details and pay attention to deadlines). It must be written using a template provided by the Graduate College. If the student uses the Microsoft Word template on a Mac, we recommend ensuring use of the most recent version of Office, which is available to students for free. Instructions and samples can be found on the Thesis/Project Resources tab.

The Finish Line

What to do During the Final Semester Before Graduation?

Advisor Approval

The student verifies with their advisor that they are ready to graduate!

Timeline

The student checks the Academic Calendar to find out the last date for thesis defense in their graduating semester (usually by the end of the 9th week). Projects can be defended until the finals week, but we strongly recommend an earlier date to have time to complete changes asked for by the student’s committee.

Schedule Defense

The student contacts their committee and sets a date for their defense. They will need to schedule about one and half hours of time. The defense consists of a presentation that is open to the public. Presentations vary in length between 30-50 minutes. After the presentation, there is a public question and answer period, followed by a closed question and answer period by the committee.
To schedule a room for the defense and get the defense advertised by the department and graduate college, the student must fill out the CS Graduate Defense Form for CS Admin Office staff. Admin staff will schedule and confirm a room, then produce a flyer advertising the defense to be posted in the department and emailed out to all CS grad students and faculty. Admin staff will also create a calendar item for the defense on the CS Events Calendar.

Apply for Graduation

The student then applies for graduation via myBoiseState.

Deliver Thesis to Committee

The student gives a printed copy of their thesis/project report to each member of their committee at least two weeks before the defense date. Some committee members may want even more lead time. The student should check with their committee well in advance.

Defend Thesis

On the day of the defense, the student brings one copy of the Defense Committee Approval form available from the Graduate College website.
After the defense, the student incorporates any changes suggested by the committee. The student has the committee chair approve the final version by signing the Defense Committee Approval page. A student who fails the defense may be permitted to try again but failure a second time will result in dismissal from the MS program.
The student brings physical copies of the Defense Committee Approval page and Final Reading Approval page, as well as the Access Agreement for a Thesis or Dissertation form to the Graduate College office as soon as possible before submitting the document electronically via ScholarWorks. Then the student submits a review copy electronically through ScholarWorks – visit the ScholarWorks website for more details.

All forms are available on the Graduate College website

Present Project

Project reports are not reviewed or approved by the Graduate College. However, project reports can be uploaded into ScholarWorks, pending approval of the committee chair, and require the signed ScholarWorks Authorization for a Selected Graduate Project https://www.boisestate.edu/graduatecollege/forms/. Submit committee approval form to the CS Department Office (it does not need to go to the Graduate College).

Thesis/Project Resources

The Department of Computer Science at Boise State University strives to help students through every stage of thesis/project process, to fully understand and map out precisely where their research is going, how they plan on getting there (the Hypotheses), and what transportation to take (the specific Analytic Methodologies).

Utilize the Computer Science Masters’ Student Handbook to explore all aspects of the Masters’ Program

View the Thesis or project proposal instructions

Utilize the Masters Thesis/Project report LaTeX style files

View Recent Masters Thesis/Project Reports

To schedule your defense please fill out the CS Graduate Proposal and Defense form