Graduate Programs

The mission of the computer science graduate program is to provide students with an educational and research environment that fosters personal and intellectual growth, helps academic goals flourish, and develops career paths through necessary training with emerging technologies.

A note to students applying to the upcoming Fall and Spring semester: As a result of the high volume of applications, your application will take longer than usual to be reviewed. On average it may take 6 weeks from the date it was completed.

Our Programs

Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree Program in Computer Science

The Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree Program in Computer Science enables students with a bachelor's degree from another field of study to enter the many fields that require both computer science skills and skills gained in the student's prior studies. The program requires no prior computer science training and covers a breadth of knowledge in advanced computer science topics that can also be used to solve problems in the field of the student's bachelor's degree.

Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Program in Computer Science

The Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Program in Computer Science provides students with an educational and research environment to develop career paths through necessary training with emerging technologies. Graduates have the technical knowledge and skills necessary for success within the information and high technology industries.

Along with supporting a thesis option, the degree supports a non-thesis option for students who do not plan to complete a doctorate in computer science and, instead, are pursuing a professional career that does not involve research and want an individualized plan of study.
The degree also provides three optional concentrations: computational data science, computer engineering, and computer security.

Master of Science Degree Program in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI)

The Master of Science Degree Program in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) is a focused STEM area within Computer Science. By the study of theory and application of AI techniques, students will be prepared to solve challenging real-world problems and address societal needs in areas such as human-machine interface (including natural language processing), computer vision, smart homes, information visualization, communications and cyber security, transportation, disaster management, resource optimization, and health management. The MSAI program supports three major theme areas: intelligent analytics, smart homes and automation, and robotics, through its core and elective courses, to meet the continuing surge of industrial demand.

Master of Science Degree Program in Data Science

The Master of Science Degree Program in Data Science is an interdisciplinary and emerging STEM program founded on the principles of mathematics and the sciences and developed through a synthesis of mathematics and computer science. It blends together methods and ideas from statistics, databases, data analysis, big data, artificial intelligence, numerical analysis, graph theory, and visualization for the purposes of finding information in data, and applying that information to solving real-world problems.

Combined B.S./M.S. Program

Prepare For Your Future Faster

The Department of Computer Science offers a combined (integrated) graduate degree program (BS/MS) for undergraduate students with outstanding academic records to encourage them to pursue advanced degrees. This allows well-qualified undergraduate students in the Computer Science program at Kent State to start graduate study before completing their undergraduate degree. Enrolling in a combined BS/MS program can shorten the total time to get both bachelor's and master's degrees. By enrolling in a combined BS/MS program, students are eligible to count up 9 credit hours of courses may be applied simultaneously ("double-counted") for credit toward both their bachelor's degree - and these credit-hours also count toward the master's degree. This can shorten the total time to get a BS degree plus an MS degree by 1 semester. The goal of the combined program is to encourage undergraduates to obtain an advanced degree. Application to the CS Department's combined BS/MS program is open to currently enrolled CS undergraduate majors with outstanding academic records.

Steps involved

Contact the CS Graduate Coordinator to set up an appointment to discuss your plans, to check eligibility, and to decide which semester should be your "double-count" semester.
If you are eligible, apply for admission to the CS graduate program.
Fill out the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Form (DOCX) and a schedule projection provided by the undergraduate advisor and approved by both a CS undergraduate advisor and the CS graduate program coordinator.
Register for courses in your double-count term as an undergraduate student. Registration Exception Form may be needed and that can be issued by the department graduate office.
Make sure to follow all requirements for graduating with your BS degree, including applying for graduation.
After graduating with your undergraduate degree, continue with your Master's coursework.

Eligibility

You must meet all requirements for admission to the MS-CS graduate program.
You are currently an undergraduate CS major student in Computer Science at Kent State University.
You have at least a grade point average of 3.0 in all previous undergraduate work at the time of application.
You have completed at least 60 undergraduate credit hours toward the BS degree.

Important Notes

Only courses you take during the double-count semester will count toward both degrees. Courses taken before then will not count toward the MS degree.
Only 50000- and 6000-level courses will count toward the MS degree. If you wish to take a 60000-level course as a double-count course, you will have to work with a CS undergraduate advisor and the graduate coordinator to add the course.
A maximum of 9 hours of double-count courses are allowed (no splitting of of hours)

More Information for Combined Degree Programs

For more information regarding combined BS/MS degrees programs, please see the Graduate College Combined Bachelor’s./Master's Program.