School of Engineering
Department of Computer Science

MS in Computer Science

The official policies for this program may be found in the CS Handbook Supplement. If there is any conflict between this webpage and the official policies, then the official policies have precedence.

The Department of Computer Science offers a Master of Science in Computer Science degree and an online MS in Computer Science program, both of which can be completed on a full-time or part-time schedule. 

Students in the Post-Baccalaureate or Certificate programs may transfer some courses from any one of these programs (but not from more than one program) to the MS program. At most, two courses can be transferred from the GCAP program; there is no limit to the qualifying courses which may be transferred from the Post-Baccalaureate or Certificate programs. In particular, if the student is accepted to the MS program, then courses numbered above 100 (with a grade of B- or above) award graduate credit and qualify for transfer into the MS program.

The Department of Computer Science is the home department of the Bioinformatics track of the interdisciplinary master's program in Bioengineering at Tufts School of Engineering. For requirements and more information, see Bioengineering website.

Master of Science in Computer Science Requirements

  • A minimum of 10 courses are required, each of 3 credits or more, of which at least 24 credits must be from approved courses. The remaining six credits may be earned from approved courses, or from conducting approved research or independent study, or from a combination of the two.
  • At least six courses must be in computer science, and at least two must include a serious programming component.
  • Grades in all courses must be B- or better. A student who received a grade below B- in CS 105, CS 160, or CS 170 as an undergraduate may retake the course for graduate credit.
  • To use courses offered outside the Department of Computer Science, the student must obtain the approval of the department.
  • Students focusing on an interdisciplinary area of CS may take fewer than eighteen CS credits, but this is subject to the approval of the department.
  • Students must also demonstrate core competence as expected from a high quality undergraduate program in computer science, in particular in the areas of:
    • Computer architecture and assembly language
    • Programming languages (specifically, functional programming and object-oriented programming with inheritance)
    • Data structures and analysis of algorithms
    • Theory of computation
  • The degree has an optional MS Thesis. Acceptance to the thesis track occurs after matriculation into the program and only with the support of a faculty advisor who is interested in supervising the thesis work. The thesis requires a commitment of two semesters total.

These topics are covered, respectively, in Computer Science 61, 40, 105, 160, and 170. The courses 105, 160 and 170 may be taken as part of the MS degree program. Comp 40 may be taken without graduate credit or students may substitute a course which specifically requires Comp 40 as a prerequisite. Core competencies may be verified by other means in consultation with your advisor.

For those entering the MS program as of January, 2019, students must maintain a B average.

Further information about the MS program requirements may be found in the CS Supplement to the Graduate Student Handbook.

Do you have additional questions? Questions may be directed to Sandra Schulenburg, Graduate Program Coordinator, or Diane Souvaine, Director of Graduate Studies.