Degree Requirements
MSCSSE Degree Requirements
The Masters of Science in Computer Science & Software Engineering requires completion of 46-49 credits of graduate level coursework, dependent upon a student’s results in the Writing Assessment. Part-time students should plan on enrolling in 5 credits per quarter; full-time students should plan on taking 10 credits per quarter.
The following is a complete list of degree requirements for the MSCSSE degree for students following the thesis option. These requirements include all possible curriculum options. If you have questions about these requirements, contact the CSS Advisor.
- 16 credits of CSS core coursework, including
- CSS 599: Faculty Seminar (1 credit)
- Students choose one five credit course from each group:
- Development
- Design
- Foundations
- Writing Courses (1-3 credits total):
- Based on Writing Assessment results, students may be required to take one or both classes
- CSSSKL 511: Technical Writing (1cr)
- CSSSKL 594: Scientific Writing for Thesis/Project (2cr)
- Based on Writing Assessment results, students may be required to take one or both classes
- 10 credits minimum of CSS 700: Master’s Thesis OR 10 credits of CSS 595: Capstone Project
- 20 credits minimum of Electives:
- Electives can consist of CSS 500-level, 600, or approved 400-level courses
- A maximum of 6 credits of CSS 600: Independent Study or Research may be counted towards degree requirements
- A maximum of 10 credits of CSS 400-level courses
- Students admitted from the Graduate Certificate in Software Design and Development may be required to complete 5-10 credits of systems coursework as determined by the CSS Faculty upon admission to the MSCSSE program, which may be counted towards the elective requirements
- With BOTH departmental and UW Graduate School approval, students may include up to 5 credits of graduate-level transfer credits from accredited outside institutions; a minimum grade of 3.0 in each transfer courses is required
- Not more than 12 UW Graduate Non-matriculated credits may be counted (courses in the Graduate Certificate in Software Design & Development cannot be counted towards any MSCSSE degree requirements)
- No more than 12 credits derived from any combination of UW Graduate Non-matriculated credits and transfer credits can be applied.
- Minimum grade of 2.7 in each course required to count towards degree requirements. S/NS grades will not count towards degree requirements unless approved by special petition.
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 required to graduate.