Graduate Program

Admissions Coordinator
Shuang Luan

Application Deadlines

Fall Semester: Priority for admission and consideration for financial aid is given to applications received by January 15. International applications are accepted until March 1, and domestic applications are accepted until July 15.

Spring Semester: Priority for admission and consideration for financial aid is given to applications received by August 1. International applications are accepted until August 1, and domestic applications are accepted until November 15.

Degrees Offered

Master of Science in Computer Science (M.S.)
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (Ph.D.)

Admission

In addition to the University-wide requirements for admission to graduate study, the prospective Master of Science (M.S.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) candidate must submit verbal, quantitative and analytical GRE scores (general test) as well as satisfy the following criteria for admission to graduate study:

Knowledge of computer science equivalent to CS 152L, 261, 251L, 341L, 351L, 357L, 361L, 362, 441, 460 and 481.
Knowledge of mathematics essential to computer science equivalent to MATH 162, 163, 314 and STAT 345.

Students lacking adequate undergraduate training may be admitted, at the discretion of the admissions committee, with the understanding that course work required to remove the deficiencies in undergraduate background is not applicable to the graduate degree.

Each student is assigned a graduate advisor. The student should see his or her graduate advisor before registering for the first time. The student and the advisor together work out a course of studies which meets the student’s career objectives and which constitutes a coherent program satisfying the graduation requirements. No course shall be counted toward the required credit hours which has not been agreed on by the student and the advisor as a part of this coherent program. It is the responsibility of the student to meet the requirements and to keep the department office informed of compliance with them; in particular, the student should meet with his or her graduate advisor at least once a semester to review progress toward the degree.

Master of Science in Computer Science

The Master of Science in Computer Science (M.S.) can be completed under Plan I or Plan II. A brochure describing the program and requirements can be obtained from the department.

Plan I

In addition to all Office of Graduate Studies requirements for the master’s degree, the department also requires the following:

32 credit hours of approved graduate courses.
At least 2 credit hours of CS 592 (Colloquium), taken at UNM.
At least 26 of the 32 credit hours must be in courses offered by the Computer Science department at the 500-level or above.
Completion of a minimum of two courses from each category below with a grade of B- or better:
- a. Mathematical Methods – CS 500, 530, 550, 558, 561.
- b. Empirical Methods – CS 512, 522, 532, 527, 529, 547, course in Complex Adaptive Systems (contact department for a list of acceptable courses).
- c. Engineering/System Building Methods – CS 554, 580, 585, 587.
Passing the master’s examination. For Plan I students, the master’s examination is the defense of thesis.

Plan II

In addition to all Office of Graduate Studies requirements for the master’s degree, the department also requires the following:

32 credit hours of approved graduate courses.
At least 2 credit hours of CS 592 (Colloquium), taken at UNM.
In addition to Colloquium, at least 24 of the 32 credit hours must be in courses offered by the Computer Science Department at the 500-level or above.
Completion of a minimum of two courses from each category below with a grade of B- or better:
- a. Mathematical Methods – CS 500, 530, 550, 558, 561.
- b. Empirical Methods – CS 512, 522, 523, 527, 529, 547, course in Complex Adaptive Systems (contact department for a list of acceptable courses).
- c. Engineering/System Building Methods – CS 554, 580, 585, 587.
Passing the master’s examination. For Plan II students, the master’s examination is an oral examination demonstrating mastery of core areas above.

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science

The Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (Ph.D.) is offered through a cooperative program involving the Computer Science departments at the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM) and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Socorro, NM). Doctoral students at the University of New Mexico may specialize in areas of current interest to the University of New Mexico faculty, or, by special arrangement, they may work in areas of interest to faculty at either of the other two universities.

Graduation Requirements

In addition to all Office of Graduate Studies requirements for the Ph.D. degree the department also requires the following:

4 credit hours of CS 592 (Colloquium), taken from the University of New Mexico. If the student enters the program with a master’s degree, the requirement is reduced to 2 credit hours of CS 592.
At least 24 of the credit hours, exclusive of dissertation, must be completed at one of the three New Mexico universities.
At least 30 credit hours, exclusive of dissertation, must be in courses numbered 500 or above. Of these credit hours, at most 12 may come from individual study courses (at the University of New Mexico, CS 551 and CS 650). If the student enters the program with a master’s degree, the requirement is reduced to 18 credit hours in courses numbered 500 and above–at most 9 of these credit hours may come from individual study courses.
Passing marks on the comprehensive course work, on the oral candidacy examination and on a final oral examination in the student’s area of specialization.
Every student who has passed the comprehensive course work requirement must give one Colloquium per year (scheduled as part of the regular departmental colloquium series), surveying the student’s work to date.
Teaching requirement for the doctorate: As a requirement for the Ph.D. in Computer Science, all students complete a one-semester teaching assignment. Typically and preferably, this assignment involves running a class section, including classroom lecturing; there is, however, some flexibility in tailoring this assignment to each particular student. The student is encouraged to fulfill this requirement early in his or her studies, as the teaching experience is expected to help solidify the student’s mastery of core Computer Science material.

Ph.D. Comprehensive Course Work

All students pursuing a Ph.D. degree are required to complete 24 credit hours of comprehensive course work to provide knowledge in core areas of computer science.

Students must choose two courses from each category below. Students must have a minimum grade for each individual class of "B-" and have a minimum cumulative GPA for all eight classes of 3.5.

Systems
CS 544 Cybersecurity
CS 564 Introduction to Database Management
CS 585 Computer Networks
CS 587 Advanced Computer Operating Systems
Languages
CS 550 Programming Languages and Systems
CS 558 Software Foundations
choose one of the following:
CS 554 Compiler Construction
CS 555 Advanced Topics in Compiler Construction
Theory
CS 500 Introduction to the Theory of Computation
CS 561 Algorithms and Data Structures
CS 530 Geometric and Probabilistic Methods
Empirical Methods
CS 512 Advanced Image Synthesis
CS 523 Complex Adaptive Systems
CS 527 Principles of Artificially Intelligent Machines
CS 529 Introduction to Machine Learning

Students must complete the comprehensive course work as noted above. Upon completion of this course work the student is allowed to work toward the dissertation. The student’s advisor and the graduate advisor or department chairperson then appoint a dissertation committee which determines the student’s remaining program of study and conduct the candidacy examination. The candidacy examination verifies that the student possesses the specialized knowledge required for his/her area of research and ensures that the proposed dissertation topic is adequate in scope, originality and significance. The student is admitted to candidacy for the doctorate upon completion of the comprehensive course work and candidacy examination, with the approval of the doctoral committee and the Dean of Graduate Studies. Finally, the committee evaluates the student’s doctoral dissertation and conducts the final oral examination on the student’s area of specialization.

A brochure describing the program and requirements can be obtained from the department.

Keys and Symbols Reference