Admission Requirements
- Graduate School application and $40 fee
- Submission of all academic transcripts
- A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. An undergraduate major in science, engineering, mathematics, or computing is desirable, but individuals with other backgrounds who are interested in the program are invited to discuss their career objectives with the program director.
- An undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or above on a 4.0 scale.
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test scores taken within five years from the term for which admission is sought. An applicant should have a minimum of 150 in the Quantitative section.
- An international applicant whose native language is not English is required to demonstrate adequate proficiency in English. Applicants should have scored at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) paper exam with a minimum of 50th percentile in all three sections, or at least 217 on the TOEFL computer exam. TOEFL scores older than two years from the term for which admission is sought are not valid. Minimum score required on the IELTS is 6.5.
- Submission of a statement of purpose detailing the applicant’s background and career plans
- Accelerated Combined Degrees: Current SIUE undergraduate students may apply for the accelerated option to earn graduate-level credit for courses taken their senior year.
Program application materials may be uploaded during the application process, but official transcripts must be sent directly from the school attended, and test scores must be verifiable with the appropriate testing service. Please contact the Graduate Admissions office with questions regarding the application submission process at graduateadmissions@siue.edu.
Review the SIUE Admissions Policy for more information.
Prerequisite Courses
Students entering the program will need the specific background detailed below. Normally, a grade of B or above is required in each of the prerequisite courses. For those students who do not have all of the necessary background, some of the prerequisite courses may be completed after enrolling in the program. Students who have completed these courses but received their undergraduate degree from a non-ABET-accredited program will be required to take CS 501. The CS 501 course credits will count towards the hours required for the degree. Please note that none of the prerequisite courses listed below count toward the Master of Science in computer science.
Proficiency in CS Courses:
- CS 140 and CS 150 Introduction to Computing I and II
- CS 340 Algorithms and Data Structures
- CS 286 Computer Organization
- CS 314 Operating Systems
Math Courses:
- MATH 150 Calculus I
- MATH 224 Discrete Mathematics
- Two additional math courses selected from:
- MATH 152 Calculus II
- MATH 321 Linear Algebra
- STAT 244 Statistics
- MATH 423 Combinatorics and Graph Theory
- Other approved courses
