School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Computer Science

Graduate Program

Development and Analysis

The computer science discipline systematically builds a body of knowledge of theories and models and shows how this body of knowledge can be used to produce solutions to real-world computational problems. Today’s information technologies, such as e-mail, the Internet, mobile apps, and e-commerce, are all the result of the work by computer scientists and engineers.

Graduates with an advanced degree in Computer Science will:

  • Have professional careers in industry or academia or are engaged in advanced studies.
  • Keep abreast and adapt to changes in technology as well as the needs of a globalized society.
  • Be successful team members or team leaders who conduct themselves with integrity and act ethically.

Meet Brian

Brian LaMarche earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and just finished his doctoral degree program at WSU Tri-Cities. His dissertation focuses on the alignment and correlation of thousands of proteomic and metabolomic datasets using unsupervised learning techniques. Brian’s putting his degree to work as software engineer at Hecate Software, Inc. Read more…

To be admitted to the Master’s or Doctoral program  at WSU Tri-Cities you must:

  • Submit an online application to the Graduate School, that includes:
    • Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
    • One-page statement of purpose
    • Three letters of recommendation (be prepared to enter recommender’s name and email address)
    • Official GRE scores and TOEFL score (if applicable).

Students seeking admission to the graduate program in Computer Science whose undergraduate studies were not in Computer Science will be asked to take lower-division couse work:

  • CPT S 121 Program Design and Development C/C++
  • CPT S 122 Data Structures C/C++
  • CPT S 223 Advanced Data Structures C/C++
  • CPT S 260 Introduction to Computer Architecture
  • CPT S 317 Automata and Formal Languages
  • CPT S 350 Design and Analysis of Algorithms
  • CPT S 355 Programming Language Design
  • CPT S 360 Systems Programming C/C++
  • MATH 216 Discrete Structures
  • PHIL 201 Introduction to Formal Logic

All or most of these courses should be completed before the student is eligible for admission into the MS Program in Computer Science. In addition, the admissions committee may require students to complete other prerequisite courses to graduate coursework.

For the M.S. Computer Science Degree students have three program options: exam, project and thesis:

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Under the thesis option, the student is expected to complete a significant research project and submit a thesis, which adheres to the EECS standards and the formatting requirements of the advisory committee and the Graduate School. The thesis work should be submitted for refereed publication prior to scheduling the final exam. It is the student’s responsibility to meet the deadlines specified by the Graduate School. All students on financial aid from WSU must choose the thesis option.

The program must consist of 33 or more hours of credit including 24 or more hours of course work for which a grade of A-F is given and 9 more credits of thesis research (CptS 700).

In order to ensure that each student obtains a reasonable graduate-level understanding of a number of fundamental areas, each MS CptS student must complete the following course requirements.

Required:

  • CptS 516 Algorithmics

At least one of:

  • CptS 550 Parallel Computation
  • CptS 555 Computer Communication Networks
  • CptS 560 Operating Systems
  • CptS 561 Computer Architecture
  • CptS 564 Distributed Systems

At least one of:

  • CptS 527 Computer Security
  • CptS 542 Computer Graphics
  • CptS 540 Artificial Intelligence
  • CptS 543 Human Computer Interaction
  • CptS 571 Computational Genomics

The project option consists of at least 27 graded credits and 6 credits of CptS 702. Of the 27 credits of course work, at least 15 must be in Computer Science and must satisfy the program requirements as stated for the Thesis Option. Specific course requirements are the same as for other CptS non-thesis programs. Students are required to complete a project and submit a report on the project that is satisfactory to the advisory committee. The peoject should represent work equivalent to two 3 credit hour graduate courses with quality equivalent to a grade of “B” or better.

Students following the course option must take a one-hour written exam in each of the following three areas after the completion of their course work:

  • Theory
  • Systems
  • Application

The MS non-thesis exam will be offered every semester depending upon student request.

Students must apply for admission to the Pullman campus. However, by selecting a WSU Tri-Cities resident faculty member as adviser, a student may complete all the requirements of the program by staying at the Tri-Cities campus. Please contact Associate Professor Bob Lewis to learn more about this Ph.D. program.

Course Work

The program of course work for the Ph.D. in Computer Science must include at least 4 of the following core courses:

  • CptS 516 Algorithmics
  • CptS 543 Human Computer Interaction
  • CptS 550 Parallel Computation
  • CptS 555 Computer Communication Networks
  • CptS 560 Operating Systems
  • CptS 561 Computer Architecture
  • CptS 564 Distributed Systems
  • CptS 527 Computer Security
  • CptS 542 Computer Graphics
  • CptS 540 Artificial Intelligence
  • CptS 571 Computational Genomics

All the required courses must be successfully completed within three semesters of admission to the program. Students may petition the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) to include transfer credits, but only if equivalent courses are offered at the graduate level, are completed in a recognized graduate school as a graduate student, and are clearly consistent with the objectives of the student’s Ph.D. program at WSU.

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