Master of Computer Science (MCS) Degree
Program Learning Outcomes for the MCS Degree
Upon completing the MCS degree, students will be able to:
- Solve advanced Computer Science problems. Students will acquire and apply a graduate-level understanding of material in sub-areas of Computer Science.
- Design and implement complex software systems. Students will demonstrate skill in their design and implementation and function effectively in teams.
- Communicate effectively to a client and user.
Requirements for the MCS Degree
The MCS degree is a non-thesis master's degree. For general university requirements, please see Non-Thesis Master's Degrees. For additional requirements, regulations, and procedures for all graduate programs, please see All Graduate Students. Students pursuing the MCS degree must complete:
- A minimum of 30 credit hours to satisfy degree requirements.
- A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate-level study (graduate semester credit hours, coursework at the 500-level or above).
- A minimum of 24 graduate semester credit hours credit hours must be taken at Rice University.
- A minimum of 24 graduate semester credit hours must be taken in standard or traditional courses (with a course type of lecture, seminar, laboratory, lecture/laboratory).
- A minimum residency enrollment of one fall or spring semester of part-time graduate study at Rice University.
- A maximum of 2 courses (6 graduate semester credit hours) from transfer credit. For additional departmental guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab.
- The requirements for one area of specialization (see below for areas of specialization). The MCS degree program offers five areas of specialization:
- A 10 week-6 month internship. Students are responsible for obtaining and selecting an internship that best aligns with their career goals.
- A minimum overall GPA of 2.67 or higher in all Rice coursework.
- A minimum program GPA of 2.67 or higher in all Rice coursework that satisfies requirements for the non-thesis master’s degree.
The MCS degree is a terminal degree for students intending to pursue a technical career in the computer industry. MCS degree areas of specialization include artificial intelligence, bioinformatics/computational biology, data science and machine learning, management and leadership, and systems and security. The MCS degree program normally requires three semesters of study.
Students in the MCS degree program are expected to pay full tuition and all fees. No financial aid is available from the university or the department for MCS students.
The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this degree program. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the program's academic advisor or, where applicable, the department or program's Director of Graduate Studies. Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the department or program's Official Certifier. Additionally, these course substitutions must be approved by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.
Summary
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Total Credit Hours Required for the MCS Degree | 30 | |
Degree Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements 1, 2 | ||
| Theory | ||
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| ADVANCED LOGIC IN COMPUTER SCIENCE | ||
| OPTIMIZATION: ALGORITHMS, COMPLEXITY, AND APPROXIMATIONS | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL CRYPTOGRAPHY | ||
| PROBABILISTIC ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURE | ||
| AUTOMATA, FORMAL LANGUAGES, AND COMPUTABILITY | ||
| GRADUATE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS | ||
| Systems and Software | ||
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| PRODUCTION PROGRAMMING | ||
| PARALLEL COMPUTING | ||
| SOFTWARE ENGINEERING METHODOLOGY | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SECURITY | ||
| GRADUATE TOOLS AND MODELS - DATA SCIENCE | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS | ||
| SYSTEMS SOFTWARE | ||
| Professional Skills | ||
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3 | |
| COMPUTER ETHICS | ||
| AI ETHICS | ||
| PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND COMMUNICATION IN COMPUTER SCIENCE | ||
| DATA ETHICS | ||
| WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION FOR PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S STUDENTS IN ENGINEERING | ||
| ENGINEERING ECONOMICS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT | ||
| TECHNICAL AND MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATIONS | ||
| LEADING TEAMS AND INNOVATION | ||
| ENGINEERING ECONOMICS | ||
| ETHICS AND ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP | ||
| MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING | ||
| ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP THEORY AND APPLICATION | ||
| ENGINEERING PROJECT MANAGEMENT | ||
| ENGINEERING PRODUCT MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY 4.0 | ||
| ETHICAL-TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP | ||
| Area of Specialization | ||
| Select 1 from the following Areas of Specialization (see Areas of Specialization below): 2 | 9-12 | |
Artificial Intelligence | ||
Bioinformatics/Computational Biology | ||
Data Science and Machine Learning | ||
Management and Leadership | ||
Systems and Security | ||
| Ten Week to Six Month Internship | ||
| A ten week to six month internship is required. 3 | ||
| Elective Requirements | ||
| Select an additional 6-12 credit hours from departmental (COMP) course offerings of at least 3 credit hours each at the 500-level or above to reach 30 total credit hours. 2, 4 | 6-12 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 30 | |
Footnotes and Additional Information
| 1 | Students demonstrating that they have passed one or more courses of comparable depth to a course listed for a core requirement area may petition to use one or more of those courses to waive requirements for that core requirement area. |
| 2 | Students admitted into either program (online or on-campus) will be allowed to take up to 9 credit hours in the other modality (on-campus or online) with permission from the program advisors. |
| 3 | Students are required to complete an approved 3-6 month internship. Students are responsible for obtaining and selecting an internship that best aligns with their career goals. |
| 4 | Students must complete 6-12 credit hours of Elective Requirements to reach 30 total credit hours. Elective coursework must be courses that are at least 3 credit hours each, at the graduate level (500-level or above), selected from departmental (COMP) course offerings. At most 3 credit hours may come from research type courses (e.g., COMP 590). Note that COMP coursework of at least 3 credit hours listed as Core Requirements or in the Areas of Specialization may be used as Elective Requirements, as long as they were not also used to satisfy the Core Requirements or Area of Specialization Requirements. Credit hours earned for ENGI 530 Engineering Practicum may not be applied toward MCS degree requirements. |
Areas of Specialization
Students must complete one of the following areas of specialization (9-12 credit hours). Approved areas of specialization appear below. Coursework not completed to satisfy Areas of Specialization may be used to fulfill the Elective Requirements.
Area of Specialization: Artificial Intelligence
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 3 courses from the following: | 9-12 | |
| ADVANCED LOGIC IN COMPUTER SCIENCE | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER VISION | ||
| ALGORITHMIC ROBOTICS | ||
| REINFORCEMENT LEARNING | ||
| ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | ||
| COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND GEOMETRIC MODELING | ||
| FUNDAMENTALS OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATION | ||
| COMPUTATIONAL HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS | ||
| DEEP LEARNING FOR VISION AND LANGUAGE | ||
| PHYSICAL COMPUTING | ||
| ADVANCED TOPICS IN ROBOTIC MANIPULATION; | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL IMAGE AND VIDEO PROCESSING | ||
| LEARNING FROM SENSOR DATA | ||
| BAYESIAN STATISTICS | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 9-12 | |
Area of Specialization: Bioinformatics/Computational Biology
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 3 courses from the following: | 9-10 | |
| INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY | ||
| MODELING AND INFERENCE IN COMPUTATIONAL GENOMICS | ||
| BIOINFORMATICS: NETWORK ANALYSIS | ||
| PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS | ||
| PROBABILISTIC ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURE | ||
| PROBABILITY IN BIOINFORMATICS AND GENETICS | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 9-10 | |
Area of Specialization: Data Science and Machine Learning
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 3 courses from the following: | 9-10 | |
| STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING | ||
| ADVANCED TOPICS IN OPTIMIZATION: FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX ML SYSTEMS | ||
| APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS | ||
| MACHINE LEARNING WITH GRAPHS | ||
| A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO DEEP MACHINE LEARNING | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION RETRIEVAL | ||
| MACHINE LEARNING | ||
| DEEP LEARNING FOR VISION AND LANGUAGE | ||
| MACHINE LEARNING FOR RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED PLATFORMS | ||
| NETWORK SCIENCE AND ANALYTICS | ||
| LEARNING FROM SENSOR DATA | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 9-10 | |
Area of Specialization: Management and Leadership
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 3 courses from the following: | 9 | |
| ENGINEERING ECONOMICS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT | ||
| LEADING CHANGE - REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS IN ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY | ||
| LEADING TEAMS AND INNOVATION | ||
| ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP THEORY AND APPLICATION | ||
| ENGINEERING PROJECT MANAGEMENT | ||
| ENGINEERING PRODUCT MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY 4.0 | ||
| ETHICAL-TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP | ||
| ENGINEERING ECONOMICS FOR ENGINEERING LEADERS | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 9 | |
Area of Specialization: Systems and Security
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 3 courses from the following: | 9-12 | |
| IOT PROGRAMMING AND DATA ANALYSIS | ||
| DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS | ||
| MULTI-CORE COMPUTING | ||
| HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE | ||
| COMPUTER SYSTEMS SECURITY | ||
| DATABASE SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION | ||
| SECURE AND CLOUD COMPUTING | ||
| CYBERSECURITY | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 9-12 | |
Policies for the MCS Degree
Department of Computer Science Graduate Program Handbook
The General Announcements (GA) is the official Rice curriculum. As an additional resource for students, the department of Computer Science publishes a graduate program handbook, which can be found here: https://gradhandbooks.rice.edu/2024_25/Computer_Science_Graduate_Handbook.pdf.
Financial Aid
No financial aid is available from Rice University or the Computer Science Department for students in the MCS degree program.
Transfer Credit
For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. Requests for transfer credit must be approved for Rice equivalency by the appropriate academic department offering the Rice equivalent course (corresponding to the subject code of the course content) and by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS). Students are encouraged to meet with their academic program’s advisor when considering transfer credit possibilities.
Departmental Transfer Credit Guidelines
Students pursuing the MCS degree should be aware of the following departmental transfer credit guidelines:
- No more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) of credit from another U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards the degree.
- Transfer courses must be comparable in content and depth to the corresponding course at Rice and must not have counted toward another degree.
- Request for transfer credit will be considered by the Computer Science Graduate Committee Chair and the instructor of the equivalent Rice course.
Additional Information
For additional information, please see the Graduate Programs tab of the Computer Science website or contact the department at gradapp@rice.edu.
Opportunities for the MCS Degree
Fifth-Year Master's Degree Option for Rice Undergraduate Students
In certain situations and with some terminal master's degree programs, Rice students have an option to pursue a master’s degree by adding an additional fifth year to their four years of undergraduate studies.
Advanced Rice undergraduate students in good academic standing typically apply to the master’s degree program during their junior or senior year. Upon acceptance, depending on course load, financial aid status, and other variables, they may then start taking some required courses of the master's degree program. A plan of study will need to be approved by the student's undergraduate major advisor and the master’s degree program director.
As part of this option and opportunity, Rice undergraduate students:
- must complete the requirements for a bachelor's degree and the master's degree independently of each other (i.e. no course may be counted toward the fulfillment of both degrees).
- should be aware there could be financial aid implications if the conversion of undergraduate coursework to that of graduate level reduces their earned undergraduate credit for any semester below that of full-time status (12 credit hours).
- more information on this Undergraduate - Graduate Concurrent Enrollment opportunity, including specific information on the registration process can be found here.
Rice undergraduate students completing studies in science and engineering may have the option to pursue the Master of Computer Science (MCS) degree. For additional information, students should contact their undergraduate major advisor and the MCS program director.
Additional Information
For additional information, please see the Graduate Programs tab of the Computer Science website or contact the department at gradapp@rice.edu.