Program: 5 Year BS/MS Combined Degree
Computer Science
College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science
Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science Building 125
Adolfo Coronado, Chair
260-481-6181 or 481-6098
Seula Daily, Graduate Program Director
260-481-5777
The Department of Computer Science offers a five-year program through which students can obtain a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree and a Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science (CS). The BS and MS degrees offered through this program are identical to the individual BS and MS degrees offered by the CS department. The combined five-year degree program provides students with the opportunity to obtain these degrees in less time than would be required when pursuing them separately.
Students accepted into this dual-degree program can use nine (9) credits of graduate 500-level or higher courses for both degrees, BS and MS in CS. These courses must satisfy both degree requirements and appropriate advising is needed. This reduces the total number of required credits by the MS degree to 21 instead of 30.
Admission Requirements:
- Students must be enrolled in the BS program in the Department of Computer Science at PFW and have not yet received the BS degree in CS.
- Students must have finished at least 60 credit hours (as marked on their respective BS bingo sheet).
- Students must have achieved an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 at the time of application.
- Students must have completed MA175 (Introductory Discrete Mathematics) and a sequence of fundamental computer science courses, CS160 (Introduction to CS I), CS161 (Introduction to CS II) and CS260 (Data Structures).
- No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score is required for the admission.
Eligible students need to consult with their academic advisor/the CS graduate program director in their 5th or 6th undergraduate semester.
Application Process:
The process for admission to the combined BS/MS program is as follows:
- Students should submit the 5-Year Combined BS/MS Program Application and Combined-Degree Program Request (Purdue GS Form 27) to the CS department (the CS graduate program director) within 3-4 semesters of when they expect to fulfill the requirements for the BS in computer science (i.e., in their 5th or 6th undergraduate semester, approximately Junior year).
- Students also need to submit Purdue Graduate School Admission Application (https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/admissions) for the admission of the program of MS in Computer Science at PFW.
- Students need to update their Undergraduate Plan of Study accordingly.
GPA Requirement:
Acceptance into the combined program is conditional upon admission to the PFW graduate program. It is required that an Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 be maintained while enrolled in the 5-Year BS/MS Combined Program.
Degree Requirements:
The degree requirements of the combined BS/MS program are the same as for students pursuing the degrees separately, except that nine credits of approved graduate-level CS courses can be used for both degrees.
- Students can count up to nine (9) credit hours (CS or ACS 500-600 level in consultation with an advisor) as elective courses for the BS degree and also as courses for the MS degree.
- The BS degree must be awarded prior to the MS degree. The student’s primary degree objective will remain the BS until the BS is awarded. After satisfactory completion of the BS degree requirements, the undergraduate degree will be awarded. For the BS degree requirements, refer to the program page for Computer Science, BS: https://catalog.pfw.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=60&poid=14918&returnto=3114.
- The MS will be the student’s secondary degree objective from the time the student is accepted as an MS student by the Graduate School until the award of the BS.
- For the MS degree, students must complete a total of 30 credit hours including 6 credits from core courses as described in the current program page for Computer Science (M.S.) .
