Online Masters

Areas of Emphasis

As a graduate of the online Master of Science in Computer Science program, students will be able to:

• Understand the design and implementation of algorithms to extract useful knowledge from text to support decision making.
• Learn to obtain data sets, understand data formats and perform data operations, including detection of duplicates, cleaning data sets, tagging, indexing, searching, algorithm evaluation, classification, clustering, topic modelling, and entity resolution.
• Understand decision trees, relational learning, neural networks, Bayesian learning, reinforcement learning, multiple-instance learning, feature selection, learning appropriate representations, clustering, and kernel methods.
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of cryptography, access control, programming and software security, operating system security, network security protocols, and the legal and ethical aspects of security software.
• Study methods of search, knowledge representation, heuristics, and other aspects of automating the solution of problems requiring intelligence.
• Understand and apply various algorithm design strategies to solve problems, including divide and conquer, greedy principle and dynamic programming.
• Design and deploy algorithms of various types across a range of problems - deterministic and randomized, serial and parallel, centralized and decentralized, program-based and circuit-based.

Program Format

The Master of Science in Computer Science is a fully online program conducted over five semesters. It features:

• Courses that range from eight to 16 weeks long.
• A blend of asynchronous coursework and live online classes.
• Eleven courses totalling 33 credits.
• A mix of course content covering advanced theory and applied theory within computer science.

Course topics include:

• Algorithm Analysis
• Database Management Systems
• Text Analytics
• Software Engineering Processes
• Network Science
• Data Mining
• Machine Learning
• Computer Security
• Parallel, Distributed, and Network Programming
• Artificial Intelligence
• Independent Studies (as needed)

Admissions Requirements

To apply to the online M.S. in Computer Science, students must hold a baccalaureate degree in computer science, engineering, IT or another related discipline from a regionally accredited college or university (or appropriate international equivalent). Students should have earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in undergraduate studies.  Students’ math and computer science background will also be assessed to determine preparation for graduate- level computer science work. Please speak with an enrollment counselor to discuss required prerequisites.

Students must:

• Complete the online application at https://gograd.ou.edu/apply/
• Submit a current resume
• Provide official college transcripts from all institutions
• Submit a personal statement
• International students must demonstrate English proficiency

The following coursework is expected and required to have been completed and officially transcripted with respect to graduate admission consideration:

• Calculus I
• Calculus II
• Linear Algebra
• Applied Engineering Statistical Methods
• Ordinary Differential Equations or Numerical Analysis
• Data Structures
• Computer Organization
• Discrete Computing Structures (or Discrete Mathematics)
• Intro to Operating Systems
• Theory of Computation/Automata

^Failure to have this coursework completed with a B-average (3.00 GPA) or higher will result in the inability for admission consideration. Please acknowledge that work experience and specialized certificate attainment, while noteworthy, cannot be accepted in lieu of formal coursework listed above that has been officially-transcripted onto the record of an academic institution.

Applicants are not required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The university accepts applications on a rolling basis. Applications are reviewed individually.