Master of Science (M.S.) Major in Computer Science (Data Science Concentration Thesis Option)

Program Overview

The Data Science concentration covers the foundations of data science and exposes students to up to date theories, techniques, and practices of data science field.

Data science, which encompasses big data, employs machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), statistical and other advanced models and techniques on big data. The work of data science can help identify valuable knowledge that is impossible or extremely difficult to obtain previously. Those knowledge and findings can help organizations understand their strengths and weakness and make meaningful and effective changes.

As such, data science has emerged as one of hottest areas in computer science and demand for computer science professionals with expertise in data science has been rising constantly and rapidly. Major tech companies all actively recruit computer science professionals with data science expertise. Students who graduate with the proposed concentration will work as data scientists, data science engineers, data analysts, big data system analysts, and software developers.

Application Requirements

The items listed below are required for admission consideration for applicable semesters of entry during the current academic year. Submission instructions, additional details, and changes to admission requirements for semesters other than the current academic year can be found on The Graduate College's website. International students should review the International Admission Documents page for additional requirements.

*Additional Information

Students admitted to the program will participate in a diagnostic interview with the graduate advisor. This interview will include a review of test scores, grades, and work history. In some cases, additional courses may be added to the degree program.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science (M.S.) degree with a major in Computer Science concentration in Data Science requires 30 semester credit hours, including a thesis.

Background Requirements

Students are required to fulfill background course work if they do not have adequate undergraduate computer science background. The background requirements may be reduced if evidence is presented which shows that the applicant has taken equivalent courses elsewhere prior to enrollment at Texas State. Background work must be completed before enrolling in graduate courses.

The minimum undergraduate background requirements for computer science majors are:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Computer Science 1
CS 1428	Foundations of Computer Science I	4
CS 2308	Foundations of Computer Science II	3
CS 2318	Assembly Language	3
CS 3339	Computer Architecture	3
CS 3358	Data Structures and Algorithms	3
CS 4318	Compiler Construction	3
or CS 4328	Operating Systems
Advanced computer science electives (3000-4000 level)		6
Mathematics 2
MATH 5358	Applied Discrete Mathematics	3
Calculus		8

¹

These courses must be completed with no grade less than "C" and no more than two "Cs."

²

These courses must be completed with no grade less than “C.” 

 Course Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
CS 5318	Principles of Programming Languages	3
or CS 5338	Formal Languages
or CS 5351	Parallel Processing
CS 5329	Algorithm Design and Analysis	3
CS 5332	Data Base Theory and Design	3
CS 5346	Advanced Artificial Intelligence	3
Concentration
CS 7311	Data-Driven Computational Methods and Infrastructure	3
CS 7312	Advanced Data Mining	3
CS 7313	Advanced Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition	3
Electives
Choose 3 hours from the following:		3
CS 5306	Advanced Operating Systems
CS 5310	Network and Communication Systems
CS 5316	Data Mining
CS 5318	Principles of Programming Languages
CS 5326	Advanced Studies in Human Factors of Computer Science
CS 5331	Crafting Compilers
CS 5334	Advanced Internet Information Processing
CS 5338	Formal Languages
CS 5341	Advanced Network Programming
CS 5343	Wireless Communications and Networks
CS 5351	Parallel Processing
CS 5352	Distributed Computing
CS 5369J	Advanced Human Computer Interaction
CS 5369L	Machine Learning and Applications
CS 5369Q	Recommender Systems
CS 5369Y	Green Computing
CS 5375	Multimedia Computing
CS 5378	Advanced Computer Security
CS 5388	Advanced Computer Graphics
CS 5389	Graphical User Interfaces
CS 5391	Survey of Software Engineering
CS 5392	Formal Methods in Software Engineering
CS 5393	Software Quality
CS 5394	Advanced Software Engineering Project
CS 5395	Independent Study in Advanced Computer Science
Thesis
CS 5399A	Thesis	3
Choose a minimum of 3 hours from the following:		3
CS 5199B	Thesis
CS 5299B	Thesis
CS 5399B	Thesis
CS 5599B	Thesis
CS 5999B	Thesis
Total Hours		30

Comprehensive Examination Requirement

The comprehensive exams of computer science master programs consist of multiple components. Specifically, all Computer Science graduate students must complete/pass:

1. Degree Outline: Have a degree outline prepared before the end of their first semester. Currently, this is done during the mandatory diagnostic interview sessions for newly admitted CS master degree students.
2. Programming exam: Pass a written exam in programming.
3. Communication exam: Pass a written exam in communication.
4. Attendance requirement of computer science seminars.
5. For non-thesis students, the written core course exam.

Failure to complete 1, 2, or 3 will result in a "hold" on registration and may cause delays in taking/passing the comprehensive examination. Details of 2, 3, 4, and 5 are described below.

Programming Exam

The Programming Exam integrates problem-solving and technical abilities to write clear and logical code. The exam format is written.

• The allowable programming languages are C++/Java. Students can elect either of the two.
• This exam is given to newly admitted graduate students twice a year. Students are notified of the registration by the department for the exam. A student who doesn’t participate in the exam without the department approval forfeits the opportunity of taking the exam and must take the remedy course CS 5301.
• The exam is typically administrated during the week before the fall or spring semester starts.
• Students who fail the Programming Exam are required to take the remedy course CS 5301 immediately. Students must obtain a grade C or higher of CS 5301 in order to satisfy the programming exam requirement. Students are allowed to take CS 5301 twice.
• Students who have not passed the Programming Exam or the remedy course, CS 5301, are not eligible to take classes during the summer semesters.

Communication Exam

The Communication Exam tests the ability to write clear technical English on computer science topics. All students must satisfy one of the following three options:

• Have a score of 3.5 or higher on the Analytical Writing section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
• Take the Communication Exam and earn a passing score in the first long semester.​​

1. This exam is given to newly admitted graduate students during their first semester (Spring or Fall semester only).
2. Students are registered and notified by the department for this exam.
3. This exam can only be taken once during the first semester of initial enrollment.

• Complete one of the following Texas State English courses, ENG 3313, ENG 3311, or ENG 3303, and earn a grade of B or higher. Students must register for one of the English courses by the end of the student's first year in the graduate program. There is no limit on the number of times the students can take those English courses.

Seminar Attendance

All computer science master students are required to attend at least four computer science departmental seminars. All seminars that can be counted toward this requirement are announced by the department through emails to all active students and on the department website. Students are strongly recommended to plan and participate in seminars earlier and not to wait until the final semester of their study.

Oral Master Thesis Defense Exam 

 All thesis students are required to take an oral exam at the time of their public thesis defense.

Students who do not successfully complete the requirements for the degree within the timelines specified will be dismissed from the program.

If a student elects to follow the thesis option for the degree, a committee to direct the written thesis will be established. The thesis must demonstrate the student’s capability for research and independent thought. Preparation of the thesis must be in conformity with the Graduate College Guide to Preparing and Submitting a Thesis or Dissertation.

Thesis Proposal

The student must submit an official Thesis Proposal Form and proposal to his or her thesis committee. Thesis proposals vary by department and discipline. Please see your department for proposal guidelines and requirements. After signing the form and obtaining committee members’ signatures, the graduate advisor’s signature if required by the program and the department chair’s signature, the student must submit the Thesis Proposal Form with one copy of the proposal attached to the dean of The Graduate College for approval before proceeding with research on the thesis. If the thesis research involves human subjects, the student must obtain exemption or approval from the Texas State Institutional Review Board prior to submitting the proposal form to The Graduate College. The IRB approval letter should be included with the proposal form. If the thesis research involves vertebrate animals, the proposal form must include the Texas State IACUC approval code. It is recommended that the thesis proposal form be submitted to the dean of The Graduate College by the end of the student’s enrollment in 5399A. Failure to submit the thesis proposal in a timely fashion may result in delayed graduation.

Thesis Committee

The thesis committee must be composed of a minimum of three approved graduate faculty members.

Thesis Enrollment and Credit

The completion of a minimum of six hours of thesis enrollment is required. For a student's initial thesis course enrollment, the student will need to register for thesis course number 5399A.  After that, the student will enroll in thesis B courses, in each subsequent semester until the thesis is defended with the department and approved by The Graduate College. Preliminary discussions regarding the selection of a topic and assignment to a research supervisor will not require enrollment for the thesis course.

Students must be enrolled in thesis credits if they are receiving supervision and/or are using university resources related to their thesis work.  The number of thesis credit hours students enroll in must reflect the amount of work being done on the thesis that semester.  It is the responsibility of the committee chair to ensure that students are making adequate progress toward their degree throughout the thesis process.  Failure to register for the thesis course during a term in which supervision is received may result in postponement of graduation. After initial enrollment in 5399A, the student will continue to enroll in a thesis B course as long as it takes to complete the thesis. Thesis projects are by definition original and individualized projects.  As such, depending on the topic, methodology, and other factors, some projects may take longer than others to complete.  If the thesis requires work beyond the minimum number of thesis credits needed for the degree, the student may enroll in additional thesis credits at the committee chair's discretion. In the rare case when a student has not previously enrolled in thesis and plans to work on and complete the thesis in one term, the student will enroll in both 5399A and 5399B.

The only grades assigned for thesis courses are PR (progress), CR (credit), W (withdrew), and F (failing). If acceptable progress is not being made in a thesis course, the instructor may issue a grade of F. If the student is making acceptable progress, a grade of PR is assigned until the thesis is completed. The minimum number of hours of thesis credit (“CR”) will be awarded only after the thesis has been both approved by The Graduate College and released to Alkek Library.

A student who has selected the thesis option must be registered for the thesis course during the term or Summer I (during the summer, the thesis course runs ten weeks for both sessions) in which the degree will be conferred.

Thesis Deadlines and Approval Process

Thesis deadlines are posted on The Graduate College website under "Current Students." The completed thesis must be submitted to the chair of the thesis committee on or before the deadlines listed on The Graduate College website.

The following must be submitted to The Graduate College by the thesis deadline listed on The Graduate College website:

1. The Thesis Submission Approval Form bearing original (wet) and/or electronic signatures of the student and all committee members.
2. One (1) PDF of the thesis in final form, approved by all committee members, uploaded in the online Vireo submission system.  

After the dean of The Graduate College approves the thesis, Alkek Library will harvest the document from the Vireo submission system for publishing in the Digital Collections database (according to the student's embargo selection). NOTE: MFA Creative Writing theses will have a permanent embargo and will never be published to Digital Collections. 

While original (wet) signatures are preferred, there may be situations as determined by the chair of the committee in which obtaining original signatures is inefficient or has the potential to delay the student's progress. In those situations, the following methods of signing are acceptable:

• signing and faxing the form
• signing, scanning, and emailing the form
• notifying the department in an email from their university's or institution's email account that the committee chair can sign the form on their behalf
• electronically signing the form using the university's licensed signature platform.

If this process results in more than one document with signatures, all documents need to be submitted to The Graduate College together.

No copies are required to be submitted to Alkek Library. However, the library will bind copies submitted that the student wants bound for personal use. Personal copies are not required to be printed on archival quality paper. The student will take the personal copies to Alkek Library and pay the binding fee for personal copies.

Master's level courses in Computer Science: CS

Courses Offered

Computer Science (CS)