| Department: | Mathematics & Computer Science / College of Science & Engineering |
| Hours Required: | 30 |
| Categories: | Graduate |
| Completion Time: | 2 years * |
| Delivery: | Online |
* Based on 2 classes per semester including summer
The Master of Science in Computer and Information Science (MCIS) program at the Southern Arkansas University is one of the largest, most affordable and highly attractive computer science graduate programs in the USA. The program offers a wide spectrum of online and onsite courses that are carefully designed to train the students in both theories and applications. The curriculum is constantly reviewed and updated to reflect the ongoing changes in the computer science field. The faculty members are highly qualified — many with extensive industry experience.
Students in the MCIS program can either study general topics in computer science or, based on their background and interest, pursue one of the following focus areas:
- Data Science
- Cyber Security & Privacy
The Data Science option focuses on data analytics, decision theories and big data. Students opting for this option are expected to have background in programming and basic statistics. Key career options include: data analyst, data scientist, data architect, data administrator, decision analyst, machine learning engineer, or pursuing doctoral studies.
Undergraduate Requirements
Students should have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Students with a bachelor’s degree in other areas will be considered, but will require to complete MCIS 5023 Computer Science Fundamentals: Concepts and MCIS 5033 Computer Science Fundamentals: Programming prerequisite courses. No credit is awarded towards the MCIS degree for the completion of these prerequisite courses.
For more information about the program please contact:
Specific Degree Requirements
Each candidate for the Master of Science in Computer and Information Science degree must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of coursework.
Core courses (12 hours):
MCIS 5103 Advanced Programming Concepts
MCIS 5133 Data Base Management Systems
MCIS 6163 Computer Networking
MCIS 6173 Information & Networking Security
Required Data Science courses (12 hours)
MCIS 6123 Decision Science
MCIS 6263 Big Data
MCIS 6273 Data Mining
MCIS 6283 Machine Learning
Electives, Select 6 hours from the following:
MCIS 5003 Survey of Information Technology
MCIS 5013 UNIX Operating System
MCIS 5113 Web Programming: Client Side
MCIS 5313 Data Structures and Algorithms
MCIS 5413 Web Programming: Server Side
MCIS 6133 User Interface Design
MCIS 6153 Software Engineering
MCIS 6183 Special Topics
MCIS 6201-6 Special Topics Seminar
MCIS 6213 Applied Cryptography
MCIS 6223 Vulnerability and Risk Assessment
MCIS 6233 Traceable Systems and Computer Forensics
MCIS 6243 Wireless and Mobile Security
MCIS 6253 Privacy Compliant Systems Design
MCIS 6983 Internship in Computer and Information Science
MCIS 6911-6 Thesis
