Students work closely with faculty members and may select to complete either a thesis or project. The thesis option entails three semesters' study under the direction of a faculty member in which the student gains an understanding of an area of current research and contributes to the state of the art in that area.?

The thesis option is chosen by students seeking to be involved in the Department's research efforts. The project option provides an application-oriented experience completed in a single semester and is typically a software project supervised by one the department's faculty members.

Many successful students enter the program with Bachelor's degrees in other disciplines. The department offers a series of graduate courses designed to facilitate students' transition to graduate study in computer science from undergraduate study in other disciplines.?

The exact sequence of courses is determined individually by the department after review of the student's undergraduate transcript and relevant work experience.