Accelerated MS-CS Programs

The School of Computing and Information Science, in conjunction with the University of Maine Graduate School, offers the opportunity for Computer Science majors to begin taking graduate courses during the second semester of their third year and during their final undergraduate year, double-counting up to nine (9) credits toward the BS and the MS.  This program is listed as an CLAS Accelerated Program.  Enterprising students will then be able to get a non-thesis MS by staying one extra year during which they will complete the remaining 21 credits required by the MS.

Admission Process:

Provisional Admission – Students must be provisionally admitted into the 4+1 non-thesis MS programs during their third year.  To qualify for provisional admission, students must satisfy the following requirements:

  • Students have completed at least 60 but no more than 100 credit hours applicable towards graduation.
  • Students have an average GPA of 3.5 or higher.
  • Students are on the track to complete the following core courses by the end of the Fall semester of the third year:

COS125, COS135, COS140, COS225, COS226, COS235, COS250, and COS331, as well as the three required Math classes (MAT126, MAT127, and one of STS232, STS332, or STS434), the four required Science classes (a two-class sequence with a lab plus two others from AST, BIO, BMB, CHY, ERS, FES, SMS, PHY, or WLE), and the two required English classes (ENG101 and ENG317)

In the junior year, students must submit the following materials to the Computer Science Graduate Program Coordinator by November 15:

  1. Undergraduate transcript (unofficial transcript is acceptable)
  2. A completed application to the COS 4+1 program, including three letters of recommendation. CS4+1_application
  3. A plan of study that leads to graduation within 15 months after receiving the BS degree (Students must work with the graduate coordinator and their undergraduate faculty advisor to develop this study plan).

The graduate committee will make decisions on provisional admission for each applicant by January 15.  The Computer Science Graduate Program Committee will forward its admission recommendation directly to the Graduate School.

Final Admission and Matriculation

In the final undergraduate year, provisionally admitted students must submit the formal application to the Graduate School (including payment of the application fee) by January 15.  While submission of GRE scores is optional for such students, the GRE is highly recommended if the students wish to be considered for assistantships or scholarships; however, because of concerns arising from the public health crisis that began in early 2020, this recommendation is currently waived for the academic years for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

Beginning in the Spring semester of the third year and continuing through their final undergraduate year, provisionally admitted students would take up to 9 credits toward the MS degree (required classes listed below).  These courses would also count towards the BS degree (joint credits satisfying the two COS electives required of the BS), but must be part of the Master’s Program of Study.

Upon graduation with a BS degree, and with satisfactory performance in courses taken as an undergraduate (defined as 3.5 cumulative GPA and no grade below “B” in the courses to be double-counted for the MS degree), the student may be formally matriculated into the MS program. Students who meet these requirements must matriculate in their MS program within one semester/term after receiving their BS degree in order to use the joint credits. 

To receive the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science, in years 4 and 5 the successful Computer Science 4+1 student is expected to complete any remaining requirements outlined in the UMaine Master of Science in Computer Science Curriculum.