Computer Science (BS/MS 4+1 Program)

Department: Computer Science and Information Systems

Admission Requirements

Bradley University undergraduate CS majors can apply to the 4+1 BS/MS program while completing their undergraduate degree. The 4+1 program allows a student to complete both the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and the Master of Science in Computer Science in just five years.

For admission to the 4+1 BS/MS program, a CS student:

should apply to the program during the spring of the student’s junior (third) year (preferred date: by April 1) or, at the latest, in fall of the student’s senior (fourth) year. Students will not be admitted to the program after the first day of spring semester of their senior year.
must have an overall GPA of at least 3.2
must have a major GPA for the courses taken in the CS major of at least 3.2.
must have a minimum of 75 hours completed at time of admission to the program if admitted before completion of junior year, or 90 hours if admitted at the beginning of the senior year.
must follow the application procedures consistent with application to Graduate Education and the CS Graduate Program, with the exception that there is no need to submit letters of recommendation, essays, transcripts, or GRE scores.

Admitted students will change their major to the LAS CS 4+1.
Before the end of the student’s senior year, if the student is choosing to pursue a graduate concentration, the admitted student in consultation with the CS graduate advisor declares which one of the CS graduate concentrations is chosen for satisfying the in-depth requirement at the graduate level.
If a student is admitted to the 4+1 BS/MS program and does not meet the graduation requirements for the BS in CS 4+1 degree by the end of the student's last semester as an undergraduate, admission into the 4+1 program will be rescinded and the student will graduate with an undergraduate degree in computer science.

Graduation Requirements

Students admitted to the graduate program in Computer Science pursuing an MS degree in Computer Science as an undergraduate (LAS CS 4+1) as stipulated above will need to complete 30 semester hours of graduate work. The course CS 502 does not count as part of the total hours needed. No “D” grades can be counted in the completion of requirements for the degree.
At least 21 of the 30 required hours must be earned in courses labeled CS. At most, 6 hours from the remaining 9 hours may be earned in approved courses other than those labeled CS or CIS.
During the final year of bachelor’s in CS degree program, students who are admitted to the BS/MS 4+1 program (LAS CS 4+1) will have to take at least nine credit hours in CS at the graduate level from among the list of courses which satisfy the MS in CS program curricular requirements. Nine of the graduate level CS credit hours completed in the senior year with a grade of B or higher, will then be dual counted for the 120 credit hours required for the BS in CS program and for the 30 credit hours required for the MS in CS program.
After successfully meeting the requirements for the BS in CS degree program and graduating with the BS in CS 4+1 degree, the student is then seamlessly enrolled as a graduate student in the MS in CS program for the following semester.
In addition to the 9 graduate level credit hours carried over from the student’s undergraduate program and double counted; to complete the remaining 21 graduate credit hours of the 30 hours required for the MS degree, students will take 7 graduate level courses in the two semesters of their fifth year among the list of courses which satisfy the MS in CS program curricular requirements.
Both the thesis and the non-thesis options of the MS program are available to the GRD CS 4+1 students. A student admitted to the 4+1 BS/MS program who chooses to undertake the thesis option must secure a nomination and acceptance by a faculty member to serve as the thesis advisor by the end of the student’s senior undergraduate year.
In the fifth year, for a student pursuing the non-thesis option, the student would take 3 courses in the first semester and 3 courses in the second semester, 1 course in Summer/Interim semester, and also complete the comprehensive exam requirements that will be based on the core requirements for the program pursued.
In the fifth year, for a student pursuing the MS in CS thesis option for 6 credit hours, 3 of the thesis hours are to be taken in the first semester, and 3 in the second semester. The thesis oral defense will be completed in lieu of the comprehensive exam requirements.
For courses that are cross listed as CS 4xx/5xx, a student who has already taken the 4xx course is not allowed to take the 5xx course as it will not count towards the 21 graduate level credit hours needed to be taken in the fifth year.
A student admitted to the 4+1 BS/MS program may concentrate their study in various areas of computing, including
- Cybersecurity (Cybersecurity Concentration)
- Data Science (Data Science Concentration)
- Emerging Topics (Emerging Topics in Computer Science Concentration)
- Software Engineering (Software Engineering Concentration)
- Web Technologies and Systems (Web Technologies and Systems Concentration)
A student admitted to the 4+1 BS/MS program may have the thesis option. Students selecting this option are encouraged to choose an advisor and topic as early as possible in order to plan the thesis development and any needed supporting coursework. The following policies apply to theses:
- A minimum grade point average of 3.5 in computer science and computer information systems graduate courses is required for students enrolling in CS 699 Thesis in Computer Science (Thesis).
- No student may register for CS 699 Thesis in Computer Science until 9 hours of graduate courses have been completed in the department.
- Six credit hours of CS 699 Thesis in Computer Science are required and, upon completion, the thesis must be defended in an oral examination. No grade will be given for CS 699 Thesis in Computer Science until after the oral defense.
- A written outline of the thesis project and a tentative schedule must be submitted to and approved by the graduate coordinator and the chair prior to the registration for CS 699 Thesis in Computer Science.