The graduate plan in software engineering leads to the Master of Science degree. The plan prepares students for key software positions in industry, government and institutions where software engineering has become a key activity. It prepares students for jobs such as system analyst, requirements engineer, software architect, software project manager or software process designer, etc. The master’s degree plan requires a total of 30 hours of study. The plan allows for one of four optional specializations:
- Gaming
- Robotics Software
- Software Project Management
- Data Mining
Credit Earned Before Acceptance
No more than six hours of graduate-level software engineering classes may be applied to the SWEN degree if taken without admission into the program. No more than 6 hours of graduate credit may be transferred to the software engineering degree.
Students accepted in the software engineering program must file a Candidate Plan of Study (CPS) with their assigned faculty adviser within the first semester of study. Specializations in one of the areas listed above may be selected but it is not required. If a specialization is chosen electives must be chosen from within the specialization. The CPS, once completed, will list all courses the student must take to fulfill the degree requirements.
Requirements
Students seeking admission into the degree plan in Software Engineering should hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering or other computing or engineering discipline and have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater. Foundation course requirements include proficiency in one or more high-level languages, preferably an object-oriented programming language such as Java, C, C++ or C#, and data structures. It is preferred, but not required, that candidates have knowledge of operating systems, advanced data structures and algorithms. Foundation courses may be assigned, as additional coursework required if the student is lacking in foundation and must be completed in the first year of enrollment. Candidates can meet these foundation requirements with the following courses from an accredited university:
Programming in C or other high-level programming language, or UHCL’s CSCI 1470, grade of B or better is required.
Programming in Java, C++, C# or other Object-Oriented programming course or UHCL’s CSCI 1471, grade of B or better is required.
Data Structures or UHCL’s CSCI 2305, grade of B or better is required.
Additional Information
CSCI 1470, CSCI 1471, and CSCI 2305 or CSCI 2315 can be taken to meet the foundation course requirements. It is possible for an applicant with a non-computing or engineering related degree who has significant software development work experience to demonstrate required foundation competency. In this case, the application materials must include both a letter from the student and a resume detailing the candidate’s professional experience in software development and request consideration of equivalency.
Online Option
The software engineering master’s degree online program can be completed fully online. The online master’s degree plan has the same curriculum, core, elective, and entry requirements as the traditional master’s program.
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