In accordance with University policy, the Mathematics and Computer Science Department offers a combined Computer Science B.S./M.S. program to its academically-strong majors. Students admitted to the program have the opportunity to apply graduate credits earned while undergraduates toward fulfilling requirements of both their Computer Science B.S. and M.S. degrees. For instance, a senior in this program who needs nine credits of electives in order to complete his or her B.S. major might fulfill this elective requirement by taking appropriate graduate courses. After earning the B.S. degree, some or all of these graduate credits could potentially also be applied to earning the Computer Science M.S. degree.
In order to earn both the B.S. and M.S. degrees, the student must earn at least 150 credits, 30 of which must be graduate (500-level or above) credits fulfilling requirements of the Master's in Computer Science program. No more than 15 of these 30 graduate credits can be taken while the student is an undergraduate. A minimum of 114 of the credits earned for the B.S. must be undergraduate credits (400-level or below).
A student who expects to have earned well over 120 credits (including transfer and AP credits) when his or her Computer Science B.S. degree is awarded will likely benefit the most from the combined-degrees program. Such a student could potentially complete both the B.S. and M.S. degrees in as little as five years (four years to earn the B.S. degree and to begin earning graduate credits, then one additional year to complete the balance of the M.S. credits) rather than the six years that would typically be required to earn both degrees separately. In addition to saving time, there is also potentially a significant savings financially, since a number of graduate credits can be earned while the student is paying flat-rate undergraduate tuition.
An undergraduate student enrolled in the combined-degrees program also enjoys the following advantages:
September 2025
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
College Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue,
PITTSBURGH,
Pennsylvania,
15282, United States
To be considered for admission you must have graduated from a secondary school recognized as an acceptable equivalent to a U.S. high school and you must demonstrate a record of acceptable academic success. In general, undergraduate applicants are expected to obtain the U.S. equivalent of a minimum 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) for most majors.
English Proficiency: TOEFL 70; IELTS 6.0
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.
