Computer Science, Master of Science

Admission Requirements

Applicants (degree seeking and special student) must meet the general requirements for admission to graduate study. The applicant's prior education must include the following courses:

1. One year of calculus (2 semesters or 3 quarters);
2. One semester/term of advanced math (discrete math is strongly preferred but linear algebra and differential equations will be accepted);
3. One semester/term of Java (C++ will be accepted but the student must be knowledgeable in Java);
4. One semester/term of data structures;
5. One semester/term of computer organization (e.g., assembly language and machine organization).

Applicants whose prior education does not include the courses listed above may still enroll under provisional status, followed by full admission status once they have completed the missing courses. Missing courses may be completed with Johns Hopkins Engineering (all provisional courses are available) or at another regionally accredited institution. Admitted students typically have earned a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (B or above) in the latter half of their undergraduate studies. When reviewing an application, the candidate’s academic and professional background will be considered.

Program Requirements

Ten courses (30 credits) must be completed within five years. Students are required to choose a focus area or concentration. 

Requirements for Focus Area Completion

The curriculum consists of three core courses (9 credits) and a minimum of five courses (15 credits) from the Computer Science program, which includes selected courses from other programs as indicated in the course lists below, and a maximum of two electives (6 credits) may be selected from outside the Computer Science program and require prior advisor approval. Students must complete at least three courses (9 credits) from a selected focus area of which one course must be 700-level. At least three of the ten graduate-level courses must be 700-level. Transfer courses will be considered electives. Transfer courses must meet all general Engineering for Professionals requirements for transfer, must be directly applicable to Computer Science, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Only one C-range grade (C+, C, or C–) can count toward the master’s degree. All course selections outside of the Computer Science program requirements are subject to advisor approval.

Non-degree students in Computer Science should consult with their advisor to determine which courses must be successfully completed before 600- or 700-level Computer Science courses may be taken.

Provisional Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Undergraduate-level courses offered to complete provisional requirements. 1		Credits
EN.625.108 & EN.625.109	Calculus I and Calculus II	4
or EN.605.156	Calculus for Engineers
EN.605.201	Introduction to Programming Using Java	3
or EN.605.207	Introduction to Programming Using C++
EN.605.202	Data Structures	3
EN.605.203	Discrete Mathematics 2	3
or EN.625.252	Linear Algebra and Its Applications
or EN.625.251	Introduction to Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
EN.605.204	Computer Organization	3

¹

Applicants whose prior education does not include the courses listed under Admission Requirements may enroll under provisional status, followed by full admission once they have completed the missing provisional courses. All provisional courses are available at Johns Hopkins Engineering. These courses do not count toward the degree or certificate requirements.

²

Discrete Mathematics is preferred.

Core Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Core Courses 2, 3		Credits
EN.605.601	Foundations of Software Engineering	3
EN.605.611	Foundations of Computer Architecture	3
EN.605.621	Foundations of Algorithms	3
Focus Areas and Concentrations 4, 5
Select one of the following:
Artificial Intelligence
Bioinformatics
Cybersecurity
Data Communications and Networking
Data Science and Cloud Computing
Database Systems and Knowledge Management
Enterprise and Web Computing
Human-Computer Interation and Visualization
Research
Software Engineering
Systems
Theory
Communications and Networking Concentration

²

Students working toward a master’s degree in Computer Science are required to take the following three foundation courses before taking any other courses.

³

One or more foundation courses can be waived by the student’s advisor if a student has received an A or B in equivalent graduate courses. In this case, the student may replace the waived foundation courses with the same number of other graduate Computer Science courses and may take these courses after all remaining foundation course requirements have been satisfied.

⁴

Some courses require fulfillment of Artificial Intelligence program prerequisite courses. 

⁵

Some courses require fulfillment of Data Science program prerequisite courses. 

Courses by Focus Area

The focus areas offered represent related groups of courses that are relevant for students with interests in the selected areas. Students are required to choose a focus area to follow and to take at least three courses from the selected focus area, including at least one 700-level course. The focus areas are presented as an aid to students in planning their course selections and are only applicable to students seeking a master’s degree. They do not appear as official designations on a student’s transcript or diploma.

Artificial Intelligence

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.613	Introduction to Robotics	3
EN.605.645	Artificial Intelligence	3
EN.605.646	Natural Language Processing	3
EN.605.647	Neural Networks	3
EN.605.649	Principles and Methods in Machine Learning	3
EN.605.740	Machine Learning: Deep Learning	3
EN.605.742	Deep Neural Networks	3
EN.605.743	Advanced Artificial Intelligence	3
EN.605.745	Reasoning Under Uncertainty	3
EN.605.746	Advanced Machine Learning	3
EN.605.747	Evolutionary and Swarm Intelligence	3
EN.635.603	AI/ML Ops	3
EN.635.782	Ethics in Intelligent Systems	3
EN.695.637	Introduction to Assured AI and Autonomy	3
EN.705.603	Creating AI-Enabled Systems 6	3
EN.705.615	Artificial Intelligence for Leaders	3
EN.525.670	Machine Learning for Signal Processing	3
EN.525.733	Deep Learning for Computer Vision	3
EN.525.786	Human Robotics Interaction	3

⁶

Some courses require fulfillment of Artificial Intelligence program prerequisite courses. 

Bioinformatics

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Prerequisite Courses		Credits
EN.605.205	Molecular Biology for Computer Scientists 7	3
Courses		Credits
EN.605.631	Statistical Methods for Computer Science	3
EN.605.643	Linked Data and the Semantic Web	3
EN.605.651	Principles of Bioinformatics	3
EN.605.652	Biological Databases and Database Tools	3
EN.605.653	Computational Genomics	3
EN.605.656	Computational Drug Discovery,Dev	3
EN.605.657	Statistics for Bioinformatics	3
EN.605.716	Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems	3
EN.605.751	Algorithms for Structural Bioinformatics	3
EN.605.755	Systems Biology	3
EN.605.759	Independent Project in Bioinformatics	3
EN.705.618	Neuromarketing AI	3
EN.585.771	Biomedical Data Science	3

⁷

Students must complete EN.605.205 Molecular Biology for Computer Scientists or have already completed an equivalent course to select the Bioinformatics focus area.

Cybersecurity

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.609	DevOps and Secure Software Development	3
EN.605.636	Autonomic Computing	3
EN.605.731	Survey of Cloud Computing Security	3
EN.635.611	Principles of Network Engineering	3
EN.635.673	Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Cyber Attacks	3
EN.635.676	Cybersecurity in Information Systems	3
EN.635.711	Advanced Topics in Network Engineering	3
EN.635.775	Cyber Operations, Risk, and Compliance	3
EN.695.601	Foundations of Information Assurance	3
EN.695.611	Embedded Computer Systems-Vulnerabilities, Intrusions, and Protection Mechanisms	3
EN.695.612	Operating Systems Security	3
EN.695.615	Cyber Physical Systems Security	3
EN.695.622	Web Security	3
EN.695.624	Introduction to Internet of Things Security and Privacy	3
EN.695.641	Cryptology	3
EN.695.642	Intrusion Detection	3
EN.695.643	Introduction to Ethical Hacking	3
EN.695.711	Java Security	3
EN.695.721	Network Security	3
EN.695.723	Advanced Web Security	3
EN.695.742	Digital Forensics Technologies and Techniques	3
EN.695.744	Reverse Engineering and Vulnerability Analysis	3

Data Communications and Networking

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.671	Principles of Data Communications Networks	3
EN.605.674	Network Programming	3
EN.605.675	Protocol Design	3
EN.605.677	Internetworking with TCP/IP I	3
EN.605.771	Wired and Wireless Local and Metropolitan Area Networks	3
EN.605.777	Internetworking with TCP/IP II	3
EN.605.779	Network Design and Performance Analysis	3
EN.635.611	Principles of Network Engineering	3
EN.635.711	Advanced Topics in Network Engineering	3
EN.525.678	Next Generation Mobile Networks and Security with 5G	3
EN.525.768	Wireless Networks	3

Data Science and Cloud Computing

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.631	Statistical Methods for Computer Science	3
EN.605.632	Graph Analytics	3
EN.605.633	Social Media Analytics	3
EN.605.634	Crowdsourcing and Human Computation	3
EN.605.635	Cloud Computing	3
EN.605.649	Principles and Methods in Machine Learning	3
EN.605.662	Data Visualization	3
EN.605.724	Applied Game Theory	3
EN.605.731	Survey of Cloud Computing Security	3
EN.605.741	Large-Scale Database Systems	3
EN.605.744	Information Retrieval	3
EN.605.746	Advanced Machine Learning	3
EN.605.788	Big Data Processing Using Hadoop	3
EN.685.648	Data Science 8	3
EN.625.734	Queuing Theory	3
EN.625.741	Game Theory	3

⁸

Some courses require fulfillment of Data Science program prerequisite courses. 

Database Systems and Knowledge Management

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.624	Logic: Systems, Semantics, and Models	3
EN.605.641	Principles of Database Systems	3
EN.605.643	Linked Data and the Semantic Web	3
EN.605.644	XML Design Paradigms	3
EN.605.645	Artificial Intelligence	3
EN.605.647	Neural Networks	3
EN.605.740	Machine Learning: Deep Learning	3
EN.605.741	Large-Scale Database Systems	3
EN.605.742	Deep Neural Networks	3
EN.605.744	Information Retrieval	3
EN.605.745	Reasoning Under Uncertainty	3
EN.635.632	Engineering Data Intensive Systems	3
EN.685.648	Data Science 8	3
EN.525.733	Deep Learning for Computer Vision	3

⁸

Some courses require fulfillment of Data Science program prerequisite courses. 

Enterprise and Web Computing

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.681	Principles of Enterprise Web Development	3
EN.605.682	Web Application Development with Java	3
EN.605.683	Java Enterprise Development: Processes, Tools and Infrastructure	3
EN.605.686	Mobile Application Development for the Android Platform	3
EN.605.687	Mobile Application Development for the iOS Platform	3
EN.605.691	Entrepreneurship for Computer Scientists	3
EN.605.784	Enterprise Computing with Java	3
EN.605.786	Enterprise System Design and Implementation	3
EN.605.787	Front End Web App Development	3
EN.605.788	Big Data Processing Using Hadoop	3
EN.605.789	Service API Design and Development	3
EN.635.683	E-Business: Models, Architecture, Technologies, and Infrastructure	3
EN.635.792	Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Corporate Success	3

Human–Computer Interaction and Visualization

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.633	Social Media Analytics	3
EN.605.634	Crowdsourcing and Human Computation	3
EN.605.661	Computer Vision	3
EN.605.662	Data Visualization	3
EN.605.667	Computer Graphics	3
EN.605.668	Computer Gaming Engines	3
EN.605.767	Applied Computer Graphics	3
EN.605.768	Advanced Game Design and Development Engines	3
EN.635.661	Principles of Human Computer Interaction	3

Research

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.646	Natural Language Processing	3
EN.605.728	Quantum Computation	3
EN.605.746	Advanced Machine Learning	3
EN.605.747	Evolutionary and Swarm Intelligence	3
EN.605.795	Capstone Project in Computer Science	3
EN.605.801	Independent Study in Computer Science I	3
EN.605.802	Independent Study in Computer Science II	3
EN.635.673	Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Cyber Attacks	3
EN.695.722	Covert Channels	3

Software Engineering

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.601	Foundations of Software Engineering	3
EN.605.603	Object-Oriented and Functional Programming in Kotlin	3
EN.605.604	Object-Oriented Programming with C++	3
EN.605.606	Programming with Domain-Specific Languages	3
EN.605.607	Agile Software Development Methods	3
EN.605.608	Software Project Management	3
EN.605.609	DevOps and Secure Software Development	3
EN.605.629	Programming Languages	3
EN.605.701	Software Systems Engineering	3
EN.605.702	Cloud-native Architecture and Microservices	3
EN.605.704	Object-Oriented Analysis and Design	3
EN.605.705	Software Safety	3
EN.605.707	Software Patterns	3
EN.605.708	Tools and Techniques of Software Project Management	3

Systems

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.611	Foundations of Computer Architecture	3
EN.605.612	Operating Systems	3
EN.605.613	Introduction to Robotics	3
EN.605.614	System Development in the UNIX Environment	3
EN.605.615	Compiler Design with LLVM	3
EN.605.616	Multiprocessor Architecture & Programming	3
EN.605.617	Introduction to GPU Programming	3
EN.605.618	Introduction to High Performance Computing	3
EN.605.715	Software Development for Real-Time Embedded Systems	3
EN.605.716	Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems	3

Theory

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.620	Algorithms for Bioinformatics	3
EN.605.621	Foundations of Algorithms	3
EN.605.622	Computational Signal Processing	3
EN.605.624	Logic: Systems, Semantics, and Models	3
EN.605.626	Image Processing	3
EN.605.629	Programming Languages	3
EN.605.630	Theory of Computation	3
EN.605.721	Design and Analysis of Algorithms	3
EN.605.724	Applied Game Theory	3
EN.605.727	Computational Geometry	3
EN.605.728	Quantum Computation	3
EN.605.729	Formal Methods	3
EN.625.617	Intro to Enumerative Combinatorics	3
EN.625.687	Applied Topology	3
EN.625.690	Computational Complexity and Approximation	3
EN.625.692	Probabilistic Graphical Models	3
EN.625.734	Queuing Theory	3
EN.625.741	Game Theory	3

Independent Study

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Courses		Credits
EN.605.795	Capstone Project in Computer Science	3
EN.605.801	Independent Study in Computer Science I	3
EN.605.802	Independent Study in Computer Science II	3

Requirements for Communications and Networking Concentration

Ten courses (30 credits) must be completed within five years. The curriculum consists of three core courses (9 credits) from the program and seven concentration courses (21 credits) as listed in the Courses by Concentration section, of which a maximum of three courses (9 credits) may come from the Elec­trical and Computer Engineering (EN.525.xxx) program. Students are strongly encouraged to take courses from both Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. At least three courses (9 credits) must be 700-level. Only one C-range grade (C+, C, or C–) can count toward the master’s degree. 

Students lacking an electrical engineering background or equivalent must take EN.525.202 Signals and Systems  as an undergraduate prerequisite before taking Electrical and Computer Engineering communications and networking courses.

Concentrations are noted on the student’s transcript.

Communications and Networking Concentration

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Prerequisite		Credits
EN.525.202	Signals and Systems 9	3
Core Courses
EN.605.601	Foundations of Software Engineering	3
EN.605.611	Foundations of Computer Architecture	3
EN.605.621	Foundations of Algorithms	3
Electives		Credits
Select seven of the following: 10
EN.605.671	Principles of Data Communications Networks	3
EN.605.674	Network Programming	3
EN.605.675	Protocol Design	3
EN.605.677	Internetworking with TCP/IP I	3
EN.605.771	Wired and Wireless Local and Metropolitan Area Networks	3
EN.605.777	Internetworking with TCP/IP II	3
EN.695.601	Foundations of Information Assurance	3
EN.695.622	Web Security	3
EN.695.721	Network Security	3
EN.525.608	Next Generation Telecommunications	3
EN.525.614	Probability & Stochastic Processes for Engineers	3
EN.525.616	Communication Systems Engineering	3
EN.525.618	Antenna Systems	3
EN.525.620	Electromagnetic Transmission Systems	3
EN.525.638	Introduction to Modern Wireless and Optical Communication Systems	3
EN.525.640	Satellite Communications Systems	3
EN.525.641	Computer and Data Communication Networks I	3
EN.525.678	Next Generation Mobile Networks and Security with 5G	3
EN.525.707	Error Control Coding	3
EN.525.708	Iterative Methods in Communications Systems	3
EN.525.722	Wireless and Mobile Cellular Communications	3
EN.525.735	MIMO Wireless Communications	3
EN.525.738	Advanced Antenna Systems	3
EN.525.747	Speech Processing	3
EN.525.751	Software Radio for Wireless Communications	3
EN.525.754	Wireless Communication Circuits	3
EN.525.759	Image Compression, Packet Video, and Video Processing	3
EN.525.761	Wireless and Wireline Network Integration	3
EN.525.768	Wireless Networks	3
EN.525.771	Propagation of Radio Waves in the Atmosphere	3
EN.525.772	Fiber-Optic Communication Systems	3
EN.525.776	Information Theory	3
EN.525.783	Spread Spectrum Communications	3
EN.525.789	Advanced Satellite Communications	3
EN.525.791	Microwave Communications Laboratory	3
EN.525.793	Advanced Communication Systems	3

⁹

This course does not count toward degree or certificate requirements.

¹⁰

No more than three courses may come from Electrical and Computer Engineering 525.XXX.

Please refer to the course schedule published each term for exact dates, times, locations, fees, and instructors.