Computer Science, BS

Requirements

To earn a BS in Computer Science, a student must complete a minimum of 120 semester hours including eight core courses, four major elective courses , a capstone course, four required math courses, and other general education requirements set by the university. 

  • Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA in the major, and must earn grades of C- or higher in all major coursework.
  • At least 30 credit hours of credit must be taken at Roosevelt University, with at least 15 of these in the major.
  • At least 60 credit hours in computer science, cyber security, the natural sciences, mathematics, and/or psychology.

  • Because of the rapidly changing nature of this field of study, computing courses taken more than eight years ago cannot be counted towards degree requirements unless the student has been continuously registered since the time the course was taken (excluding summers). 

Core
CST 150COMPUTER SCIENCE I4
CST 250COMPUTER SCIENCE II4
CST 261COMPUTER ORG & ASSEMBLER3
CST 280INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS3
CST 317OPERATING SYSTEMS3
CST 333DATABASE SYSTEMS3
CST 372PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES3
CST 348SOFTWARE ENGINEERING I3
Concentration (or Electives)12
Capstone Course
CST 399SENIOR PROJECT3
or CST 378 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING II
or CST 394 COMPUTER SCIENCE INTERNSHIP
Required Math Courses
MATH 122TRIGONOMETRY AND PRECALCULUS3
MATH 217ELEMENTARY STATISTICS3
MATH 231CALCULUS I5
MATH 245DISCRETE STRUCTURES3
MATH 246LINEAR ALGEBRA3
General Education, University Writing Requirement, and Electives
Courses to total 12062
Total Credit Hours120

Concentrations

Students can choose one of the following two optional concentrations (12 credit-hours) that will appear on their transcripts: select at least 4 from the listed courses for each concentration.

Data and Computation Concentration

CST 309DATA MINING3
CST 310GAME THEORY AND APPLICATIONS3
CST 311NETWORK SCIENCE3
CST 337THEORY OF COMPUTATION3
CST 338EFFICIENT COMPUTING3
CST 355CRYPTOGRAPHY3
CST 381INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS3
CST 386INFORMATION RETRIEVAL3
CST 387ALGORITHM DESIGN3

Computer Applications Concentration

CST 301COMPUTER NETWORKING3
CST 318INTRODUCTION TO UNIX3
CST 343O.O.P AND WEB SERVICES3
CST 357SYSTEMS PROGRAMMING3
CST 359INTRO TO COMPUTER SECURITY3
CST 367WEB-BASE DATABASE APPLICATIONS3
CST 369SMARTPHONE APP DEVELOPMENT3
CST 376DISTRIBUTED APPLICATIONS3

​Non-Concentration Option

Students who are not pursuing a concentration must select four CST 3XX-level elective courses. Of the electives within their major students can select at most two courses from other undergraduate programs offered by the department and/or from among CST 390 Special Topics, CST 394 Internship, and CST 395 Independent Study.

Capstone Course

Students in this major must complete a capstone course as part of the degree requirements. The capstone courses CST 378 and CST 399 will be non-individualized sections taught by a CST faculty member and organized into team projects. Each design team must complete a project assigned by the instructor with a grade of C- or better final grade, and each team will present their projects during final exams week.

CORE Requirements (General Education)

First Year Success Course or Transfer Success Course
FYS 101FIRST YEAR SUCCESS COURSE1
or TRS 101 TRANSFER SUCCESS 101
Communication Requirement
ENG 101COMPOSITION I: CRITICAL READING & WRITING3
ENG 102COMPOSITION II: INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC RESEARCH3
COMM 101PUBLIC SPEAKING (or program specific CORE communications course)3
Ideas of Social Justice
3 credits in coursework categorized as Ideas.3
Humanities and Fine and Performing Arts 2, 3
9 credits from the following subject areas: African-American Studies, Art History, English (excluding ENG 101 and ENG 102), History, Languages, Music, Philosophy, Theatre, Communication and Women's and Gender Studies9
Mathematics
MATH 110QUANTITATIVE LITERACY (or above) 13
Science
One biological science and one physical science required (one must include a one credit lab).7-8
Social Sciences 2,3
9 credits from the following subject areas: African-American Studies, Criminal Justice, Economics, History, Journalism, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies9
Experiential Learning
6 credits from coursework categorized as Experiential Learning. 6
Total Credit Hours47-48
1

Higher level of Math may be required by major

2

Coursework must come from outside of students' major discipline

3

A maximum of 9 credits can be applied from a single discipline towards humanities and social science requirements

These quantitative requirements also apply to degrees.

  • Students must earn a minimum of 120 semester hours.
  • Students may apply no more than 60 credit hours of 100-level courses toward the degree.
  • Students must apply no fewer than 60 credit hours of 200- and 300-level courses toward the degree.
  • Students must have at least 18 credit hours (of the 60 credit hours above) at the 300 level.
  • Students may transfer in no more than 70 credit hours from community colleges.
  • Students earning less than 60 total hours in residence must take their final 30 hours at Roosevelt University. Note that some majors have additional requirements for RU hours.
  • Students must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher to graduate. Note that some majors have additional GPA requirements.
  • Students may apply no more than 51 hours in the major (BA) or 57 hours in the major (BS)

Your degree map is a general guide suggesting courses to complete each term on the academic pathway to your degree. It is based on the most current scheduling information from your academic program. Your program’s degree map is reviewed annually and updated as schedules change (although you retain the same course requirements as long as you are continuously enrolled in your degree program).

Always work closely with your academic advisor to understand curriculum requirements and scheduling, as each student’s academic plan can look slightly different.

Year 1
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
ENG 1013ENG 1023
FYS 1011MATH 2173
MATH 1213CST 1504
Social Science #13Ideas of Social Justice3
Humanities #13MATH 1223
Physical Science23 
 16 16
Year 2
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
CST 2504CST 2613
MATH 2453CST 2803
COMM 1013MATH 2463
BIOL 111 or 11224Humanities #23
 Social Science #23
 14 15
Year 3
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
CST 3723Concentration/Major Elective43
CST 3333Concentration/Major Elective43
CST 3173Social Science #33
MATH 2315Experiential Learning #133
 General Elective13
 14 15
Year 4
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
CST 3483CST 378, 394, or 39953
Concentration/Major Elective43Concentration/Major Elective43
General Elective13General Elective13
General Elective13Humanities #33
General Elective13General Elective13
 15 15
Total Credit Hours 120
1

 Or course towards an optional Minor.

2

 One Natural Science course must have a lab and one must come from BIOL.

3

Experiential Learning class must be 200/300 level. Satisfies CORE Experiential Learning requirement.

4

Courses must either meet concentration requirements (selected from list for the given concentration) or the requirements for non-concentration (four 300 level electives where at most two can be from other undergraduate programs offered by the department and where at most two from among CST 390 SPECIAL TOPICS,  CST 394 COMPUTER SCIENCE INTERNSHIP, and CST 395 INDEPENDENT STUDY )

5

If student selects CST 394 COMPUTER SCIENCE INTERNSHIP, student will need to replace an Elective with an Experiential Learning course at the 200/300 level.