Computer Science, BS

Degree Requirements

120 Credits Required

Curriculum and Degree Requirements for College of Science

A College of Science degree is conferred when a student successfully completes all requirements in their degree program.  Students will complete coursework or approved experiential learning activities to meet the following three degree components:

1. Major
2. Science Core Curriculum
3. Electives

Students may use any of the following options to meet College of Science degree requirements:

• Purdue Coursework
• Ap, IB, and CLEP credit.  The use of AP and IB coursework varies between College of Science degree plans.
• Transfer Credit. Students should consult the Admissions Transfer Credit Resource page for all available transfer options.

College of Science degree programs vary widely in their approval and use of the proceeding options and thus students are strongly encouraged to work closely with their academic advisors and to regularly consult their MyPurduePlan to view the use of each option in their degree plan. 

Most College of Science degree programs contain elective credits students may use to pursue courses that relate to their interests or which support their major area of study. The elective area of a degree plan may also be used to complete minors, second majors and certificates such as the Entrepreneurial Certificate. With the exception of courses on the No Count List, any Purdue course may be used to meet the elective area of a student’s degree plan.

College of Science Core Requirements

All Students starting Purdue University Fall semester, 2007 or later are required to pursue the 2007 Science Core curriculum.

The College of Science Core Curriculum requires the completion of approved coursework and/or experiential learning opportunities in the following academic areas:

• Composition and Presentation  
• Computing   
• Cultural Diversity (Language and Culture)   
• General Education  
• Great Issues in Science   
• Laboratory Science   
• Mathematics    
• Multidisciplinary Experience  
• Statistics   
• Teambuilding and Collaboration    
• No Count List   

Earning Core Curricular Requirements through Experience

Students may meet selected core curriculum requirements through approved experiential learning opportunities. Interested students should contact their academic advisor for more information on this option and incorporating experiential learning into their four-year program of study. For more information on earning requirements through experience, please click here.

Computer Science Major Courses (46-50 credits)

Other Departmental/Program Course Requirements (32-54 credits)

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE CORE REQUIREMENTS

• FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION – Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00 (satisfies Written Communication and Information Literacy for core)

• ENGL 10600 - First-Year Composition or
• ENGL 10800 - Accelerated First-Year Composition or
• HONR 19903 - Interdisciplinary Approaches In Writing or
• SCLA 10100 - Transformative Texts, Critical Thinking And Communication I: Antiquity To Modernity

•  

  TECHNICAL WRITING AND PRESENTATION*- Credit Hours: 0.00 - 6.00 (Select courses COULD satisfy Oral Communication for core; COM 21700  is suggested.)

   

  TEAM-BUILDING & COLLABORATION* - Credit Hours: 0.00 (fulfilled by CS 18000 in major)

   

  LANGUAGE & CULTURE^* - Credit Hours: 0.00 - 9.00 (Select courses COULD satisfy Humanities for core)

  • Language/Culture Option I
  • Language/Culture Option II
  • Language/Culture Option III

   

  GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE - Credit Hours: 3.00

   

  MULTIDISCIPLINARY EXPERIENCE^* - Credit Hours: 0.00 - 3.00 (Select courses COULD satisfy Science, Technology, Society for University Core)

   

  LABORATORY SCIENCE^ - Credit Hours: 6.00-8.00  (satisfies Science for University Core)

  • Laboratory Science Option I
  • Laboratory Science Option II

• MATHEMATICS - Credit Hours: 8.00-10.00 (satisfies Quantitative Reasoning for core)

• MA 16100 - Plane Analytic Geometry And Calculus I (Must have C or better to meet prerequisite for CS 18200) or
• MA 16500 - Analytic Geometry And Calculus I (Must have C or better to meet prerequisite for CS 18200)

•  

• MA 16200 - Plane Analytic Geometry And Calculus II or
• MA 16600 - Analytic Geometry And Calculus II

•  

• STATISTICS - Credit Hours: 3.00

• STAT 35000 - Introduction To Statistics ♦ or
• STAT 51100 - Statistical Methods ♦

•  

• COMPUTING - Credit Hours: 0.00 (fulfilled by major courses)

•  

• GENERAL EDUCATION^ - Credit Hours: 9.00 (Select courses COULD satisfy Behavioral/Social Science for core)

                  General Education Option I

                  General Education Option II

                  General Education Option III

• ^ Labeled as a Science Core Selection in the four year plan of study

  *Requirement may be met with a zero credit experiential learning option. See your advisor for more information

Electives (16-42 credits)

CS 19100 - Freshman Resources Seminar   and CS 19300 - Tools  are required freshman seminar courses; corequisites with CS 18000 . They are not degree requirements. CS 29100 - Sophomore Development Seminar  and CS 39100 - Junior Resources Seminar  are optional but recommended.

University Core Requirements

For a complete listing of University Core Course Selectives, visit the University Senate Website.

• Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)
• Human Cultures: Humanities (HUM)
• Information Literacy (IL)
• Oral Communication (OC)
• Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
• Science #1 (SCI)
• Science #2 (SCI)
• Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
• Written Communication (WC)

Program Requirements

Notes

• 2.0 Major and Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Science degree.
• ***All CS core courses and all track requirements, regardless of department, must be completed with a grade of “C” or higher. 
• All prerequisites to CS core courses and track requirements, regardless of department, must be completed with a grade of C or higher.
• Enrollment in freshman seminar courses CS 19100  and CS 19300  is required with CS 18000 . They are not degree requirements. CS 29100 - Sophomore Development Seminar  and CS 39100 - Junior Resources Seminar  are optional but recommended.

World Language Courses

World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor.

ASL-American Sign Language	ARAB-Arabic	CHNS-Chinese	FR-French
GER-German	GREK-Greek (ancient)	HEBR-Hebrew (Biblical)	HEBR-Hebrew (modern)
ITAL-Italian	JPNS-Japanese	KOR-Korean	LATN-Latin
PTGS-Portuguese	RUSS-Russian	SPAN-Spanish

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.  Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful.  These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”. 

Disclaimer

The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements.

The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.