Informatics | B.S.

computer scienceBachelor of Science (B.S.)  in Informatics

4-Year Degree Plan (Sample)

Degree Requirements (120 cr.)

All courses are 3 credit hours, unless otherwise designated.

General-education curriculum (33 cr.)

For a more detailed description of the IU South Bend general-education curriculum, including lists of approved courses, see the General-Education website.

All courses certified as meeting the campuswide general-education requirements are designated in the Schedule of Classes.


Fundamental Literacies (13 cr.)
  • Writing  | ENG-W 131 Elementary Composition 1 (with a grade of C or higher)
  • Critical Thinking | Select from approved course list
  • Oral Communication | SPCH-S 121 Public Speaking
  • Visual Literacy | Select from approved course list
  • Quantitative Reasoning | Satisfied by required mathematics courses
  • Information Literacy | COAS-Q 110 Introduction to Information Literacy (1 cr.) (should be taken with ENG-W 131 Elementary Composition 1)
  • Computer Literacy | Satisfied by informatics or computer science courses approved by the department

Common Core Courses (12 cr.)

Complete one course from each of the following four areas, as designated in the Schedule of Classes. At least one of the areas must be completed at the 300-level.


Contemporary Social Values (8 cr.)

Students must complete one course from each of the following three areas, as designated in the Schedule of Classes.


Additional Requirements (22 cr.)
  • World Languages (6 cr.) | Completion of two semesters in a single language, or equivalent (Select from Chinese, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish)
  • Physical and Life Sciences (10 cr.) | Courses in at least two different sciences must be taken (Select from astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, or physics)
  • Mathematics (6 cr.) | A grade of C or higher in each course is required
  • MATH-M 118 Finite Mathematics
  • Statistics course (300-level or higher)

General Electives (7-10 cr.)

Informatics (40 cr.)
  • A grade of C– or higher in each course is required. At least 22 of the 34 credit hours must be taken within Indiana University.
  • Forty credit hours in informatics, to be satisfied with the following core and elective courses:

Core Courses (34 cr.)

  • INFO-I 101 Introduction to Informatics (4 cr.)
  • INFO-I 201 Mathematical Foundations of Informatics (4 cr.)
  • INFO-I 202 Social Informatics
  • INFO-I 210 Information Infrastructure I (4 cr.)
  • INFO-I 211 Information Infrastructure II (4 cr.)
  • INFO-I 308 Information Representation

Select two of the following four courses:

  • INFO-I 300 Human-Computer Interaction
  • INFO-I 303 Organizational Informatics
  • INFO-I 310 Multimedia Arts and Technology
  • INFO-I 320 Distributed Systems and Collaborative Computing

Select one of the following capstone options

Option 1 |

  • INFO-I 450 Design and Development of an Information System
  • INFO-I 451 Design and Development of an Information System

Option 2 (check with the director of informatics for availability) |

  • INFO-I 460 Senior Thesis
  • INFO-I 461 Senior Thesis

Electives (6 cr.)

At least 6 credit hours chosen from informatics electives (300-level or higher). Prerequisite courses may be required. The selection of informatics electives will be expanded as additional cognate areas develop.

  • BIOL-L 311 Genetics
  • BUS-K 301 Enterprise Resource Planning
  • CSCI-A 340 An Introduction to Web Programming
  • CSCI-B 401 Fundamentals of Computing Theory
  • CSCI-B 424 Parallel and Distributed Programming
  • CSCI-B 438 Fundamentals of Computer Networks
  • CSCI-B 451 Security in Computing
  • CSCI-C 311 Programming Languages
  • CSCI-C 335 Computer Structures (4 cr.)
  • CSCI-C 435 Operating Systems 1 (4 cr.)
  • CSCI-C 455 Analysis of Algorithms I
  • CSCI-C 463 Artificial Intelligence I
  • CSCI-C 481 Interactive Computer Graphics
  • FINA-P 374 Computer Art and Design II
  • INFO-I 300 Human-Computer Interaction
  • INFO-I 303 Organizational Informatics
  • INFO-I 310 Multimedia Arts and Technology
  • INFO-I 320 Distributed Systems and  Collaborative Computing
  • INFO-I 400 Topics in Informatics (e.g., bioinformatics, game programming)
  • MATH-M 365 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (4 cr.)
  • PHYS-P 303 Digital Electronics (4 cr.)
  • PHYS-P 334 Fundamentals of Optics
  • PSY-P 335 Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY-P 438 Language and Cognition
  • SOC-S 319 Science, Technology, and Society

Cognate Area (15-18 cr.)

The student must take five or six courses in a cognate area of interest chosen with the consent of their advisor and the director of informatics.

Academic Bulletins

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