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Departments & Programs

Department of Computer and Information Science
Bachelor of Arts

The B.A. in Applied Computer Science offers a balance of theoretical and applied computing coursework to prepare a student for multiple pathways into the information technology workforce. The student’s additional coursework in the liberal arts and social sciences further enhances communication skills and understanding of issues in other sectors of the economy.  The program requires 120 credit hours including core courses in computer science that are supplemented by applied electives and rounded out with courses in algebra and statistics, world language, communications, liberal arts and social sciences. This program allows students flexibility in pursuing a minor or undergraduate certificate program of their choice.

Degree Requirements

NOTE: These degree requirements are effective for students admitted beginning in the Fall of 2014.

See the School of Science requirements under "Undergraduate Programs" in this bulletin for the general and area degree requirements. The School of Science will not accept certain university courses for the computer science degree program. The Bachelor of Arts degree program in computer science requires a minimum of 120 credit hours.

First-Year Experience Course  Beginning freshmen and transfer students with fewer than 19 credit hours are required to take CSCI 12000 Windows on Computer Science (1 cr.) or an equivalent first-year experience course.

Area I English Composition and Communication Competency (9 cr.)  See the School of Science requirements under "Undergraduate Programs" in this bulletin for details.

  • ENG-W131 Reading, Writing and Inquiry
  • COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication

The second semester of English composition must be satisfied with:

  • TCM 32000 Written Communication in Science and Industry

Area II World Language Competency  Students must demonstrate world language first-year proficiency in one of three ways:

  • First year proficiency via test
  • Successful completion of a world language courses 131 and 132.
  • Successful completion of a 200-level or higher world language courses with a C or above

Area IIIA Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Cultural Understanding Competencies (12 cr.)  The information about the IIIA requirements in the School of Science "Undergraduate Programs" section of this bulletin lists courses that may be used to satisfy the requirements below. Students should consult a departmental advisor before registering for these courses.

  • List H Arts and Humanities Competency:  Choose one course from this list. (3 cr.). The list of course choices is located with the School of Science Area requirements under "Undergraduate Programs" in this bulletin.
  • List S Social Sciences Competency:  Choose one course from this list (3 cr.).  The list of course choices is located with the School of Science Area requirements under "Undergraduate Programs" in this bulletin.
  • One additional course from either List H or List S (3 cr.)
  • List C Cultural Understanding Competency:  Choose one course from this list (3 cr.).  The list of course choices is located with the School of Science Area requirements under "Undergraduate Programs" in this bulletin.

For the most current list of courses in the areas of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Understanding, please refer to the IUPUI General Education Curriculum.

Area IIIC Life and Physical Sciences Competency  The Department of Computer and Information Science requires all computer science majors to take four science courses chosen from the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, and physics, or from certain courses in engineering. A single grade of D or D+ is acceptable in this Area. Otherwise, all courses must be completed with a C- or higher. Each course that counts as one of the physical science required courses must have a lecture component and be at least 3 credit hours. One course must be at least 4 credit hours with a lab component. Courses that may not be used to fulfill Area IIIC requirements include: BIOL-N100, BIOL-N107, BIOL-N120, BIOL-N200; CHEM-C100, CHEM-C101, CHEM-C102, CHEM-C110; PHYS 01000, PHYS 10000, PHYS 14000, PHYS 20000, PHYS 21800, PHYS 21900, PHYS-P201, PHYS-P202; AST-A130; GEOL-G 103, GEOL-G107, GEOL-G115, GEOL-G130, GEOL-G132; and all agriculture and geography courses. Consult a departmental academic advisor concerning the acceptability of other courses. The following engineering courses may be applied toward Area IIIC requirements: ECE 20100, ECE 20200, and ECE 27000. Laboratory courses without a lecture component may be taken for credit, but do not count toward the four-course requirement.

Area IIID Analytical Reasoning Competency  Applied Computer Science majors are required a minimum of 9 credit hours of mathematical sciences. A single grade of D or D+ is acceptable in this Area. Otherwise, all courses must be completed with a C- or higher. The three course requirements are MATH 15300, MATH 15400, and STAT 30100.

Area IV Major Requirements  Minimum requirements include 17 credit hours of core computer science courses, 12 credit hours of core applied computer science courses, and at least 27 additional hours of computer science and supporting course electives. Core CSCI courses are: CSCI 23000, CSCI 24000, CSCI 34000, CSCI 36200, and CSCI 49500. Applied computer science core courses are: CSCI-N211 or CIT 21400, CSCI-N241 or CIT21200, CSCI-N361 or INFO-I400, and INFO-I300.

Computer and Information Science Electives  Applied Computer Science majors take 9 major elective courses. Four courses must be from the list of approved applied computer science electives. No more than two applied courses can be chosen from the list of electives outside of computer science. Five courses must be from the list of traditional computer science electives.

CSCI-N-Series and applied electives—Choose no more than four total and no more than two outside of computer science

  • CSCI-N300 Mobile Computing Fundamentals
  • CSCI-N305 C Language Programming
  • CSCI-N311 Advanced Database Programming, Oracle
  • CSCI-N317 Computation for Scientific Applications
  • CSCI-N321 System and Network Administration
  • CSCI-N335 Advanced Programming, Visual Basic
  • CSCI-N341 Client Side Web Programming
  • CSCI-N342 Server Side Web Development
  • CSCI-N343 Object-Oriented Programming for the Web
  • CSCI-N345 Advanced Programming, Java
  • CSCI-N351 Introduction to Multimedia Programming
  • CSCI-N355 Introduction to Virtual Reality
  • CSCI-N361 Fundamentals of Software Project Management
  • CSCI-N410 Mobile Computing Application Development
  • CSCI-N420 Mobile Computing Cross Platform Development
  • CSCI-N430 Mobile Computing and Interactive Applications
  • CSCI-N431 E-Commerce with ASP.NET
  • CSCI-N435 Data Management Best Practices with ADO.NET
  • CSCI-N443 XML Programming
  • CSCI-N450 Mobile Computing with Web Services
  • CSCI-N451 Web Game Development
  • CSCI-N452 3D Game Programming (Pending)
  • CSCI-N461 Software Engineering for Applied Computer Science
  • CSCI-N499 Topics in Applied Computing (topic varies)
  • INFO-I202 Social Informatics
  • INFO-I270 Intro HCI Principles and Practices
  • INFO-I275 Intro to HCI Theory
  • INFO-I310 Multimedia Arts: History, Criticism & Technology
  • INFO-I480 Experience Design & Evaluation of Ubiquitous Computing
  • NEWM-N204 Intro to Interactive Media
  • NEWM-N230 Intro to Game Design and Development
  • NEWM-N241 Stop Motion Animation
  • NEWM-N255 Intro to Digital Sound
  • NEWM-N304 INteractive Media Applications
  • NEWM-N330 Game Design, Development, and Production
  • NEWM-N335 Computer-Based Character Simulation/Animation II
  • NEWM-N431 Game On
  • NEWM-N450 Usability Practices for New Media Interfaces
  • CIT 20200 Network Fundamentals
  • CIT 31200 Advanced Web Design
  • CIT 31300 Commercial Web Site Development
  • CIT 32900 Java Server Programming
  • CIT 34700 Advanced ASP.NET Programming
  • CIT 35600 Network Operating System Administration
  • CIT 40200 Design and Implementation of Local Area Networks
  • CIT 40600 Advanced Network Security
  • CIT 41200 XML-Based Web Applications
  • CIT 42000 Digital Forensics
  • CIT 43600 Advanced E-Commerce Development
  • CIT 44000 Computer Network Design
  • HERR-A371 Intro to Interactive Design
  • HERR-A471 Advanced Interactive Design
  • BUS-S302 Management Information Systems
  • BUS-L203 Commercial Law I
  • BUS-L303 Commercial Law II
  • ECE 20400 Intro tElectrical & electron Circuits
  • ECE 27000 Intro to Digital System Design
  • ECE 36200 Microprocessor Systems & Interfacing
  • ECE 47100 Embedded Systems
  • STAT 51400 Design of Experiments
  • MATH 16500 Analytic Geometry & Calculus I
  • MATH 16600 Analytic Geometry & Calculus II
  • MATH 26100 Multivariate Calculus
  • MATH 26600 Ordinary Differential Equations

Please note that the courses above may require pre-requisties.  Be sure to plan accordingly

CSCI 300, 400, and 500 level Electives—Choose at least five courses

  • CSCI 30000 Systems Programming
  • CSCI 35500 Introduction to Programming Languages
  • CSCI 36300 Principles of Software Design
  • CSCI 40200 Computer Architecture
  • CSCI 40300 Operating Systems
  • CSCI 43200 Security in Computing
  • CSCI 43500 Multimedia Information Systems
  • CSCI 43600 Principles of Computer Networking
  • CSCI 43700 Introduction to 3D Game Graphics
  • CSCI 43800 Advanced Game Development
  • CSCI 44300 Database Systems
  • CSCI 44800 Biometric Computing
  • CSCI 45000 Principles of Software Engineering
  • CSCI 45200 Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
  • CSCI 46300 Analysis of Algorithms
  • CSCI 47000 Automata and Formal Languages
  • CSCI 47500 Scientific Computing I
  • CSCI 47600 Scientific Computing II
  • CSCI 47700 High Performance Computing
  • CSCI 48100 Data Mining
  • CSCI 48400 Theory of Computation
  • CSCI 48500 Expert System Design
  • CSCI 48700 Artificial Intelligence
  • CSCI 49000 Variable Title
  • CSCI 53600 Data Communication and Computer Networks
  • CSCI 54100 Database Systems
  • CSCI 54800 Bioinformatics
  • CSCI 55000 Computer Graphics
  • CSCI 55200 Advanced Graphics and Visualization
  • CSCI 55700 Image Processing and Computer Vision
  • CSCI 59000 Cryptography and Network Security

Bachelor of Arts Sample Program (120 cr. required)

Freshman Year
First Semester
CSCI 12000 First Year Seminar 1
CSCI 23000 Computing I 4
CSCI-N211 Intro. to Databases 3
MATH 15300 Algebra & Trigonometry I 3
ENG W131 Reading, Writing and Inquiry 3
Arts & Humanities/Social Sciences  (choose from list) 3
Total 17
Second Semester  
CSCI 24000 Computing II 4
CSCI 34000 Discrete Computational Structures 3
MATH 15400 Algebra & Trigonometry II 3
COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication 3
Total 13
Sophomore Year
Third Semester
CSCI 36200 Data Structures 3
CSCI-N241 Fundamentals of Web Development 3
STAT 30100 Elem. Statistical Methods I 3
Life and Physical Science (approved elective) 3
Arts & Humanities/Social Sciences  (choose from list) 3
Total 15
Fourth Semester  
CSCI-N361 Fund. of Software Project Mgmt. 3
CSCI elective 3
CSCI elective 3
Life and Physical Science (approved elective) 3
Arts & Humanities/Social Sciences  (choose from list) 3
Total 15
Junior Year
Fifth Semester
CSCI Elective 3
World Language 4
Life and Physical Science (approved elective) 4
TCM 32000 Written Comm. in Science & Industry 3
Elective 3
Total 17
Sixth Semester  
CSCI Elective 3
CSCI Elective 3
Life and Physical Science (approved elective) 3
World Language 4
Elective 3
Total 16
Senior Year
Seventh Semester
CSCI Elective 3
CSCI Elective 3
CSCI Elective 3
INFO-I300 Human Computer Interaction 3
Total 12
Eighth Semester  
CSCI 49500 Explorations in Applied Computing (Capstone) 3
CSCI Elective 3
Elective 6
Elective 3
Total 15