Advance Your Tech Career
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See Courses & Program Info
View a complete list of program courses, credit opportunities, and more.
This program requires a total of 120 credits.
- 36 Required Major Credits: Review the required major courses outlined below or view the recommended course sequence to progress through this program.
- 41 General Education Credits: Review the options available to fulfill the 41 credits of general education coursework for bachelor's degrees.
- 43 Minor & Elective Credits: Review a list of available academic minors or see the course catalog or Schedule of Classes to help you select elective courses.
Required Major Courses
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Vertical Pathway
Through a vertical pathway, students who complete this program may be eligible to reduce their total coursework for a Master of Arts in Teaching.
Not ready to major in computer science? You can pair a 15-credit minor in computer science with another major at UMGC.
This program requires that you use a computer with the following:
- Microphone and speakers or headset with microphone or equivalent device(s)
- 5 GB (gigabytes) of free hard drive space
- 4 GB RAM or higher
- A high-speed internet connection
- Computer processor (Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64) running at speeds of at least 1 GHz
- Windows 8.1 or Mac OS X 10.6 or higher for an operating system (Linux operating systems can also be used but require more technical knowledge from the user.)
Note: The higher the processor speed of your computer (e.g., 2.4–3.4 GHz), the larger the amount of available memory (e.g., 4–12 GB), and the larger the amount of available hard drive space (e.g., 5–20 GB), the better your computer will perform and the smoother your experience will be.
Gain Relevant Experience for an In-Demand, High-Tech Career
In the 21st century, most corporations and government organizations rely on computers to process their data, organize their workplaces, and conduct their business. An online degree in computer science will signal to employers that you have crucial skills in critical thinking, software engineering, structured programming, operating systems, and algorithmic analysis.
Our program directors refresh and update the curriculum regularly, with a focus on helping students achieve these learning goals:
25%
Job Growth
Job openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected to grow 25 percent from 2022 to 2032.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | “Occupational Outlook Handbook” | 2023
No. 1
Best Tech Job
Software developer is listed as the top technology job of 2023 in U.S. News & World Report's Best Technology Jobs listing.
Source: U.S. News & World Report | “Best Technology Jobs” | 2023
Practice Real-World Skills in Your Computer Science Courses
Throughout the degree program, your instructors will assign hands-on coursework that will help you prioritize real-world skills and career-focused experience. In past courses, students have been able to complete the following projects:
- Write a short research paper describing how concepts such as RISC, pipelining, cache memory, and virtual memory have evolved over the past 25 years to improve system performance.
- Design a relational database to satisfy specific business rules and requirements. Submit an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) and the associated detailed documentation describing the database design and structure.
- Benchmark the behavior of the Java implementations of different sorting algorithms, e.g., Quick Sort, Bubble Sort, Insertion Sort, Heap Sort, Radix Sort, Bucket Sort, Selection Sort, Merge Sort, Shell Sort, Bucket Sort.
Explore UMGC Computer Science Insights
Gain insight from our faculty and delve deeper into a range of topics.
FAQs
Get answers to questions that current and prospective students are asking about program admission, credibility, student organizations, and more.
In the online computer science degree program, students can learn to plan, design, develop, and optimize computer software and systems for commercial and government environments. UMGC's online computer science degree is a 120-credit, state-of-the-art program designed with input from employers, industry experts, and scholars. The program provides students with opportunities for professional development and strong foundational skills in programming languages, software development, complex algorithms, database systems, data structures, and artificial intelligence.
In the 120-credit computer science program, courses are offered year-round. The time it will take you to complete your computer science degree will depend on several factors, including your goals, how many transfer credits you have, your course load each semester, and whether you are able to benefit from one or more of our fast paths to credit, including credit for prior learning and credit for military education and training.
Tuition rates for the computer science major are very competitive and appear at the top of this page. We offer a low in-state rate for Maryland residents and a reduced tuition rate for military service members and their spouses and dependent children. We also offer financial aid, scholarships for those who qualify, an interest-free monthly payment plan, and no-cost digital materials in place of most textbooks to help make your computer science degree even more affordable.
You do not need any background or experience in computer science to apply for and graduate with an online bachelor’s degree in computer science. As long as you meet our undergraduate admission requirements, you can enroll in this program.
You do not need any prior certifications to enroll in or complete this program.
Computing Club
The Computing Club provides a dynamic environment where members can work collaboratively, share innovative ideas, enhance their career-readiness, and gain marketable experience in their respective fields. It is available to graduate or undergraduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff members. Students and alumni can join the Computing Club group on CareerQuest.
Upsilon Pi Epsilon (Computing & Technology Disciplines)
Upsilon Pi Epsilon encourages the enhancement of knowledge in the computing and information science fields. Membership is by invitation only. It is available to undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate membership is open to students majoring in one of the computing disciplines who have completed at least 45 credit hours towards their degree, including 30 or more credits at UMGC (in graded coursework) and at least 15 credits from information technology and computer science courses. Undergraduate students need to have a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in all coursework taken from the information technology and computer science courses. Graduate student membership is open to students pursuing a master's degree in cybersecurity management and policy, cybersecurity technology, data analytics, or digital forensics and cyber investigation; a master's degree in information technology with a specialization in database systems technology, informatics, information assurance, software engineering, or telecommunications management; or a legacy master's degree in cybersecurity. Graduate students must have completed at least 18 resident credits towards their degree at UMGC, with a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher. For more information, please email upe@umgc.edu.
I would say learning at UMGC is a partnership, but it goes beyond that. They understand what we have to do, and how we have to try to accommodate both being a lifelong learner and military student.
Britney B., North Augusta, SC BS in Computer Science