Department of Computer and Information Science Division of Graduate Studies Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Graduate Programs at Brooklyn College

Since 1935, the Division of Graduate Studies at Brooklyn College has provided an excellent graduate education at reasonable cost. The division offers more than 60 full-time and part-time programs leading to master's degrees and advanced certificates. Its proximity to New York City provides opportunities for internships and field study in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and throughout New York.

Successful CIS Career Preparation

Brooklyn College's Computer and Information Science (CIS) Department was ranked in an outside evaluation as one of the best of its kind in the New York metropolitan area, offering faculty with expertise in areas including artificial intelligence, algorithms, computer gaming, robotics, multimedia studies and advanced logic and social software.

Graduates of the CIS program have gone on to receive doctoral degrees or teaching positions at prestigious schools including Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia universities, and are also employed throughout the information technology industry.

The program's rigorous courses prepare graduates for professional positions including computer scientist, software engineer, programming analyst, systems analyst, business computing specialist, database administrator, network analyst, game developer, multimedia computing specialist, and others.

Rigorous Master's Degree Programs

The CIS department awards two primary graduate degrees: a Master of Arts degree in Computer Science, focusing on computer science research and development applications; and a Master of Science degree in Information Systems, dealing with organizational and administrative uses of computing, particularly practical applications.

Advanced study of applications and methodology is central to both programs, and the M.A. program can include preparation for doctoral degree study for students wishing to pursue a Ph.D. The M.A. program also offers an optional concentration in graphics and multimedia.

Students in the M.S. program typically fall into one of two categories -- computer professionals who already work in the industry, or accountants, comptrollers, business executives, and administrators seeking computer science education to apply to their own fields.

Thirty to 53 credits are required for graduation from the M.A. program, while 36 to 65 credits are required for the M.S. degree. All students are required to write a thesis or pass a written comprehensive exam before graduation. About 50 master's degrees are awarded by the CIS department each year.

Partnership with CUNY for CIS Doctoral Degree

CIS graduate courses taken at the 700 level at Brooklyn College may be credited toward a doctoral degree from the City University of New York, with the permission of the executive officer in the doctoral program, through the Ph.D. program in computer science at CUNY.

Many CIS department faculty are also faculty in the doctoral program, and about 10 to 15 Brooklyn College students are supported in the CUNY program, by tuition grants, by graduate fellowships, or through research projects.

Advanced Graduate Certificate in Parallel and Distributed Computing

The CIS department also offers an Advanced Certificate in Parallel and Distributed Computing. Distributed computing, in particular, has come under the spotlight in recent years as a means for addressing increasing needs for computational power in areas including finance, science, government, and consumer demands.

Advances in this field are progressing faster than colleges have been able to deliver trained professionals, and there is currently a very high demand for computer scientists trained in this field.

The certificate program's faculty members have expertise in programming and research in the areas of parallel and distributed computing, and resources in the CIS department for the program include parallel computers and Unix networks, including high powered clusters.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the CIS graduate programs are required to have at least 15 undergraduate credits in computer and information science and related areas, including a high-level computer language, preferably C++ or Java, and knowledge of assembly language and computer architecture.

Students are also expected to have taken courses in discreet structures, data structures, calculus, and probability and statistics. However, students who have not taken the courses may be accepted on the condition that they complete the undergraduate courses before admission.

Students applying to the Ph.D. program are required to have maintained a minimum of a B average in their undergraduate work and have completed coursework equivalent to an undergraduate major in computer science. In addition, a score of 1800 or higher is required on the combined verbal, analytical, and quantitative portions of the GRE exam.

Financial Assistance

Some financial aid is available for students with strong undergraduate preparation in computer science, mathematics, or related fields. Assistance is usually awarded to very few graduate students.

Teaching fellowships, however, are available in the Brooklyn College master's programs and the CUNY Ph.D. program. Students with exceptional academic records may also have the opportunity to work on research projects receiving grant support.

Faculty research in the CIS department is well-funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and NASA.

Urban Campus Has Undergone Renaissance

With more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and an attractive urban campus close to Manhattan, Brooklyn College has a reputation as a comprehensive and innovative liberal arts institution.

The college was designated by "The Princeton Review" as one of America's Best Value Colleges, and the college has had a renaissance of sorts in the past decade, hiring more than 250 new scholars.

Distinguished faculty members at the school have included internationally recognized computer theorist Rohit Parikh, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and writer Edwin Burrows, and political scientist and author Corey Robin.

• Degrees Offered
• Major Degree Levels Offered
• Computer Science Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Arts (MA)
• Information Systems Master of Science (MS)
• Computer Science And Health Science Master of Science (MS)
• Parallel And Distributed Computing Advanced Certificate

• Degrees Awarded
• Master's Degrees 26
• Doctoral Degrees Not reported
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported
• * Shows the number of degrees awarded for the last academic year that data was reported.

• Earning Your Degree
• Part-time study available? Yes
• Evening/weekend programs available? Yes
• Distance learning programs available? Not reported
• Terminal master's degree available? Not reported

• Degree Requirements
• Master's Degrees Required and Alternate accepted
• Doctoral Degrees Not reported
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied68
• Accepted53
• Acceptance Rate77%
• Enrolled22
• Applying
• Application Fee - Domestic $125
• Application Fee - International $125
• Electronic applications accepted? Yes
• Applications processed on a rolling basis? Yes
• Application Deadlines
• Type Domestic International Priority Date
• Fall deadline March 1st February 1st Yes
• Winter deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Spring deadline November 1st October 1st Yes
• Entrance Requirements
• Master's Degreesprevious course work in computer science, 2 letters of recommendation
• Doctoral's DegreesNot Reported
• First-Professional's DegreesNot Reported
• Other Advanced DegreesNot Reported
• International DegreesTOEFL required, 525 paper based, TOEFL iBT

• Tuition & Fees
• In-state tuition *$7,360
• Out-of-state tuition *$13,800
• International student tuitionNot Reported
• * Tuition for full-time graduate student per academic year
• Fees
• Per-academic year feesNot Reported
• Per-term feesNot Reported
• One-time feeNot Reported
• * Fees for full-time graduate students
• Financial Support
• Financial award applicants must submitFAFSA
• Application deadlines for financial awardsMay 1
• Types of financial support availableCareer or Field-Related Internships, Federal Work-Study, Financial Support for Part-time Students, Institutionally-sponsored Loans, Scholarship and/or loans

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students116
• Female Percentage25%
• Male Percentage75%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students116
• Part-time Percentage91%
• Full-time Percentage9%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / Latino7%
• Black / African American33%
• White / Caucasian32%
• American Indian / Alaskan Native0%
• Asian28%
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander0%
• Two or more races0%
• Unknown0%

• Existing Research
• Focus of faculty researchNetworks and distributed systems, programming languages, modeling and computer applications, algorithms, artificial intelligence, theoretical computer science
• Externally sponsored research expenditures last yearNot Reported