The Structure of the CS Program (Overview)

The undergraduate Computer Science program at PSU is structured into a number of modules, comprising the following types of courses: college requirements, department requirements and program requirements.

 The program requirements consist of CS core, CS complementary, CS elective courses and business background requirements. All courses can be taken at any time of study although all prerequisite courses must be taken before their respective requisite ones. All courses of the program requirements, except the "core" courses, must be selected according to a set of rules and according to individual desires and future career aspirations. Note that "core'' courses are those a student majoring in Computer Science must take; "complementary'' computer science courses are chosen from a restricted set of courses to enrich and broaden the student's knowledge in the main areas of computer science.

 The following tables give an overview of the Computer Science program and the classifications of the Computer Science program according to the major disciplines.

Overview of the Computer Science Program

Courses  Credits
University Requirements 40
 College Requirements 44
Program Requirements 50
Total 134

 

The Structure of the CS Program According to major discipline

The CS Program according to major disciplines

Disciplines Credits
Computer Sciences 71
 Mathematics and Statistics Science 20
Humanities, Social Sciences and Business Studies 34
 Free Electives 9
Total 134

 

Detailed Structure of the CS Program

  1.  University Requirements (40 credits).

  2. College requirements (44 credits).

  3.  Program requirements (50 credits).

  4. The CS core courses (23 credits).

  5.  The CS complementary courses (9 credits).

  6.  The CS electives (12 credits).

  7.  Business background requirements

 College Requirements

The students in the department are required to successfully complete a set of courses in their course of study. These courses are presented in the following table.

  Course Title Credits
CS 101 Computer Programming I 4
CS 102  Computer Programming II 3
CS 151  Introduction to Digital Design 3
CS 210  Data Structures and Algorithms 3
CS 251  Introduction to Computer Organization and Assembly Language 3
CS 285  Discrete Math. for Computing 3
CS 330   Introduction to Operating Systems 3
CS 331  Data Comm. and Computer Networks 3
CS 490  Internship 3
CS 498  Senior Project I 3
CS 499  Senior Project II 1
MATH 113  Calculus II   3
  Free Electives 9
  Total 44

 

Free Electives:

The students in the department must select 9 credit hours of elective courses from any discipline within PSU. It is recommended that the student uses these credit hours wisely to improve his chances of attaining more desirable career options. Contents of courses from their respective discipline areas in the catalog should be carefully read, and course selection should be done with the help of the student’s advisor. Co-Operative Education: Co-Op is a career-related professional program that is available to the CIS students. For more information, see the section of “Experiential Learning/Community Link At PSU” and the CS 492/IS 492 course descriptions.

CS 202: For non CS and IS majors only.

CS 483, CS 489: Instructor Consent.

CS 490: Advisor Consent.

CS 492, CS 494: Department Consent.

CS 498: Instructor Consent + Completion of 90 credit hours.

CS 499: CS 498.

The CS Core Courses

 Besides the College requirement courses, all students in Computer Science Program are required to take the following courses.

Course  Course Title Credits
    CS Courses  
CS 225  Software Engineering: Design and Development 3
CS 311  Design and Analysis of Algorithms   3
CS 320  Programming Languages: Concepts & Paradigms  3
CS 340  Introduction to Database Systems 3
  Math Courses  
MATH ***  MATH 221 Numerical Analysis
OR
 MATH 223 Linear Algebra  		3
  Physics Courses  
PHY 105 Physics I 4
PHY 205  Physics II 4

 

The CS Complementary Courses (9 credits)

Select 3 courses from below

Course Course Title Credits
CS 355  Computer Architecture  3
CS 360   Computer Graphics  3
CS 365  Human Computer Interaction  3
CS 370   Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 3
CS 412  Theory of Computation 3

 

The CS Electives (12 Credits).

Select at least 4 courses from below. Courses that have not been taken from the table in Section 3.2 above in fulfillment of complementary courses requirement, may also be selected as computer science electives. Additionally, a student may take at most two courses from the 300 or 400 Information Systems courses, given that all prerequisites for such courses are met. The student must obtain the approval of the advisor.

Course Course Title Credits
CS 336 Network Operations and Administration 3
CS 381  Systems Programming  3
CS 421  Compiler Construction 3
CS 425  Advanced Software Engineering  3
CS 430 Advanced Operating Systems 3
CS 432   Computer-Data Security & Privacy  3
CS 433  Internet Technologies   3
CS 435  Distributed Systems  3
CS 437  Introduction to Parallel Computing  3
CS 440 Database Mgt. Systems: Design & Imp.  3
CS 462  Topics in Multimedia  3
CS 470  Advanced Artificial Intelligence  3
CS 476  Natural Language Processing  3
CS 483  Computer Arabization 3
CS 489  Selected Topics in Computer science 3
CS 494 Industry Link I 3
IS 3xx  ---------  3
IS 4xx  --------- 3

 

Business Background Requirements (6 credits).

Select 2 courses from below.

Course Course Title Credits
ACC 101 Introduction to Financial Accounting 3
BUS 101   Introduction to Business 3
BUS 201  Organizational Behavior 3
BUS 301  Business Skills  3
BUS 351  International Business  3
BUS 373  Management Information System 3
COM 401  Personal Skills  3
ECON 101  Microeconomic Analysis 3
ECON 103  Macroeconomic Analysis 3
FIN 301  Principles of Finance 3
MKT 301  Principles of Marketing 3