CSE Program Requirements

Admission Requirements

Admission to the CSE program is based on academic record and letters of recommendation. GRE scores may also be considered for students in a degree program. Prerequisites for admittance into the CSE program in addition to a bachelor’s degree are:

  • One year of general college physics or chemistry
  • One year of differential/integral calculus, and either a course in differential equations (e.g. MATH **316), a course in applied statistics (e.g. STAT 427), or a course in numerical methods (e.g. MATH **375)
  • A course in computer programming or equivalent experience using a programming language generally used for high-performance and/or data-intensive computing such as C, C++, FORTRAN, Java, or Python
  • For the certificate earned alongside a degree, admission is to the participating home department. For post-degree CSE students, a graduate degree in a mathematical, scientific or engineering discipline and degree-seeking admission at UNM is required.

Program Requirements

To complete the CSE program, a student must: 

  • Be admitted to the CSE program, as described above
  • For students earning the certificate alongside a degree, all degree requirements of their participating home department must be completed
  • Complete CSE program core requirements, based on the degree program:
    • M.S. and post-degree students must complete 3 credit hours of CSE program core courses;
    • Ph.D. students must complete 6 credit hours of CSE program core courses.
  • Complete a total of 9 credit hours of approved CSE electives or program core courses not used to fulfill the program core requirement
  • Complete a computational science and engineering research project through either:
    • A thesis or dissertation with a significant computational component under the direction of at least one associated faculty member on the student's committee; or
    • Complete an advanced computational project (3 credit hour minimum) under the direction of one associated faculty member, presented at an open forum.

CSE Program Core Courses

CS/MATH *471 Introduction to Scientific Computing; CS 542 Introduction to Parallel Processing; CS 567 Principles and Applications of Big Data

CSE Program Electives

The list of approved CSE program electives is maintained by the CSE Program Committee.

Students may petition the CSE Program Committee to substitute a course (for an equivalent number of credit hours) for any of the courses of the approved curriculum. Note that most CSE program courses have a CSE program course as a prerequisite, so students are strongly encouraged to work with a Program Advisor to develop their CSE program of study before enrollment.