Online Master of Computer Science – Big Data Systems

Applicants with international credentials have an application deadline of six weeks prior to the selected session start date. All other applicants have an application deadline of four weeks prior to the selected session start date.

This degree is offered in A and B sessions for fall and spring, and in C session for summer. You can view upcoming start dates in the academic calendar.

How to complete an application

• Submit online application and pay application fee.
• Send official transcripts to ASU’s graduate admission services.
• If needed, send proof of English proficiency.
• If you’re not a U.S. citizen but are living in the U.S., send a copy of your U.S. visa to gograd@asu.edu.
• If you’re based outside of the U.S., select "JN” under Visa.

For questions, call 1-844-353-7953 or email scai.grad.admission@asu.edu.

You must have completed an undergraduate degree in computer science from an accredited university. Please review the necessary CS pre-requisite courses in the section below to confirm eligibility.

GPA requirements

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 in the last 60 credit hours (last two years) of a four-year undergraduate degree. If your degree was completed in the U.S., it must be from a regionally accredited university.

Applicants who have previously completed graduate-level coursework must have a minimum post-baccalaureate/graduate GPA of 3.00.

English proficiency

If all college degrees are from a country outside of the U.S., you may need to demonstrate English proficiency.

Note that the MCS degree requires higher English proficiency scores.

• TOEFL: 575 paper-based / 90 internet-based.
• IELTS (academic version): 7.
• PTE: 65.
• Duolingo: 115.

Don’t yet meet this requirement? If you complete the pathway with a 3.00 or higher, you’ll have demonstrated English proficiency. Click on the nondegree tab below to learn more.

GPA requirements

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 in the last 60 credit hours (last two years) of a four-year undergraduate degree. If your degree was completed in the U.S., it must be from a regionally accredited university.

Applicants who have previously completed graduate-level coursework must have a minimum post-baccalaureate/graduate GPA of 3.00.

Math course requirements:

You must have two semesters of advanced math in Calculus I and Calculus II, as well as a background course in discrete math.*

Applicants with an undergraduate degree in a STEM field have likely completed the math requirement.

*Discrete math is not always a separate class at all universities. Taking a course that covers data structures and algorithms may also fulfill this requirement. If you’ve never done algorithms, you may not have the proper background for the program.

Pre-requisite course requirements:

To be eligible for this program, you must have programming knowledge in a variety of languages, including C/C++, Java, Python and HTML, as well as courses in calculus and discrete math.

CS course information:

CSE 230: Computer Organization and Assembly Language Programming

• Register-level computer organization, instruction set architecture, assembly language, processor organization and design, memory organization, IO programming and exception/interrupt handling.

CSE 310: Data Structures and Algorithms

• Advanced data structures and algorithms, including stacks, queues, trees (B, B+, AVL), graphs and searching for graphs, hashing and external sorting.

CSE 330: Operating Systems

• Operating system structure and services, processor scheduling, concurrent processes, synchronization techniques, memory management, virtual memory, input/output, storage management and file systems.

Principles of Programming Languages OR Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science

CSE 340: Principles of Programming Languages

• Formal syntactic and semantic descriptions, compilation and implementation issues, and theoretical foundations for several programming paradigms.

CSE 355: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science

• Introduces formal language theory and automata, Turing machines, decidability/undecidability, recursive function theory and complexity theory.

CS competency exams

If you don’t have these topics on your transcript but have a strong understanding of them, you can take the prerequisite knowledge exams. If you complete the exams with the grade outlined in the respective syllabi, you’ll satisfy that prerequisite knowledge requirement.

English proficiency

If all college degrees are from a country outside of the U.S., you may need to demonstrate English proficiency.

Note that the MCS degree requires higher English proficiency scores.

• TOEFL: 575 paper-based / 90 internet-based.
• IELTS (academic version): 7.
• PTE: 65.
• Duolingo: 115.

Don’t yet meet this requirement? If you complete the pathway with a 3.00 or higher, you’ll have demonstrated English proficiency. Click on the nondegree tab below to learn more.

As a nondegree graduate student, you can begin taking graduate-level computer science courses without being admitted to the master’s program.*

Professional certifications

If you’re not sure you want to pursue the full degree or only want to focus on a specific topic, you can pursue a professional certification for ASU credit.

To receive a professional certification, you must successfully complete at least three courses from that topic area with a grade of “B” or better. Available certifications include:

• AI and machine learning.
• Big data.
• Cybersecurity.
• Software engineering.

Learn more about professional certifications.

General pathway

This pathway provides an opportunity to take a variety of courses as a nondegree student to explore topics or meet this program’s GPA and English proficiency admission requirements. Completing nine graduate credits with a “B” or better (3.00 GPA) will demonstrate English proficiency.

Through this pathway, you choose and complete any three 500-level courses that are part of the Master of Computer Science program. The courses you complete in the pathway with a “B” or higher will apply toward the master’s degree in computer science, if admitted within three years of completing courses as a nondegree student. Courses completed as a nondegree student up to 12 credits with a "B" or better will apply toward your MCS degree.

Begin your application for one of the four professional certifications or the general pathway.

The ASU graduate admission office will review the application and notify you by email if any additional steps are required upon admission. All official emails will go to your ASU student Gmail account.

Please note:

• If you don’t enroll in the semester in which you are admitted, you must submit a new application and pay the application fee.
• Completing the pathway or professional certification does not waive the requirement for all applicants to the Master of Computer Science program to demonstrate mathematics and computer science topic prerequisite knowledge. See the admission requirements sections above for more information.

*If you don't have the prerequisite knowledge outlined in the master’s admission criteria for mathematics and computer science, you should be aware that you may not have the necessary background for graduate CSE courses and are enrolling at your own risk. You are responsible for acquiring that knowledge before and during the course.

We understand that many applicants have IT experience. To reduce the barriers to entry, ASU is providing applicants an option to prove their computer fundamental understanding through a series of four short, noncredit courses of which each will have a proctored exam. Passing the proctored exam will provide completion of the prerequisite.

Learn more and sign up for the exams.

No. Academic credit cannot be given for work experience in the field.

Completing professional certification courses alone does not waive a prerequisite, but completing the courses and working through the material can be an excellent way to prepare for the exams offered in the four short, non-credit courses available through CareerCatalyst.

No, letters of recommendation are not required.

A statement of purpose should include your reasons for undertaking the graduate work and an explanation of your academic interests, including their relation to your professional goals. There is no specific length for a statement of purpose. A resume will be accepted as a personal statement. Students are welcome to submit a resume or a statement of purpose or both.

You'll receive email updates on the status of your application, so be sure to check your ASU email regularly for these notifications. You can also see your status by logging into my.asu.edu with your ASURITE ID and reviewing the section called ‘My Application Status.’ This section will display pending checklist items or an application decision. If you have questions on pending items, please contact us toll-free at 1-844-353-7953 or email mcsenrollment@asu.edu.

No. You can take courses in any order. However, you must take one applications course, one systems course and one foundations course as part of the graduation requirements. You must also complete seven CSE elective courses.

The completion time is based on the number of courses you enroll per semester. You must complete 30 credit hours to get your master's degree.

These courses follow an accelerated format. As such, you should expect to spend 15–20 hours per week on each course.

You’ll need to submit a new application to transfer your credits. If accepted, you can transfer up to 12 credits from an online program to the same on-campus program, as long as your grades are “B” or better.

The total cost of the degree program is $15,000, or $1,500 per 3-credit course. There are no textbooks required for the courses and no additional fees. You'll only be billed for the courses you are enrolled in.

You only have to pay for the courses you are enrolled in. ASU also offers a payment plan, which provides you with the option to budget the payment of certain eligible university charges over several months within the semester.

Your bill will display in the my.asu.edu portal. The payment deadlines for each session are also on the academic calendar.

Information on the ASU alumni network is available at https://alumni.asu.edu/.