The Spring 2023 Bay State Information Session will be held on March 21 at 4:00pm in the CS142! No registration or RSVP is required.
For the strongest computer science undergraduates at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as at the participating five-colleges, the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences offers students three special scholarship opportunities to enter its Master's of Science in Computer Science degree program.
How does the MS program work? The computer science Master's degree is a 30 credit hour residential program. The degree can consist of ten 3 credit classes, or eight classes, along with a 6 credit master's project. Student coursework must also include 4 core classes across three areas. Up to six credits of previous work -- for example, graduate courses taken while an undergraduate not used to satisfy undergraduate degree requirements -- may be applied to the 30 credit MS requirement. Courses may be taken during the summer.
To be eligible for the program, a current undergraduate must be completing a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science or Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and must have taken at least 15 of the College's required 20 technical courses at the Amherst campus (and thus transfer students are eligible to participate in the program). Undergraduates from other majors are encouraged to apply to our MS degree program, but the Bay State scholarship program is not available to majors outside of computer science (i.e. informatics, math computing, math & stats, linguistics etc.).
Bay State Masters and Scholars: The application is closed for Fall 2023 applications.
If you are in your final semester please start the college internal application process. The form opened for Fall 2023 applications on January 3, 2023 and closes on February 15 each year. Bay State Masters and Scholars Form
Bay State Fellows: The application is closed for Fall 2023 applications.
If you are in your final semester please start the college internal application process by clicking on the link. The form opened for Fall 2023 applications on January 3, 2022 and closes on February 1. Bay State Fellow Application
By the end of February for Fall and October for Spring, students will receive a letter from the college confirming their Bay State Scholarship and invitation to submit a formal Graduate School application. Please do not submit a UMass Graduate School application until you receive a letter from the college. The regular admission deadlines of December 15 and October 1 are not applicable for the Bay State process.
If you have any questions about applying, please email Taylor Cannon at tcannon@umass.edu.
Students who meet the requirements below at the beginning of the final semester of their senior year will be recommended for admission to the Master of Science in Computer Science program with a scholarship in the amount of approximately 10% of tuition. The 10% scholarship is calculated according to the current tuition for the entire degree program and divided into four equal payments.
The requirements for this scholarship are:
Students will be notified of their acceptance to the program in February for fall admission, and October for spring admission. A graduate school application must be submitted AFTER the student receives a Bay State letter from the college.
A student who qualifies for the Bay State program must begin the Master's program within one year of graduation.
Bay State status may be rescinded for those students who do not maintain the GPA minimum and certain course grade requirements through their final semester or who do not complete program requirements by the end of their final semester.
Students who meet the following requirements at the beginning of their final semester will be recommended for admission to the Master of Science in Computer Science program and will be awarded the status of Bay State Scholar. With this designation, a student will receive an approximately 50% tuition scholarship. The 50% scholarship is calculated according to the current tuition for the entire degree program and divided into four equal payments.
The requirements for this scholarship are:
Students will be notified of their acceptance to the program in February for fall admission, and October for spring admission. A graduate school application must be submitted AFTER the student receives a Bay State letter from the college.
A student who qualifies for the Bay State program must begin the Master's program within one year of graduation.
Bay State status may be rescinded for those students who do not maintain the GPA minimum through their final semester or who do not complete program requirements by the end of their final semester.
Students who meet the requirements listed below at the beginning of their final semester, will be eligible to apply for the Bay State Fellowship program. Bay State Fellows join the Master of Science in Computer Science program and will be awarded a 10 hours per week working assistantship** which will provide them with a tuition credit, a discounted health fee/plan and a small supplemental stipend (at the college rate) for up to four semesters.
To be considered for an assistantship position, students must provide a one-page application, due February 1 for Fall admission/October 1 for Spring admission, that outlines professional interests and goals as well as an identified faculty contact who can comment on the student's teaching or research promise. In addition to academic achievement other factors, such as programming skill, financial need, and faculty recommendation, will also be taken into consideration. A transcript from one of the Five-Colleges should be sent to Professor Moll at moll@cs.umass.edu.
We will award a minimum of eight Bay State Fellowships each year. If you are not awarded a fellowship, but meet the criteria for the Bay State Scholar scholarship, we will offer you the Scholar level scholarship.
Students will be notified of their acceptance to the program in March for Fall admission, mid October for Spring admission.
Students who qualify for the Bay State Fellowship program must begin the Master's program within one year of graduation. Spring Fellow admits may not defer their start date.
Bay State status may be rescinded for those students who do not maintain the GPA minimum through their final undergraduate semester or who do not complete requirements that were to be completed that semester.
**Stipend and fee waiver subject to availability of funds. Bay State Fellows make a corresponding commitment to the educational or research mission of the College upon matriculation, either by serving as half-time, working teaching assistants. The nature of a student's assistantship will be determined at the discretion of the College. The assistantship stipend is not intended to fully cover living expenses and other required fees.