Step To CS Program

Step To CS (S2CS)

Step to CS is an admission program designed to provide applicants to the MS program a solid foundation in CS in order to assure success in the graduate program. In this exciting three-year program, students from a variety of backgrounds will enhance their CS foundation while receiving a full one-year tuition fee scholarship! After students meet the conditions of their admission, they will automatically transition to earning degree credits for the Master of Science in computer science.

Eligibility:

Students will be identified at the time of admission and will receive notification from the MS admission committee of their acceptance to the Step To CS program.

Program Outline:

Students are required to complete (or have an approved (by the MsPD) equivalent course completed) by the end of their first conditional year. All courses completed at UMass Amherst, will receive a full tuition fee scholarship.

Conditional Year

"3XX+"= an upper-level CS elective of the student's choosing. Example classes include COMPSCI 383, COMPSCI 377 or COMPSCI 460 but other courses can be considered. 

MS Program (will vary depending on summer enrollment)

Fees:

For the conditional (first) year of admission students will receive a full-tuition fee scholarship for enrollment in the UMass Amherst undergraduate COMPSCI/STAT/MATH courses listed above. The tuition scholarship will account for the majority (92%) of the billed fees to the student. Students will be responsible for non-tuition fees (e.g. health) which will be approximately $800-1000 per semester. 

After the transition to degree earning credits, course tuition costs will not be credited and students will be responsible for all academic fees.

For tuition and fee information visit http://www.umass.edu/bursar/document/graduate-tuition-rates. Students admitted to the College of Information and Computer Sciences MS program are not eligible for on-campus assistantships (see https://cics.umass.edu/grads/fees).