5-Year Master’s Program

4 women smiling and talking to each other in a class room

5-Year Advanced Bachelors to Master’s Program

The School of Computing offers an accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s (ABM) program in either Computer Science or Information Systems that provides exceptional undergraduate students the opportunity to earn a Master’s degree at an accelerated pace. Six credit hours of graduate course work can be applied toward both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. ABM students typically complete the master’s degree within one academic year after completing the undergraduate degree. The ABM program is available to students pursuing the course-only, project, or thesis option.

▼    Admission

ABM students must meet all requirements for admission to the Graduate School, in addition to any unique program requirements, which are available at https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/soc/graduate-programs/admissions.html.  A complete Graduate School application is required.

Eligibility requirements

  • 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA
  • Have completed at least 101 credit hours toward the CS bachelor’s degree
  • Have completed at least 30 credit hours at USA

A student who withdraws or is dismissed from the ABM program may not count graduate coursework towards both degrees. Graduate courses for which an undergraduate student did not earn an “A” or “B” grade, may not be counted towards the graduate degree.

An ABM student must be a full-time student and must complete all degree requirements for the master’s within three semesters of the semester in which they were admitted to the Graduate School.  An exception for a fourth semester may be granted where an additional semester is required for final revisions to and submission of a defended thesis. Exceptions to the ABM policy are at the discretion of the Dean of the Graduate School.

▼   For More Information

For additional information about our program, please contact your advisor or Dr. Todd Andel

▼   Example Schedule

First Semester - Senior Year

  • Undergraduate courses as instructed by advisor.
  • Graduate core course - 5xx
  • CIS-518 (graduate research methods)

Second Semester – Senior Year

  • Undergraduate courses as instructed by advisor.
  • Graduate core course – 5xx
  • Graduate elective course – 5xx

Summer Semester - Graduate Year

  • Graduate Course – 5xx (research directed studies)
  • Graduate elective course – 5xx

Fall Semester – Graduate Year

  • CIS-595 (computer and information sciences research development)
  • Graduate core course – 5xx
  • Graduate elective course – 5xx

Spring Semester – Graduate Year

  • CIS-599 (computer and information sciences thesis)
  • Graduate core course – 5xx
  • Graduate elective course – 5xx