Online Master of Science in Computer Information Systems Degree
Quicklinks: Curriculum • Faculty • Tuition & Financial Aid • Careers
Program at a Glance
- Master of Science
- 40 Credits Required
- 18–24 months Completion Time
- 13 Faculty Members
- 7 Available Concentrations
- $34,200–$35,900 Tuition & Fees Range—Part-Time Study*
Related Programs
- MS in Computer Information Systems concentrations:
- Master’s Degrees
- Graduate Certificates
- Advanced Information Technology
- Applied Business Analytics
- Cybercrime Investigation & Cybersecurity
- Data Analytics
- Database Management & Business Intelligence
- Digital Forensics
- Health Informatics
- Information Security
- Information Technology
- IT Project Management
- Medical Information Security & Privacy
- Software Engineering
- Web Application Development
Established in 2004, Boston University’s online master’s in Computer Information Systems (MSCIS) immerses students in the fast-paced world of technological innovation—preparing them for IT leadership positions in all sectors. Designed for students who wish to combine technical competence in information systems with knowledge of managerial and organizational issues, MSCIS degree concentrations encompass some of the fastest growing and highest paid segments of the IT job market:
- Computer Networks
- Data Analytics
- Database Management & Business Intelligence
- Health Informatics
- IT Project Management
- Security
- Web Application Development
BU students learn from expert faculty who are also industry leaders with hands-on involvement in building networks, developing applications, and fighting cybercrime for the world’s top companies. Online programs at Boston University provide something you won’t get anywhere else: a cutting-edge technical education rooted in BU’s 150-year old tradition of academic excellence.
Students who complete the master’s degree in Computer Information Systems will be able to demonstrate:
- Advanced knowledge in the analysis and documentation of requirements for architecture, design, and implementation of computer applications systems.
- Proficiency in software and computing skills as they pertain to the design and implementation of database systems, data communications, systems analysis, and design.
- Competence sufficient to identify current and emerging information technologies that may have strategic value for enterprise; assess where those technologies have value; and manage the implementation of those technologies in the enterprise.
- Moderate skill in programming for application systems in an application programming language such as Java or Python.
Awards & Accreditations
Accredited by the Project Management Institute® (PMI) Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Education Programs (GAC)
The GAC Accredited Program seal is a mark of Project Management Institute, Inc.
Why Choose BU’s Master of Science in Computer Information Systems?
- In 2024, the MSCIS ranked #8 among the Best Online Master's in Computer Information Technology Programs (U.S. News & World Report).
- The MSCIS program is certified by the Committee on National Security Systems (CNNS) through the National Security Agency’s INFOSEC Education and Training Program.
- Boston University is recognized by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research.
- Students benefit from a supportive online network, with courses developed and taught by PhD-level full-time faculty and professionals with hands-on expertise in the industry.
- Small course sections ensure that students get the attention they need, while case studies and real-world projects ensure that they gain in-depth, practical experience with the latest technologies.
Career Outlook
Data Scientists
35% increase in jobs through 2032
$103,500 median annual pay in 2022
Medical and Health Services Managers
28% increase in jobs through 2032
$104,830 median annual pay in 2022
Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars
16% increase in jobs through 2032
$58,250 median annual pay in 2022
Information Security Analysts
32% increase in jobs through 2032
$112,000 median annual pay in 2022
Computer Systems Analysts
10% increase in jobs through 2032
$102,240 median annual pay in 2022
Computer and Information Systems Managers
15% increase in jobs through 2032
$164,070 median annual pay in 2022
Computer and Information Research Scientists
23% increase in jobs through 2032
$136,620 median annual pay in 2022
Database Administrators and Architects
8% increase in jobs through 2032
$112,120 median annual pay in 2022
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.htm (visited October 03, 2023).
Best Technology Jobs, 2024 U.S. News & World Report
- #1 Software Developer
- #2 IT Manager
- #3 Information Security Analyst
- #4 Data Scientist
- #5 Web Developer
- #6 Computer Systems Analyst
- #7 Computer Network Architect
- #8 Database Administrator
- #9 Computer Support Specialist
- #10 Computer Systems Administrator
- #11 Computer Programmer
Money Matters
Boston University Metropolitan College (MET) offers competitive tuition rates that meet the needs of part-time students seeking an affordable education. These rates are substantially lower than those of the traditional, full-time residential programs yet provide access to the same high-quality BU education. To learn more about current tuition rates, visit the MET website.
Financial Assistance
Comprehensive financial assistance services are available at MET, including scholarships, graduate loans, and payment plans. There is no cost to apply for financial assistance, and you may qualify for a student loan regardless of your income. Learn more.
Curriculum
The online Master of Science in Computer Information Systems consists of ten courses (40 credits): five core courses, one required course, and four electives or concentration courses that further develop expertise in a specific area.
Courses
Students who are not declaring an MSCIS concentration must complete the core and required courses and choose four electives:
Core Courses
(Five courses/20 credits)
METCS625 Business Data Communication and Networks
Undergraduate Prerequisites: On Campus Prerequisites: MET CS 200 Fundamentals of Information Techno logy. Or instructor^s consent. ; Undergraduate Corequisites: Restrictions: MS CIS only. This course may not be taken in conjunction with CS 425 (undergraduate) or CS 535. Only CS 535 or CS 625 can be c ounted towards degree requirements. - This course presents the foundations of data communications and takes a bottom-up approach to computer networks. The course concludes with an overview of basic network security and management concepts. Prereq: MET CS 200, or instructor's consent. This course may not be taken in conjunction with MET CS 425 (undergraduate) or MET CS 535. Only one of these courses can be counted towards degree requirements. [4 credits]
METCS669 Database Design and Implementation for Business
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Restrictions: Only for MS CIS. This course may not be taken in conjunc tion with MET CS 469 (undergraduate) or MET CS 579. Only one of these courses can be counted towards degree requirements. - Students learn the latest relational and object-relational tools and techniques for persistent data and object modeling and management. Students gain extensive hands- on experience using Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server as they learn the Structured Query Language (SQL) and design and implement databases. Students design and implement a database system as a term project. Restrictions: This course may not be taken in conjunction with MET CS 469 (undergraduate) or MET CS 579. Only one of these courses can be counted towards degree requirements. [4 credits]
METCS682 Information Systems Analysis and Design
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Basic programming knowledge or instructor's consent. - Object-oriented methods of information systems analysis and design for organizations with data- processing needs. System feasibility; requirements analysis; database utilization; Unified Modeling Language; software system architecture, design, and implementation, management; project control; and systems-level testing. Prerequisite: Basic programming knowledge or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS782 IT Strategy and Management
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Restrictions: Only for MS CIS students. - This course describes and compares contemporary and emerging information technology and its management. Students learn how to identify information technologies of strategic value to their organizations and how to manage their implementation. The course highlights the application of I.T. to business needs. CS 782 is at the advanced Masters (700) level, and it assumes that students understand IT systems at the level of CS 682 Systems Analysis and Design. Students who haven't completed CS 682 should contact their instructor to determine if they are adequately prepared. Prereq: MET CS 682, or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
And one of the following*:
METCS520 Information Structures with Java
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Prerequisites: MET CS 201, Introduction to Programming (On Campus and Blended); MET CS 200, Fundamentals of Information Technology (Online O nly) - This course covers the concepts of object-oriented approach to software design and development using the Java programming language. It includes a detailed discussion of programming concepts starting with the fundamentals of data types, control structures methods, classes, applets, arrays and strings, and proceeding to advanced topics such as inheritance and polymorphism, interfaces, creating user interfaces, exceptions, and streams. Upon completion of this course the students will be able to apply software engineering criteria to design and implement Java applications that are secure, robust, and scalable. Prereq: MET CS 200 or MET CS 300 or Instructor's Consent. Not recommended for students without a programming background. For undergraduate students: This course may not be taken in conjunction with METCS232. Only one of these courses can be counted towards degree requirements. [4 credits]
METCS521 Information Structures with Python
This course covers the concepts of the object-oriented approach to software design and development using Python. It includes a detailed discussion of programming concepts starting with the fundamentals of data types, control structures methods, classes, arrays and strings, and proceeding to advanced topics such as inheritance and polymorphism, creating user interfaces, exceptions and streams. Upon completion of this course students will be able to apply software engineering principles to design and implement Python applications that can be used in with analytics and big data. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Creativity/Innovation, Critical Thinking.
Prerequisite: Programming experience in any language. Or Instructor's consent. [4 credits]
*If a student chooses to take both MET CS 520 and MET CS 521, the first course completed will fulfill the core requirement and the second course completed will count as an elective.
Students who have completed courses on core curriculum subjects as part of their undergraduate degree program or have relevant work-related experience may request permission from the Department of Computer Science to replace the corresponding core courses with graduate-level computer information systems electives. Please refer to the MET CS Academic Policies Manual for further details.
Required Courses
(One course/4 credits)
Students who are not choosing to complete a concentration must take MET CS 546 Introduction to Probability and Statistics in addition to the core requirements and elective options.
METCS546 Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Academic background that includes the material covered in a standard c ourse on college algebra. - The goal of this course is to provide students with the mathematical fundamentals required for successful quantitative analysis of problems. The first part of the course introduces the mathematical prerequisites for understanding probability and statistics. Topics include combinatorial mathematics, functions, and the fundamentals of differentiation and integration. The second part of the course concentrates on the study of elementary probability theory, discrete and continuous distributions. Prereq: Academic background that includes the material covered in a standard course on college algebra or instructor's consent. For undergraduate students: This course may not be taken in conjunction with MET MA 213, only one of these courses will count toward degree program requirements. Students who have taken MET MA 113 as well as MET MA 123 will also not be allowed to count MET CS 546 towards degree requirements. [4 credits]
Electives
(Four courses/16 credits)
Students who are not choosing to complete a concentration must choose four general electives (16 credits) from the list below, with at least three at the 600 level or above. When choosing electives, students should make sure that they have all prerequisites required by the selected course.
METAD610 Enterprise Risk Management
This overview course examines the management issues involved with assessing the security and risk environments in both the private and public sectors in order to assure continuous system-wide operations. The course studies the elements of operational and technological risk assessment and operational continuity using a project management framework and quantitative risk metrics. Students are exposed to the role of the firm in crisis response and management as well as the terms, systems, and interactions necessary to assure continuous operations. Topics include: the role and need for comprehensive assurance strategy and planning; information security; an overview of the system-wide structure; the social and emotional impact on the workforce as well as its effect on productivity; and the organizational infrastructure relating to national, regional, and international compliance. [4 credits]
METAD630 Financial and Managerial Accounting
Introduction to the concepts, methods, and problems of financial and managerial accounting. Includes data accumulation, accounting principles, financial statement analysis, measurement and disclosure issues, cost analysis, budgeting and control, production costs, and standard costs. [4 credits]
METAD643 Project Communications and Leadership
This course examines the increasing importance of leadership and communications in projects. Since project outcomes and the delivery of value are accomplished through teams of people, the course aims to improve the capability of a project manager to become a project leader and to excel at motivating and inspiring their teams. Students begin by gaining a better understanding of their own social, leadership, and communications styles. Self-awareness is key to the course. We investigate motivation, conflict management, negotiation skills, and the Agile principles of stewardship and servant leadership. Grounded in the use of tools, the course will provide students with templates to enhance team collaboration and communication. The course also addresses more contemporary issues in PM, including resolving ambiguity and complexity, the use of improvised working styles, sustainable PM, and issues around power and politics within the project. [4 credits]
METAD646 Portfolio and Program Management
Prereq PM 100, PM200
The course focuses on the relationship among portfolios, programs, and projects, and the important strategic objectives of each endeavor. The course is designed to assist students in developing a program management framework, policy, and organizational structure. Students will develop skills and techniques for chartering constituent projects, directing and managing program execution, and managing the program team and stakeholders. The global legal, economic, cultural, and political environments in which projects operate will be contrasted, and mechanisms for resolving conflicts will be addressed. [4 credits]
METAD648 Ecommerce
Undergraduate Prerequisites: AD 500 or equivalent, stamped approval. - The course provides a detailed examination of the history of e-commerce, along with important concepts related to the ways that businesses can successfully use Internet and Web technology. Students are introduced to the concepts and problems associated with electronic commerce. Topics include comparison of e-commerce procedures, payment mechanisms, applications in different industry sectors, security, the challenges of starting and maintaining an electronic business site, as well as a comparison with traditional business practices. The development of a WordPress-themed website is a minor feature of the course. 4cr. [4 credits]
METAD741 The Innovation Process: Developing New Products and Services
Addresses the specifics of new product and service development and fostering innovation and technology to increase performance. Topics include generating and screening initial ideas; assessing user needs and interests; forecasting results; launching, and improving products and programs; bringing innovation to commercial reality. [4 credits]
METCJ632 White-Collar Crime
This course introduces students to the concept of white collar crime as an area of scientific inquiry and theory formation. It critically examines the latest scholarship on the subject by looking at white collar crime through a multiplicity of perspectives and reference points. These range from focus on the offense, offender, legal structure, organizational structure, individual, and organizational behavior, to victimization and guardianship, with special attention on the interaction between these components. The course also assesses the nature, extent, and consequences of white collar crime nationally and internationally. To enhance the understanding of white collar crime in today's Information Technology development, the course will pay special attention to roles of IT including fintech and cryptocurrency connections within white collar crime. It will also introduce rapidly emerging cybercrime issues while discussing various challenges of cybercrime investigation and limited digital forensics tools. Finally, the course examines current criminal justice system efforts at controlling white collar crime. Given the relative ineffectiveness of traditional criminal justice responses, alternative systems of control will be examined, ranging from compliance and regulations, private security, and public opinion, to prevention. Students will visit the websites of various government agencies or professional organizations to explore their functions and their current efforts to fight white collar crimes. Finally, many tangible research- based suggestions will be made regarding actions that organizations and businesses can take to reduce losses accrued due to white collar crime. [4 credits]
METCS526 Data Structures and Algorithms
This course covers and relates fundamental components of programs. Students use various data structures to solve computational problems, and implement data structures using a high-level programming language. Algorithms are created, decomposed, and expressed as pseudocode. The running time of various algorithms and their computational complexity are analyzed. Prerequisite: MET CS300 and either MET CS520 or MET CS521, or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS532 Computer Graphics
Graduate Prerequisites: MET CS 248 and MET CS 341 or MET CS 342 or consent of the instructor - This course is primarily the study of design of graphic algorithms. At the end of the course you can expect to be able to write programs to model, transform and display 3- dimensional objects on a 2-dimensional display. The course starts with a brief survey of graphics devices and graphics software. 2-d primitives such as lines and curves in 2- d space are studied and a number of algorithms to draw them on a rectangular surface are introduced, followed by a study of polygons, scan conversion and other fill methods. Attributes of the primitives are studied as well as filtering and aliasing. Geometric transformations in 2 dimensions are introduced in homogeneous coordinates, followed by the viewing pipeline, which includes clipping of lines, polygons and text. Hierarchical graphics modeling is briefly studied. The graphics user interface is introduced and various input functions and interaction modes are examined. 3-d graphics is introduced through object representations through polygonal methods, spline techniques, and octrees. This is followed by 3-d transformations and the 3-d viewing pipeline. The course ends with a study of algorithms to detect the visible surfaces of a 3-d object in both the object space and the image space. Laboratory Course. Prereq: MET CS 248 and MET CS 341 or MET CS 342. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS544 Foundations of Analytics and Data Visualization
Formerly titled CS 544 Foundations of Analytics with R.
The goal of this course is to provide students with the mathematical and practical background required in the field of data analytics. Probability and statistics concepts will be reviewed as well as the R tool for statistical computing and graphics. Different types of data are investigated along with data summarization techniques and plotting. Data populations using discrete, continuous, and multivariate distributions are explored. Errors during measurements and computations are analyzed in the course. Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing topics are also examined. The concepts covered in the course are demonstrated using R. Laboratory Course. Prereq: MET CS546 and (MET CS520 or MET CS521), or equivalent knowledge, or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS555 Foundations of Machine Learning
Formerly titled CS 555 Data Analysis and Visualization with R.
This course provides an overview of the statistical tools most commonly used to process, analyze, and visualize data. Topics include simple linear regression, multiple regression, logistic regression, analysis of variance, and survival analysis. These topics are explored using the statistical package R, with a focus on understanding how to use and interpret output from this software as well as how to visualize results. In each topic area, the methodology, including underlying assumptions and the mechanics of how it all works along with appropriate interpretation of the results, are discussed. Concepts are presented in context of real world examples. Recommended Prerequisite: MET CS 544 or equivalent knowledge, or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS561 Financial Analytics
This course presents financial algorithms used in applications of computer science in financial decision analysis, risk management, data mining and market analysis, and other modern business processes. The course covers theoretical background on probabilistic methods used for financial decision making and their application in number of fields such as financial modeling, venture capital decision making, operational risk measurement and investment science. Number of financial applications and algorithms are being presented for portfolio risk analysis, modeling real options, venture capital decision making, etc. The course concludes with algorithms for financial risk assessment and presents the security concepts and challenges of financial information systems. [4 credits]
METCS570 Biomedical Sciences and Health IT
This course is designed for IT professionals, and those training to be IT professionals, who are preparing for careers in healthcare-related IT (Health Informatics). This course provides a high-level introduction into basic concepts of biomedicine and familiarizes students with the structure and organization of American healthcare system and the roles played by IT in that system. The course introduces medical terminology, human anatomy and physiology, disease processes, diagnostic modalities, and treatments associated with common disease processes. IT case studies demonstrate the key roles of health informatics and how IT tools and resources help medical professionals integrate multiple sources of information to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. [4 credits]
METCS580 Health Informatics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS570) - This course presents the fundamental principles, concepts, and technological elements that make up the building blocks of Health Informatics. It introduces the characteristics of data, information, and knowledge in the domain, the common algorithms for health applications, and IT components in representative clinical processes. It presents the conceptual framework for handling biomedical data collection, storage, and optimal use. It covers the concepts of population health and precision medicine and the information systems that support them. It introduces basic principles of knowledge management systems in biomedicine, various aspects of Health Information Technology standards, and IT aspects of clinical process modeling. Students design a simple Health Informatics solution as a term project. [4 credits]
METCS581 Health Information Systems
Health Information Systems are comprehensive application systems that automate the activities of healthcare delivery including clinical care using electronic health records (EHRs), coordination of care across providers, telehealth, management of the business of healthcare such as revenue cycle management, and population health management. The course covers the functionality of these systems, the underlying information technology they require and their successful operations. It addresses challenges in this rapidly changing field such as complex data, security, interoperability, mobile technology and distributed users. The course emphasizes applied use of health information systems through case studies, current articles, and exercises. [4 credits]
METCS599 Biometrics
In this course we will study the fundamental and design applications of various biometric systems based on fingerprints, voice, face, hand geometry, palm print, iris, retina, and other modalities. Multimodal biometric systems that use two or more of the above characteristics will be discussed. Biometric system performance and issues related to the security and privacy aspects of these systems will also be addressed. [4 credits]
METCS601 Web Application Development
Prerequisites: WAD 100 - Learn essential front-end development skills, starting with foundational JavaScript techniques, such as DOM manipulation and event handling, and advancing to interactive web technologies like HTML's Drag and Drop, Canvas, and SVG. You will be exposed to asynchronous operations, including AJAX, the Fetch API, and Web Workers, and learn to craft responsive designs using Flexbox, CSS Grid, and advanced CSS selectors. A comprehensive exploration of TypeScript and its main feature, static typing, and capabilities will also be covered. The course concludes with a comprehensive dive into ReactJS, covering its core architectural concepts, component-based structure, and state management techniques [4 credits]
METCS602 Server-Side Web Development
The Server-Side Web Development course concentrates primarily on building web applications using PHP/MySQL and Node.js/MongoDB. The course is divided into various modules covering in depth the following topics: PHP, MySQL, Object oriented PHP, PHP MVC, Secure Web applications, Node.js and MongoDB. Along with the fundamentals underlying these technologies, several applications will be showcased as case studies. Students work with these technologies starting with simple applications and then examining real world complex applications. At the end of this course, students would have mastered the web application development on the server-side. Prerequisite: MET CS 601. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS622 Advanced Programming Techniques
Polymorphism, containers, libraries, method specifications, large-scale code management, use of exceptions, concurrent programming, functional programming, programming tests. Java will be used to illustrate these concepts. Students will implement a project or projects of their own choosing, in Java, since some concepts are expressible only in Java. Prerequisite: MET CS 342 or equivalent knowledge of Java. Or MET CS 521 and MET CS 526. Or instructor's consent. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Creativity/Innovation, Critical Thinking. [4 credits]
METCS632 Information Technology Project Management
This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles, processes, and practices of software project management. Students learn techniques for planning, organizing, scheduling, and controlling software projects. There is substantial focus on software cost estimation and software risk management. Students will obtain practical project management skills and competencies related to the definition of a software project, establishment of project communications, managing project changes, and managing distributed software teams and projects. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Teamwork/Collaboration. [4 credits]
METCS633 Software Quality, Testing, and Security Management
Theory and practice of security and quality assurance and testing for each step of the software development cycle. Verification vs. validation. Test case design techniques, test coverage criteria, security development and verification practices, and tools for static and dynamic analysis. Standards. Test-driven development. QA for maintenance and legacy applications. From a project management knowledge perspective, this course covers the methods, tools and techniques associated with the following processes -- Plan Quality, Perform Quality Assurance, and Perform Quality Control. [4 credits]
METCS634 Agile Software Development
This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles, processes, and practices of agile software development. Students learn techniques for initiating, planning and executing on software development projects using agile methodologies. Students will obtain practical knowledge of agile development frameworks and be able to distinguish between agile and traditional project management methodologies. Students will learn how to apply agile tools and techniques in the software development lifecycle from project ideation to deployment, including establishing an agile team environment, roles and responsibilities, communication and reporting methods, and embracing change. We also leverage the guidelines outlined by the Project Management Institute for agile project development as a framework in this course. [4 credits]
METCS635 Network Media Technologies
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS231 & METCS232 & METTC535) CS 231 or CS 232 and TC 535 or consent of the instructor. - The purpose of this course is to provide students with a deeper understanding of Media-specific Technologies not only so that they will be able to use the ones covered in this course, but more importantly be able to analyze and evaluate new technologies. This course applies the principles from CS 535 to understand the engineering that lead to them as well as the special problems that confront network technologies that operate directly over the physical media. These Media specific layers have three problems to solve: the usual one of multiple users of a common resource, accommodating the particular characteristics of the media, and providing (to the degree possible) a media- independent service to the layers above. While CS 535 provides a high-level view of some of these technologies, in this course, they are considered in much greater detail as to how these technologies address their requirements and take advantage of the assumptions made. The emphasis is on those technologies that are either representative of a type or take a unique perspective on the problem. Hence, the traditional data link protocols, such as HDLC, modern Ethernet (primarily VLANs), WiFi (802.11) represent the first type, while media technologies, such as DOCSIS, RFIDs, IoT, and cellular mobile networks are representative of the second. The course will consider how these technologies solve mobility, routing, congestion, QoS (multi-media), security, etc. A major project is part of this course. Prereq: MET CS 231 or MET CS 232 and either MET CS 625 or MET CS 535; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS664 Artificial Intelligence
Graduate Prerequisites: MET CS 248 and MET CS 341 or MET CS 342. - Study of the ideas and techniques that enable computers to behave intelligently. Search, constraint propagations, and reasoning. Knowledge representation, natural language, learning, question answering, inference, visual perception, and/or problem solving. Laboratory course. Prereq: MET CS 341, MET CS 342, MET CS 520 or MET CS 521. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS665 Software Design and Patterns
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS341 or METCS342 and METCS565) or consent of the instructor - Software design principles, the object-oriented paradigm, unified modeling language; creational, structural, and behavioral design patterns; OO analysis and design; implementation of semester project. Laboratory course. Prereq: (MET CS 526 or MET CS 622) and one of the following (MET CS 341, MET CS 342, MET CS 520, or MET CS 521). Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS674 Database Security
Graduate Prerequisites: CS 579 or CS 669 or consent of the instructor - The course provides a strong foundation in database security and auditing. This course utilizes Oracle scenarios and step-by-step examples. The following topics are covered: security, profiles, password policies, privileges and roles, Virtual Private Databases, and auditing. The course also covers advanced topics such as SQL injection, database management security issues such as securing the DBMS, enforcing access controls, and related issues. Prereq: MET CS 579 or MET CS 669; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS677 Data Science with Python
Students will learn major Python tools and techniques for data analysis. There are weekly assignments and mini projects on topics covered in class. These assignments will help build necessary statistical, visualization and other data science skills for effective use of data science in a variety of applications including finance, text processing, time series analysis and recommendation systems. In addition, students will choose a topic for a final project and present it on the last day of class. Prerequisite: MET CS 521 or equivalent. Or, instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS683 Mobile Application Development with Android
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS342) or instructor's consent. - This course discusses the principles and issues associated with mobile application development using Android as the development platform. Topics covered will include Android application components (Activities, Services, Content Providers and Broadcast Receivers), ICC (Inter-component Communication), UI design, data storage, asynchronous processing, 2D graphics, and Android security. Students will develop their own apps in Java and/or Kotlin using Android Studio in their semester-long projects. Prior knowledge of Java programming is required. Prerequisite: MET CS 342 OR MET CS 520 OR MET CS 521. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS684 Enterprise Cybersecurity Management
This course covers important topics that students need to understand in order to effectively manage a successful cybersecurity and privacy program, including governance, risk management, asset classification and incidence response. Students are first introduced to cybersecurity & privacy policy frameworks, governance, standards, and strategy. Risk tolerance is critical when building a cybersecurity and privacy program that supports business goals and strategies. Risk management fundamentals and assessment processes will be reviewed in depth including the methodology for identifying, quantifying, mitigating and controlling risks. Asset classification and the importance of protecting Intellectual Property (IP) will prepare students to understand and identify protection mechanisms needed to defend against malicious actors, including industry competitors and nation states. Incident Response programs will cover preparation and responses necessary to triage incidents and respond quickly to limit damage from malicious actors. [4 credits]
METCS685 Network Design and Management
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS535 OR METCS625) or instructor's consent - . This course will cover contemporary integrated network management based on FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Administration, Performance, and Security management) model. The introduction to the course will be an overview of data transmission techniques and networking technologies. The middle part of the course will be on Network Management Model, SNMP versions 1, 2 and 3, and MIBs. In the second part of the course, particular focus and emphasis will be given to current network management issues: various wireless networks technologies (WLAN, WiFi, WiMax), Voice-over-IP, Peer-to-Peer Networks, networking services, Identity Management, and Services Oriented Architecture Management. Prereq: MET CS 535 or MET CS 625. or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS688 Web Mining and Graph Analytics
Prerequisites: MET CS 544, or MET CS 555 or equivalent knowledge, or instructor's consent. - The Web Mining and Graph Analytics course covers the areas of web mining, machine learning fundamentals, text mining, clustering, and graph analytics. This includes learning fundamentals of machine learning algorithms, how to evaluate algorithm performance, feature engineering, content extraction, sentiment analysis, distance metrics, fundamentals of clustering algorithms, how to evaluate clustering performance, and fundamentals of graph analysis algorithms, link analysis and community detection based on graphs. Laboratory Course. [4 credits]
METCS689 Designing and Implementing a Data Warehouse
Graduate Prerequisites: CS 579 or CS 669 or consent of the instructor - This course surveys state-of-the art technologies in DW and Big Data. It describes logical, physical and semantic foundation of modern DW infrastructure. Students will create a cube using OLAP and implement decision support benchmarks on Hadoop/Spark vs Vertica database. Upon successful completion, students will be familiar with tradeoffs in DW design and architecture. Prereq: MET CS 579 or MET CS 669 and either MET CS 520 or MET CS 521. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS690 Network Security
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS535 OR METCS625) or instructor's consent. - This course will cover advanced network security issues and solutions. The main focus on the first part of the course will be on Security basics, i.e. security services, access controls, vulnerabilities, threats and risk, network architectures and attacks. In the second part of the course, particular focus and emphasis will be given to network security capabilities and mechanisms (Access Control on wire-line and wireless networks), IPsec, Firewalls, Deep Packet Inspection and Transport security. The final portion of the course will address Network Application security (Email, Ad-hoc, XML/SAML and Services Oriented Architecture security. As part of our course review we will explore a number of Network Use Cases. Prereq: MET CS 535 or MET CS 625; Familiarity with OSI and TCP/IP protocol stack; Background-familiarity with binary numbers, prime numbers, binary- hexadecimal-decimal conversions, etc; Familiarity with computer programming concepts; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS693 Digital Forensics and Investigations
Provides a comprehensive understanding of digital forensics and investigation tools and techniques. Learn what computer forensics and investigation is as a profession and gain an understanding of the overall investigative process. Operating system architectures and disk structures are discussed. Studies how to set up an investigator's office and laboratory, as well as what computer forensic hardware and software tools are available. Other topics covered include importance of digital evidence controls and how to process crime and incident scenes, details of data acquisition, computer forensic analysis, e-mail investigations, image file recovery, investigative report writing, and expert witness requirements. Provides a range of laboratory and hands-on assignments either in solo or in teams. With rapid growth of computer systems and digital data this area has grown in importance. Prereq: Working knowledge of windows computers, including installing and removing software. Access to a PC meeting the minimum system requirements defined in the course syllabus. [4 credits]
METCS694 Mobile Forensics and Security
Overview of mobile forensics investigation techniques and tools. Topics include mobile forensics procedures and principles, related legal issues, mobile platform internals, bypassing passcode, rooting or jailbreaking process, logical and physical acquisition, data recovery and analysis, and reporting. Provides in-depth coverage of both iOS and Android platforms. Laboratory and hands-on exercises using current tools are provided and required. [4 credits]
METCS695 Cybersecurity
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS625) or instructor's consent - This course introduces fundamental concepts, principles of cybersecurity and their use in the development of security mechanisms and policies. Topics include basic risk assessment and management; basic legal and ethics issues, various cyber attacks, defense methods and tools; security principles, models and components; different crypto protocols, techniques and tools, including symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms, hashing, public key infrastructure, and how they can be used; security threats and defense to hardware, operating systems, networks and applications in modern computing environments. Hands-on labs using current tools are provided and required. Prerequisite: METCS535 or METCS625 or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS699 Data Mining
Prerequisites: MET CS 521 & MET CS 546; MET CS 579 or MET CS 669; or consent of instructor. - Study basic concepts and techniques of data mining. Topics include data preparation, classification, performance evaluation, association rule mining, regression and clustering. Students learn underlying theories of data mining algorithms in the class and they practice those algorithms through assignments and a semester-long class project using R. After finishing this course, students will be able to independently perform data mining tasks to solve real-world problems. [4 credits]
METCS701 Rich Internet Application Development
Undergraduate Prerequisites: MET CS 520 or MET CS 601 and programming experience, or instructor's c onsent - The Rich Internet Application (RIA) Development course concentrates primarily on building rich client web applications in the browser for desktop and mobile devices. The course is divided into various modules covering in depth the following technologies: HTML5, AngularJS, and Ionic framework. Along with the fundamentals underlying these technologies, several applications will be showcased as case studies. Students work with these technologies starting with simple applications and then examining real world complex applications. At the end of this course, students would have mastered the latest and widely used RIA methodologies. Course Prerequisites: METCS520 (Information Structures) and METCS601 (Web Application Development), or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS763 Secure Software Development
Graduate Prerequisites: MET TC 250 or MET CS 248 or MET OM 501. - Overview of techniques and tools to develop secure software. Focus on the application security. Topics include secure software development processes, threat modeling, secure requirements and architectures, vulnerability and malware analysis using static code analysis and dynamic analysis tools, vulnerabilities in C/C++ and Java programs, Crypto and secure APIs, vulnerabilities in web applications and mobile applications, and security testing. Hands-on lab and programming exercises using current tools are provided and required. Prerequisite: At least two 500- level (or above) programming-intensive computer science courses; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS775 Advanced Networking
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS535) or consent of the instructor - This seminar course provides a strong foundation in networking and Internet architecture, data transfer protocols, including TCP, SCTP, QUIC, and IPv6, and a deep look at network resource allocation with an emphasis on protocol- independent hardware for Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and congestion management. The course goes into greater depth of current topics such as: naming and addressing, synchronization, congestion management and resource allocation (routing) and how they manifest in different environments. There will be assigned readings from the professor that require considerable class participation, both in presenting material and discussing it.
Prereq: MET CS 535 OR MET CS 625,or instructor's consent required. [4 credits]
METCS779 Advanced Database Management
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS579 OR METCS669) or consent of the instructor - This course covers advanced aspects of database management including normalization and denormalization, query optimization, distributed databases, data warehousing, and big data. There is extensive coverage and hands on work with SQL, and database instance tuning. Course covers various modern database architectures including relational, key value, object relational and document store models as well as various approaches to scale out, integrate and implement database systems through replication and cloud based instances. Students learn about unstructured "big data" architectures and databases, and gain hands-on experience with Spark and MongoDB. Students complete a term project exploring an advanced database technology of their choice. Prereq: MET CS 579 or MET CS 669; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS781 Advanced Health Informatics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS570) - This course presents the details of information processing in hospitals, hospital information systems (HIS), and more broadly health information systems. It presents the architecture, design, and user requirements of information systems in health care environment. It focuses on Information Technology aspects of Health Informatics specifically addressing the design, development, operation, and management of HIS. The first part of this course covers the introductory concepts including information processing needs, and information management in health care environment. The second part covers detailed description of HIS including hospital process modeling, architecture, quality assessment, and applicable tools. The final part of the course covers management of HIS and related issues and extension of this topic to other health care organizations. The course will have a term project providing students a hands-on experience in design and research of HIS. Prereq: MET CS 580; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS783 Enterprise Architecture
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS682) or strategic IT experience or instructor's consent - This course builds upon the strong technical foundation of our MSCIS and MSCS curricula, by providing students with the CIO-level management perspective and skills of an enterprise architect, in the context of the technologies that implement those architectures. Current technologies and processes explored in the enterprise architecture context include blockchain, microservices, multimodal/analytic databases, DevOps, SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), containers/Docker, and some leverage of AI techniques. We cover both the migration of legacy enterprise systems and de novo enterprise architecture development, vendor selection and management, cybersecurity in the enterprise, and complex system integration. Enterprise architecture decisions are presented in the context of the business goals and alignment that are critical for success, given globalization and the reality that "all companies are now technology companies." The course content is rich with case studies that illustrate practical application of enterprise architecture approaches and lessons learned. The course also includes a number of realistic enterprise architecture assignments and an incremental term project with components spanning the course, to provide students with hands on enterprise architecture experience. Students develop the understanding and skills needed to define and implement successful enterprise architectures that provide real strategic and concrete value to organizations, such as substantially reducing IT costs while improving performance, agility and alignment of information technology to business goals. On-campus classrooms follow a "flipped classroom" format, where significant class time is devoted to in-class group workshops. Prereq: MET CS 682. Or strategic IT experience. Or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS789 Cryptography
Graduate Prerequisites: (METCS248 & METCS566) or consent of the instructor - The course covers the main concepts and principles of cryptography with the main emphasis put on public key cryptography. It begins with the review of integers and a thorough coverage of the fundamentals of finite group theory followed by the RSA and ElGamal ciphers. Primitive roots in cyclic groups and the discrete log problem are discussed. Baby-step Giant-step and the Index Calculus probabilistic algorithms to compute discrete logs in cyclic groups are presented. Naor -- Reingold and Blum -- Blum -- Shub Random Number Generators as well as Fermat, Euler and Miller-Rabin primality tests are thoroughly covered. Pollard's Rho, Pollard's and Quadratic Sieve factorization algorithms are presented. The course ends with the coverage of some oblivious transfer protocols and zero-knowledge proofs. There are numerous programming assignments in the course. Prereq: MET CS 248, or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
METCS793 Special Topics in Computer Science
Fall 2023 Topic: Generative AI
This course focuses on recent advances in generative AI. It starts by reviewing statistics and regression models related to generative models, then common deep learning methods described. Later, models for designing new content, such as images, music, or text, will be explored, including GAN, VAE, Autoregressive and Diffusion Models. MLP, CNN, RNN, and Transformer models covered in CS 767 are reviewed. Students should be fluent in Python programming and CS 555 and CS 677 [4 credits]
METCS799 Advanced Cryptography
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (METCS789) or instructor's consent - This course builds on the material covered in CS 789 Cryptography. It begins with the coverage of commutative rings, finite fields, rings of polynomials, and finding of the greatest common divisor in the ring of polynomials. Irreducible polynomials are discussed. Field extensions and fields Fᴩ [x]/P are thoroughly covered. The main emphasis is put on elliptic curves over Fᴩ and F₂ and the ElGamal cipher on elliptic curves is presented. Block ciphers DES and double and triple DES are introduced. AES and WHIRLPOOL block ciphers and modes of operation are covered. The course continues with the introduction of message integrity and message authentication. In the last part of the course cryptographic hash functions SHA-512 and WHIRLPOOL as well as various digital signatures are introduced. Finally, entity authentication and key management issues are discussed. Prereq: MET CS 789; or instructor's consent. [4 credits]
Courses with “AD” or “CJ” require consent of the Computer Science department advisor.
Admission & Prerequisite Information
Admissions
Visit the Metropolitan College Graduate application page to learn more and apply.
Prerequisites
Applicants are not required to have a degree in computer science for entry to a program within the Department of Computer Science. Upon review of your application, the department will determine if the completion of prerequisite coursework will be required, based on your academic and professional background. The following prerequisite courses may be required:
METCS200 Introduction to Computer Information Systems
This course is a technically-oriented introductory survey of information technology. Students learn about basic computer information, different types of business systems and basic systems analysis, design and development. Students also study basic mathematics, software development and create simple Java programs. [4 credits]
A maximum of two graduate-level courses (8 credits) taken at Metropolitan College before acceptance into the program may be applied towards the degree.
Eric Braude
Associate Professor and Director of Digital Learning, Computer Science
PhD, Columbia University; MS, University of Miami; MS, University of Illinois; BS, University of Natal (South Africa)
Lou Chitkushev
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs; Associate Professor, Computer Science; Director, Health Informatics and Health Sciences
PhD, Boston University; MS, Medical College of Virginia; MS, BS, University of Belgrade
John Day
Lecturer, Computer Science
MSEE, BSEE, University of Illinois
Stu Jacobs
Lecturer, Computer Science
MS, Southern Connecticut State University; BS, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Suresh Kalathur
Assistant Professor, Computer Science; Director, Analytics
PhD, Brandeis University; MS, Indian Institute of Technology; BS, Regional Engineering College (Warangal, India)
Vijay Kanabar, PMP
Associate Professor, Computer Science and Administrative Sciences; Director, Project Management
PhD, University of Manitoba (Canada); MS, Florida Institute of Technology; MBA, Webber College; BS, University of Madras (India)
Jae Young Lee
Assistant Professor, Computer Science; Coordinator, Databases
PhD, MS, University of Texas at Arlington; BS, Seoul National University (Korea)
Robert Schudy
Associate Professor, Computer Science
PhD, MS, University of Rochester; BA, University of California San Diego
Victor Shtern
Associate Professor Emeritus, Computer Science
PhD, Leningrad Aluminum Institute (Russia); MS, Leningrad Institute of Technology; MBA, Boston University
Anatoly Temkin
Assistant Professor Emeritus, Computer Science
PhD, Kazan University (Russia); MS, Moscow University
Guanglan Zhang
Associate Professor and Chair, Computer Science; Coordinator, Health Informatics
PhD, MEng, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; BS, Luoyang Institute of Technology
Yuting Zhang
Assistant Professor, Computer Science; Coordinator, Information Security
PhD, Boston University; MS, BS University of Science and Technology Beijing
Tanya Zlateva
Dean, Metropolitan College; Professor of the Practice, Computer Science and Education; Director, Information Security
PhD, Dresden University of Technology (Germany); MS, Dresden University of Technology;BS, Dresden University of Technology
Getting Started
To learn more or to contact an enrollment advisor before you get started, request information using the button below and tell us a little about yourself. Someone will be in touch to answer any questions you may have about the program and detail the next steps in earning your degree. You can also start your application or register for a course at Metropolitan College.