The world has seen an explosive growth in data generation recently. This surge has created a significant need for skilled data scientists and engineers who can navigate and extract insights from large, fast-moving and diverse datasets. As a data scientist, you'll find that your analytical skills play a crucial role in transforming raw data into valuable insights and making accurate predictions. This program is designed with a focus on project-based learning, ensuring that you gain the expertise to design, implement and deploy systems capable of handling the constantly expanding volume of data.
You'll learn how to design different types of scalable big data systems, such as parallel, distributed and real-time systems. Upon graduation, you'll have the expertise needed to deploy the appropriate data management, processing or analysis system for a particular task or domain application need.
You’ll also develop a deeper understanding of data through hands-on learning in big data analysis, data processing, data mining, machine deep learning, mining algorithms, visualization techniques and more. Your big data training and skills in algorithms, modeling and engineering will give you a significant competitive advantage in the field.
The skills you’ll develop in this master’s program
This program provides you with a diverse skill set to acquire, store and process large-scale data sets. You’ll also gain analytical expertise to mine information from the data. Upon completion, you’ll be equipped with a variety of skills needed to succeed, such as:
- Applying data mining technology to real-world applications.
- Creating tools that support entity, network analytics, text and media analytics.
- Designing optimal solutions for a given set of application-driven constraints.
- Making informed decisions about data storage, indexing, querying, retrieval and visualization.
- Reasoning about query optimization and execution alternatives.
- Using and developing real-time, online and scalable processing systems.
Who’s a good candidate for a big data systems master’s?
Ideal candidates for this program have a background in computer science and are working in computer programming or software engineering. With the urgent need for engineers and data scientists with excellent data management, system development/integration and data analysis skills, this program is suited for those looking to advance their computer science career.
Does harnessing the power of computing and machine learning to make sense of big data interest you? If so, Arizona State University’s online Master of Computer Science with a concentration in big data systems may be a great fit. In this program, you'll design scalable systems for capturing, processing and interpreting large and complex data sets. You'll also gain analytical expertise to generate insights from data and inform decision-making for organizations.
In this program, you’ll take one foundations course, one systems course and one applications course. You’ll also fulfill your big data systems concentration requirement of 15 credit hours by taking the following big data systems courses:
- Data Mining.
- Data Processing at Scale.
- Data Visualization.
- Engineering Blockchain Applications.
- Statistical Machine Learning.
Of the 350+ faculty members in Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the majority have been honored with the highest awards in their fields. Faculty milestones include:
- National Academy of Engineering members.
- National Academy of Sciences member.
- National Academy of Inventors members.
- National Academy of Construction members.
The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is dedicated to providing a dynamic learning environment and supporting all students on the paths to their degrees. We’ve received numerous peer-reviewed programmatic honors from U.S. News & World Report.
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for bachelor’s degrees awarded to underrepresented minorities (American Society for Engineering Education 2019).
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This program has a highly competitive admission process.
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 [email protected].
- If you’re based outside of the U.S., select "JN” under Visa.
For questions, call 1-844-353-7953 or email [email protected].
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.
As a nondegree graduate student, you can begin taking graduate-level computer science courses without being admitted to the master’s program. This provides the opportunity to establish a high graduate GPA, try out courses to decide if you’re interested in the full degree program, meet the English proficiency requirement or earn a professional certification credential.
Students who complete three courses with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 after the first attempt of courses will be able use this GPA when applying for the Master of Computer Science program.
No, Arizona State University’s diplomas don’t specify whether you earn your degree online or in person. All diplomas and transcripts simply say “Arizona State University.”