Program Highlight: Computer Science & Computer Engineering
Since establishing the country’s first master’s in computer science program in 1962, we’ve been committed to innovative research and to educating generations of computer 
scientists and computer engineers. Our graduate programs are offered through UL Lafayette’s Center for Advanced Computer Studies, which oversees all graduate-level academics and research in computer science and computer engineering.
We are among the top 50 universities for research and development funding in computer sciences, according to the NSF’s HERD survey—and we’re also the highest ranked Louisiana institution on that list. Our computer science and computer engineering faculty and graduate programs are part of the reason Lafayette and the surrounding area is a hub for technological innovation and activity, nicknamed the “Silicon Bayou.”
Our students have the opportunity to conduct research at the Center for Visual and Decision Informatics, the NASA Regional Applications Center, Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE), and the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wetlands Research Center—all located in the University’s research park. With NSF career award winners, IEEE fellows, ACM fellows and more on our faculty, you’ll get to work alongside the experts while you conduct your own original research.
Our graduate programs have helped attract high-tech companies to Lafayette: CGI, Enquero, and Perficient, which brought 1,000 new jobs with them. Our grads are finding great jobs locally, nationally, and internationally. In Lafayette, the average salary for computer science and computer engineering grads has increased at a higher rate than the salary trend for all other careers in Lafayette. Our alumni have found careers conducting research at universities and organizations all over the world at companies like GE, Google, eBay, Intel, NASA, Configuresoft, McAfee Labs, and more.
Computer Science Graduate Programs
At UL Lafayette, we offer a master’s in computer science and a PhD in computer science.
Our master’s students have the opportunity to choose between three tracks: coursework, project, or thesis. The track you choose determines what your curriculum will be and how much research you’ll do. Regardless of which track you choose, all computer science master’s students take classes on the design and analysis of algorithms, computer architecture, programming languages, operating systems, and database management systems.
Our PhD in computer science program is divided into four phases: breadth, depth, dissertation proposal, and dissertation execution and completion. Through the PhD program, you’ll dive deeper into the intricacies of computer science and its applications, and then use your knowledge to develop and conduct your own original research.
Computer Engineering Graduate Programs
The Center for Advanced Computer Studies offers a master’s in computer engineering and a PhD in computer engineering.
The Center for Advanced Computer Studies at UL Lafayette was one of the first in the country to merge the two disciplines of computer science and computer engineering, giving our students the opportunity to study graduate-level computer engineering and computer science in the same area. Our computer engineering master’s and PhD students do work with the principles of computer science, but most of the curriculum focuses on the ways in which computing ideas are mapped into physical systems.
UL Lafayette offers only master’s and PhD programs in computer engineering—without an undergraduate program—so all computer engineering faculty attention is devoted to our graduate students and their success.
Our master’s in computer engineering students choose from two available tracks: thesis or non-thesis. The thesis track requires that you conduct your own research and complete a written thesis; the non-thesis track requires that you complete a special project. All master's in computer engineering students take courses in operating systems, computer architecture, and VLSI design and implementation. You can fill in the rest of your curriculum with courses in neural networks, data mining, computer communications and networks, and computer design, among other classes.
The PhD in computer engineering program is divided into four phases: breadth, depth, dissertation proposal, and dissertation execution and completion. The first two phases require coursework in architecture, software, theory and applications, and then you’ll demonstrate your knowledge during comprehensive exams. During your dissertation proposal, execution and completion, you’ll conduct your own original research, write a dissertation based on your findings, and then present and defend your work.
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