Admission Information

GRE NOT required when primary qualifications are met (see below)

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Students are admitted as a cohort into the Master’s CNA Program. To be considered for admission to the Computer Networking and Administration master’s degree program an applicant must:

1. Initially satisfy all Southeastern Louisiana University graduate admission requirements
   (Consult the Southeastern General Catalog for admission requirements). International
   students also need to consult with the application procedures for international students
   in the General Catalog.
2. A bachelor’s degree or appropriate post-baccalaureate certificate in Computer Science
   or Computer Engineering from an institution with full regional accreditation for that
   degree.
3. A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent).
4. Transcripts that show completion of courses in key areas such as general programming
   skills using languages such as C/C++ and Java, formal programming language foundations,
   data structures, algorithms, and discrete math.
5. If the undergraduate degree is not in Computer Science or Computer Engineering, students
   may be required to take the appropriate prerequisites.
6. Combined score on the GRE of at least 290. Can be waived if undergraduate GPA in related
   fields is above 3.0 or proven related professional experience.
7. Two letters of recommendation.

Application Consideration Procedure: The program’s Graduate Admissions Committee determines admission to the MS program. Applicants must have all application materials turned in by the deadlines to be considered. Applicants who meet minimum score requirements will be considered based on all application criteria: GPA, GRE, and letters of reference. Applicants who fail to meet any of the above criteria could still be granted conditional admission into the program if approved by the admissions committee.

Graduation requirements:

1. The program requires a total of 33 credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree.
2. Satisfactorily complete all graduate work with a cumulative “B” average. Degree candidates
   must earn an average of “B” or better, both cumulative and in the major area of concentration,
   with not more than six (6) semester hours with a grade of “C” counted toward a degree.
   No credit below “C” will be accepted for graduate degree credit.
3. 15 credit hours of core courses.
4. 12 or 18 credit hours of specialization coursework depending on the option.
5. The student can select from the following program options:
6. Thesis Option – 27 credit hours of course work and 6 credit hours of graduate thesis
   (CMPS 770). Students will be allowed to enter the thesis option only with the consent
   of Graduate faculty. The thesis is a major work of independent research and will be
   supervised by the student’s major professor and thesis committee.
7. Non-Thesis Option – 30 credit hours of course work and 3 hours of graduate capstone
   project (CMPS 711). Students that opt for the non-thesis option must work with a faculty
   member and complete a project in one semester.
8. A student may switch options provided they comply with the requirements and with approval
   from the department.

The curriculum combines coursework in the foundations of computer science as well as topics in the focus areas of computer networking and administration. Foundational or core courses have been limited to 15 credit hours in order to provide sufficient opportunity for students to develop a particular focus while maintaining a breadth of knowledge in the field. Below topics are listed for both the foundational coursework and the focus area coursework. Following are typical schedules and course rotations:

Semester 1 (Fall)

CMPS 580: Advanced Networking and System Administration Principles (core) – 3 hours

CMPS 609: Network Design and Performance (core) – 3 hours

CMPS 620: Advanced Networking Concepts (elective) – 3 hours

Semester 2 (Spring)

CMPS 616: Advanced System Administration Concepts (core) – 3 hours

CMPS 635: Applications of Cyber Defense and Cryptography (core) – 3 hours

CMPS 650: Advanced Large-Scale Computing (elective) – 3 hours

Semester 3 (Summer)

Project option

CMPS 600-level (elective) * – 3 hours

CMPS 600-level (elective) * – 3 hours

Thesis option

CMPS 770: Thesis (core) – 3 hours

CMPS 600-level (elective) * – 3 hours

* Choose from: CMPS 615: Enterprise Computing, CMPS 631: Network Modeling and Analysis, CMPS 651: Emerging Computing and Networking Technologies.

Semester 4 (Fall)

CMPS 632: Network Management (elective) – 3 hours

CMPS 652: Advanced Storage Technologies (elective) – 3 hours

CMPS 711: Capstone OR CMPS 770: Thesis (core) – 3 hours

Total – 33 hours