UNM Computer Science

Course Requirements

• A PhD requires 48 credit hours post baccalaureate degree. In addition, students are required to complete 18 credit hours of dissertation research.
  
  
• At least 4 semester hours of CS 592 (Colloquium), taken from the University of New Mexico. If the student enters the program with a master's degree, the requirement is reduced to 2 hours of CS 592.
  
  
• At least 24 of the semester hours, exclusive of dissertation, must be completed at one of the three New Mexico universities.
  
  
• At least 30 semester hours, exclusive of dissertation, must be in courses numbered 500 or above. Of these hours, at most 12 may come from individual study courses (at The University of New Mexico, CS 551 and CS 650). If the student enters the program with a master's degree, the requirement is reduced to 18 hours in courses numbered 500 and above — at most 9 of these hours may come from individual study courses.
  
  
• Passing marks on the written comprehensive examinations, on the oral candidacy examination and on a final oral examination in the student's area of specialization.
  
  
• Every student who has passed the written comprehensive examinations must give one Colloquium per year (scheduled as part of the regular departmental colloquium series) surveying the student's work to date.
  
  
• Teaching requirement for the doctorate: As a requirement for the Ph.D. in Computer Science, all students will complete a one-semester teaching assignment. Typically and preferably, this assignment will involve running a class section, including classroom lecturing. However, there must be some flexibility in tailoring this assignment to each particular student. The student is encouraged to fulfill this requirement early in his or her studies, as the teaching experience is expected to help solidify the student's mastery of core Computer Science material.