Graduate

You must provide unofficial transcripts from each college or university you attended, including military credits and CLEP scores. Upon admission into the program, you will be required to submit official transcripts from each college or university you’ve attended.

The University of South Florida requires that students have a 3.00 GPA or higher to be admitted. However, we are able to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis:

1. The student has above a 3.00 GPA in their upper-level coursework.
2. The student has taken non degree-seeking courses after graduation and received a 3.00 GPA or higher.

These exceptions are at the discretion of the admissions committee.

We take a comprehensive look at your application and consider your academic coursework, recommendation letters, statement of purpose and relevant work experience.

We require two recommendation letters to be submitted with your application, but you are welcome to submit additional letters. Letters must be from individuals qualified to attest to the your academic or professional capabilities.

Cost of this 15-credit-hour certificate program is $640 per credit hour, a total of $9,600.

Please note: This is a self-supporting program. With the exception of the Department of Children and Family (DCF) waivers, all other waivers (including State of Florida and USF employee) are not accepted for Self-Funded/Self-Supporting or Market Rate Tuition program courses. 

For additional information, visit USF Tuition Waiver.

For additional financial aid info, visit https://www.usf.edu/financial-aid/.

Both USF CSE graduate certificates, Pathway to Computing and AI, may be covered by the GI Bill. If you are planning to utilize VA Education Benefits,  you must complete a VAWorks application through the Office of Veteran Success. This application must be completed each semester. For additional assistance and questions regarding VA benefits, please contact the Office of Veteran Success.

Phone: (813) 974-2291 | Email | Website

Upon successful completion of the certificate program, you may enroll in the MSCS program in the following entry term. For example, if you complete the pathway program in Fall 2022, you may enter the MSCS program in Spring 2023.

The MSCS Pathways to Computing Consortium offers a DREAM (Distributed REsearch Apprenticeships for Master’s) summer research program . The selected consortium students for the program receive $12,000 stipends. The DREAM program is a program designed for students without a bachelor’s degree in computing to participate in a research experience in computing.  DREAM will engage participants in research, mentoring, professional development, and cohort community activities by matching the student with both a research advisor and a mentor. The goal of the program is to encourage students, through these research experiences, to consider pursuing a PhD degree in computing.

The Pathway to Computing graduate certificate program provides only priority admission into the MSCS program. For the other programs in the department, this graduate certificate may offer you a higher chance of getting in, but not a priority admission.

Yes, you can apply for the pathway program during your bachelor’s graduation semester. But you need to make sure you already get your bachelor’s degree when you start your pathway program.

No, the credits in Pathway to Computing Certificate do not count toward the master’s programs.

We designed this program for people without a computer science background. We assume you do not have any background in computing. Thus, no CS-related preparation is required. The courses in the pathway program will get you prepared for the courses that follow.

Yes, all courses are offered online.

All courses will be asynchronous, meaning you will not need to log in for live online classes at a scheduled time each week. There will be weekly assignments. Course materials and class recordings will be available on Canvas for you to complete at your own pace. The final exams will be synchronous online at scheduled dates/times.