Computer Science, Bachelor of Science

The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science provides students with a solid background in the fundamentals of computing and prepares them for employment in a wide variety of positions and for graduate study in computer science. The content of the department’s courses is continually monitored to ensure they are consistent with fast-changing developments in the discipline. Courses are offered in the day, evening, and some online sections for the convenience of our students. Appropriate university and departmental computing resources are available to students taking computer science courses.

Student Group

The Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students worldwide, providing the industry’s leading portal to computing literature and more. The College of Information Science & Technology has two student chapters: UNO ACM and UNO ACM-W.

Fast Track

The department of Computer Science has developed a Fast Track program for highly qualified and motivated students providing the opportunity to complete a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in an accelerated time frame.  With Fast Track, students may count up to 9 graduate credit hours towards the completion of their undergraduate program as well as the graduate degree program. Students will work with both undergraduate and graduate advisors to ensure graduate classes selected will count toward both programs, should a student wish to earn a graduate degree in a separate College of Information Science & Technology (CIST) area than their undergraduate degree.

Program Specifics:

  • This program is available for undergraduate students pursuing any CIST undergraduate degree desiring to pursue an MS in either the same or a related CIST field. 
  • Students must have completed no less than 60 undergraduate hours.
  • Students must have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.
  • Students must complete the Fast Track Approval form and obtain all signatures and submit to the Office of Graduate Studies prior to first enrollment in a graduate course.
  • Students will work with their undergraduate advisor to register for the graduate courses.
  • A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required for graduate coursework to remain in good standing.
  • Students remain undergraduates until they meet all the requirements for the undergraduate degree and are eligible for all rights and privileges granted undergraduate status including financial aid.
  • Near the end of the undergraduate program, formal application to the graduate program is requiredAll applicants will need to meet any other admission requirements established for the MS in selected CIST program. The application fee will be waived if the applicant contacts the Office of Graduate Studies for a fee waiver code prior to submitting the MS application.
    • Admission to Fast Track does NOT guarantee admission to the graduate program. 
    • The admit term must be after the completion term of the undergraduate degree.
 

Requirements

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. Thirty of the last 36 hours must be University of Nebraska at Omaha courses. Registering for courses without having taken the stated prerequisites could result in administrative withdrawal. Students must have a C or better grade in CIST 1400 and CSCI 1620 to serve as the prerequisite for all subsequent Computer Science (CSCI) courses.  For all other courses applied towards the major, a grade of C- or better will meet the prerequisite and degree requirements.  

To obtain a computer science degree, a student must fulfill the University General Education, College, and Departmental requirements. Some courses may satisfy requirements in more than one area, but credit is awarded only once, thereby reducing the total number of credit hours for the degree to 120. (This total does not include prerequisites.)

University General Education (46 hours, 22 hours of which can be satisfied by courses in the required areas below)24
College of IS&T Core 15
Mathematics15
Computer Science Core30
Computer Science Core Extension 21
Natural and Physical Science Courses7
Electives8
Total Credits120
College of IS&T Core Courses for Computer Science Majors
The College of IS&T has developed a series of courses that are required for students wishing to obtain a degree from the College. The development and implementation of this core curriculum is unique; it serves as a basis for preparing students to enter more advanced courses. The core curriculum is as follows (students are accountable for prerequisites courses):
CIST 1400INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I3
CSCI 1620INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II3
CSCI 2240INTRODUCTION TO C PROGRAMMING3
CIST 2100ORGANIZATIONS, APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY 13
CIST 3110INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS 23
Mathematics Courses
MATH 1950CALCULUS I 35
CSCI 2030MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE3
CSCI 2040INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL PROOFS1
MATH 2050APPLIED LINEAR ALGEBRA3
CIST 2500INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED STATISTICS FOR IS&T3
Department Requirements for the BSCS Degree Computer Science Required Courses
CSCI 3320DATA STRUCTURES3
CSCI 3550COMMUNICATION NETWORKS3
CSCI 3660THEORY OF COMPUTATION3
CSCI 3710INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL DESIGN AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION3
CSCI 4100INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS3
CSCI 4220PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES3
CSCI 4350COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE3
CSCI 4500OPERATING SYSTEMS3
CSCI 4830INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENGINEERING3
CSCI 4970CAPSTONE PROJECT3
CSCI 4000ASSESSMENT (MFT) 40
Computer Science Core Extension Courses
See "Computer Science Core Extension Courses" below.21
Natural and Physical Science Courses
Computer Science majors must successfully complete 7 credit hours from the following list, representing at least 2 disciplines with a minimum of 1 laboratory course:7
GENERAL PHYSICS I
GENERAL PHYSICS LABORATORY I
GENERAL PHYSICS I - CALCULUS LEVEL
GENERAL CHEMISTRY I-II
GENERAL CHEMISTRY I
GENERAL CHEMISTRY I LABORATORY
BIOLOGY I
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY & ANATOMY I
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE LAB
METEOROLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO METEOROLOGY LABORATORY
Total Credits88
1

CIST 2100 counts toward Social Science requirement.

2

CIST 3110 counts toward Humanities requirement.

3

This course will satisfy UNO’s General Education Quantitative Literacy requirement. 

4

MFT- Major Field Test - The Computer Science Department uses the MFT to statistically compare our graduates to graduates from other institutions of higher education nationwide. The test consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. Individual scores on the MFT give an effective metric to measure levels of achievement and allow students to compare their scores with national comparative data. The Computer Science Department uses the scores to assist in its ongoing, detailed curriculum review and evaluation. All results are confidential.

Computer Science Core Extension Courses (21 hours)

A core extension of at least 21 semester hours must be completed to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. At least 12 of the 21 hours selected must be approved upper-division computer science courses (courses with numbers of 3000 or higher). The remaining hours must be in an area of emphasis consistent with the computer science degree. They may include additional upper division computer science courses or courses selected from a different academic area. The computer science core extension area may be used to complete an approved concentration.

  • 12 credit hours must be upper-division (3000+) Computer Science courses
  • 9 credit hours must be related courses and can be selected from 2000 to 4000 level courses in CSCI, BIOI, CYBR, ISQA, ITIN, ECEN, or MATH (including MATH 1970).
Computer Science Upper-Division Courses (12 hours)
CSCI/MATH 3100APPLIED COMBINATORICS3
CSCI 3510ADVANCED GAME PROGRAMMING3
CSCI/CYBR 3450NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING3
CSCI 3470FUNDAMENTALS AND ALGORITHMS OF MACHINE LEARNING3
CSCI 3830ADVANCED JAVA PROGRAMMING3
CSCI 3850FOUNDATIONS OF WEB SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES3
CSCI/MATH 4010INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF RECURSIVE FUNCTIONS3
CSCI/MATH 4150GRAPH THEORY & APPLICATIONS3
CSCI/MATH 4200NUMERICAL METHODS3
CSCI 4250HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION3
CSCI 4260USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN3
CSCI/MATH 4300DETERMINISTIC OPERATIONS RESEARCH MODELS3
CSCI/MATH 4310PROBABILISTIC OPERATIONS RESEARCH MODELS3
CSCI/MATH 4320COMPUTATIONAL OPERATIONS RESEARCH3
CSCI/CYBR 4380DIGITAL FORENSICS3
CSCI/CYBR 4430QUANTUM COMPUTING AND CRYPTOGRAPHY3
CSCI 4440INTRODUCTION TO PARALLEL COMPUTING3
CSCI 4450INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE3
CSCI 4470PATTERN RECOGNITION3
CSCI 4480ALGORITHMS FOR ROBOTICS3
CSCI/MATH 4560NUMBER THEORY & CRYPTOGRAPHY3
CSCI 4620COMPUTER GRAPHICS3
CSCI 4650INTRODUCTION TO CLOUD COMPUTING3
CSCI/MATH 4660AUTOMATA, COMPUTABILITY, AND FORMAL LANGUAGES3
CSCI 4700COMPILER CONSTRUCTION3
CSCI 4850DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS3
CSCI 4890DATA WAREHOUSING AND DATA MINING3
CSCI 4900INTERNET SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT3
CSCI 4950INTERNSHIP IN COMPUTER SCIENCE1-3
CSCI 4980TOPICS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE3
CSCI 4990INDEPENDENT STUDIES1-3
Additional Computer Science Core Extension courses selected from the list above or 2000-level courses below (9 hours):
CSCI 2410INTRODUCTION TO DATA ANALYTICS USING PYTHON3
CSCI 2510INTRODUCTION TO GAME PROGRAMMING3
CSCI 26202D GRAPHICS: IMAGE PROCESSING3
CSCI 2830OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTALS3
CSCI 2840C++ & OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING3
CSCI 2850PROGRAMMING ON THE INTERNET3
CSCI 2960SHORT TOPICS FOR PROGRAMMERS1
CSCI 2980TOPICS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE3

Writing in the Discipline

All UNO students are required to take a writing-in-the-discipline course within their major. Computer Science degree students must take CIST 3000

Second Bachelor's Degree

General Requirements

Students who have satisfied the requirements for a first bachelor's degree other than computer science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha must complete a minimum of 30 additional semester hours at the University for a second bachelor's degree.

Computer Science Requirements (88 hours)

To obtain computer science as a second bachelor's degree, students must complete academic requirements for the degree which include 15 credit hours of IS&T core courses, 30 credit hours of computer science core courses, 21 credit hours of a computer science core extension, 15 credit hours of Mathematics courses, and 7 credit hours of Natural and Physical Science, provided that the first bachelor's degree is not in computer science. Students who are admitted to a second-degree program in Computer Science must meet with an academic advisor in the College of IS&T before beginning the degree to make a plan of study. Some transfer coursework may apply; however, 30 of the last 36 hours must be University of Nebraska at Omaha courses.

Computer Science - Start 1300-1200-1280

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
FallCredits
ENGL 1150 ENGLISH COMPOSITION I 3
CMST 1110
PUBLIC SPEAKING FUNDS
or ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE
3
CIST 1300
INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT
or COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES
or INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE
3
MATH 1950 CALCULUS I 1 5
Free Elective 1
 Credits15
Spring
ENGL 1160 ENGLISH COMPOSITION II 3
CIST 1400 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I 3
US Diversity/Social Science Requirement 3
Natural/Physical Science Requirement with Lab 4
Free Elective 1
 Credits14
Second Year
Fall
CSCI 1620 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II 3
CSCI 2030 MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE 3
CSCI 2040 INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL PROOFS 1
CIST 2100 ORGANIZATIONS, APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY 3
CIST 3110 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS 3
Natural/Physical Sciences Requirement 3
 Credits16
Spring
CIST 2500 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED STATISTICS FOR IS&T 3
CSCI 2240 INTRODUCTION TO C PROGRAMMING 3
CSCI 3320 DATA STRUCTURES 3
Core Extension/Specialization Elective 3
Social Sciences Requirement 3
 Credits15
Third Year
Fall
MATH 2050 APPLIED LINEAR ALGEBRA 3
CIST 3000 ADVANCED COMPOSITION FOR IS&T 3
CSCI 3710 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL DESIGN AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION 3
Core Extension/Specialization Elective 3
Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3
 Credits15
Spring
CSCI 3550 COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 3
CSCI 3660 THEORY OF COMPUTATION 3
CSCI 4100 INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS 3
CSCI 4350 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE 3
Global Diversity/ Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3
 Credits15
Fourth Year
Fall
CSCI 4220 PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES 3
CSCI 4500 OPERATING SYSTEMS 3
CSCI 4830 INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENGINEERING 3
Core Extension/ Specialization Elective 3
Core Extension/ Specialization Elective 3
 Credits15
Spring
CSCI 4000 ASSESSMENT 0
CSCI 4970 CAPSTONE PROJECT 3
Core Extension/ Specialization Elective 3
Core Extension/ Specialization Elective 3
Core Extension/ Specialization Elective 3
Free Elective 3
 Credits15
 Total Credits120

 Computer Science - Start 1400

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
FallCredits
ENGL 1150 ENGLISH COMPOSITION I 3
CMST 1110
PUBLIC SPEAKING FUNDS
or ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE
3
CIST 1400 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I 3
MATH 1950 CALCULUS I 1 5
Free Elective 1
 Credits15
Spring
ENGL 1160 ENGLISH COMPOSITION II 3
CSCI 1620 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II 3
US Diversity/ Social Science Requirement 3
Natural/Physical Sciences Requirement with Lab 4
Free Elective 1
 Credits14
Second Year
Fall
CSCI 2240 INTRODUCTION TO C PROGRAMMING 3
CSCI 2030 MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE 3
CSCI 2040 INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL PROOFS 1
CIST 2100 ORGANIZATIONS, APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY 3
CIST 3110 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS 3
Natural/Physical Sciences Requirement 3
 Credits16
Spring
MATH 2050 APPLIED LINEAR ALGEBRA 3
CIST 2500 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED STATISTICS FOR IS&T 3
CSCI 3320 DATA STRUCTURES 3
Social Sciences Requirement 3
Free Elective 3
 Credits15
Third Year
Fall
CIST 3000 ADVANCED COMPOSITION FOR IS&T 3
CSCI 3710 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL DESIGN AND COMPUTER ORGANIZATION 3
Core Extension/Specialization Elective 3
Core Extension/Specialization Elective 3
Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3
 Credits15
Spring
CSCI 3550 COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 3
CSCI 3660 THEORY OF COMPUTATION 3
CSCI 4100 INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS 3
CSCI 4350 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE 3
Global Diversity/Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3
 Credits15
Fourth Year
Fall
CSCI 4220 PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES 3
CSCI 4500 OPERATING SYSTEMS 3
CSCI 4830 INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENGINEERING 3
Core/Specialization Elective 3
Core/Specialization Elective 3
 Credits15
Spring
CSCI 4000 ASSESSMENT 0
CSCI 4970 CAPSTONE PROJECT 3
Core/Specialization Elective 3
Core/Specialization Elective 3
Core/Specialization Elective 3
Free Elective 3
 Credits15
 Total Credits120
1

MATH 1950 - Satisfies General Education Quantitative Literacy requirement


This roadmap is a suggested plan of study and does not replace meeting with an advisor. Please note that students may need to adjust the actual sequence of courses based on course availability. Please consult an advisor in your major program for further guidance.


This plan is not a contract and curriculum is subject to change.


Additional Information About this Plan:
University Degree Requirements: The minimum number of hours for a UNO undergraduate degree is 120 credit hours. Please review the requirements for your specific degree program to determine all requirements for the program. In order to graduate on time (four years for an undergraduate degree), you need to take 30 credit hours each year.


Placement Exams: For Math, English, and Foreign Languages, a placement exam may be required. More information on these exams can be found at https://www.unomaha.edu/enrollment-management/testing-center/placement-exams/information.php


Please note that transfer credit or placement exam scores may change a suggested plan of study.