Degrees and Requirements
Please note that in addition to specific INSC course requirements, there may be some specific course requirements imposed by the student's associated academic department. The interdisciplinary nature of this program requires students to take courses from at least three different graduate programs among Areas A, B, and C, and constitute an approved meaningful research concentration.
Degree Requirements
3 credits minimum thesis research
Defend & deposit MS thesis
30 credits minimum in coursework
Special project
A total of 90 credits is required by the graduate school. INSC requires 60 course credits and 30 research credits.
Up to 30 credits from a previous Master's degree can be transferred upon review by the Program Head and/or Major Professor to meet your PhD requirement.
INSC allows up to 30 credits be Thesis Research (XXXX 69900).
Defend & deposit dissertation.
MS Thesis/Non-Thesis
- Area A: 4 required courses,
- Area B and C: 3-courses related to research concentration,
- 1 Seminar
- Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR)
- All graduate students are required to complete the CITI RCR training module within 120 days of starting a graduate program and every five (5) years thereafter. More Information
- This requirement can also be satisfied by completing the GRAD 61200 course.
- Must have a total GPA of 3.0 or better.
- Any 300 or 400 course must be completed with a B- or better.
*Students can have up to 6 credits of 300-400 level courses applied to their plan of study.
4 Required Courses:
- Two technical courses:
- CS 52600or CNIT 55500, and
- CS 55500or CS 35500
- One philosophical/ethical courses:
PHIL 52400 or PHIL 41100 or PHIL 42400 or PHIL 62400† or TECH 62100 IAE†
*PHIL 58000 is no longer available, but if you have already taken PHIL 58000, it will be recognized as meeting your requirements.
- One political/social courses:
POL 62000† and TECH 62100 TAP†, CS 52300 (CS52300 Cannot be taken for both Area B and Area A)
3-courses related to research concentration.
May be a combination of Area A and Area B courses.
Any 3 courses not taken in Area A:
- AGEC 60800, 69100†
- ASM 59100†
- AT 53200
- CNIT 42100, 42200, 45500, 45600, 47000, 47100, 49900†, 51100, 51200, 55600, 55700, 55800, 58100†, 62300†
- COM 51200, 51800, 55800, 55900, 57400, 59000†, 63200†
- CS 50300, 52300, 52700, 52800, 52900, 53600§, 53700, 55600, 56500, 57700, 58000, 59000†, CS 62600, 63600, 65500, 69000†
- CSR 63100
- ECE 56500,
- ECET 52500
- ECON 60600, 61000
- EDPS 53300
- ENE 69500
- ENGL 62800
- IE 53000, 53200, 57700§, 65900, 67400
- IT 53000, 54000, 54500, 58100†
- LING 50000, 52100, 53100, 68900(=ECE 66900)†
- MGMT 54700§, 59000†, 68400
- OBHR 68100, 68300
- PHIL 49000, 52400*, 53500, 62400†
- POL 43000, 62000†
- PSY 57700§
- STAT 50200, 51200, 51300, 51400, 51700
- TECH 58100†, 62100†
- Note: May take one or the other of the following but not both:
*Unless Taken Under Area A
† When content is appropriate
Breadth requirement- 2 courses
Any Two courses:
- CNIT 62300RMC (replaces TECH 64600), 62300 NLIAS (Natural Language in Information Assurance and Security) when not taken as Area B
- ** COM 61000†, 63200†, 67400†, 67600†
- CS 50200, 54100, 54200, 57300
- ECE 54400, 56200, 56500, 57000, 57300
- ECET 58100†
- EDPS 53300
- ENE 69500
- FNR 55800
- IT 50700
- LING 50000, 53100, 53200, 68900†
- MGMT 50500, 50600, 54400, 54500, 56100, 59000†, 60000, 60100, 63000, 68300
- OBHR 64200, 64300
- POL 62200
- STAT 69500†
Any course from Area B above, not taken to satisfy Area B requirement, can be taken in Area C.
Ph.D.
- Area A: 8 required courses,
- Area A, B, and C: 5-courses related to research concentration,
- 3 Seminar
- Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR)
- All graduate students are required to complete the CITI RCR training module within 120 days of starting a graduate program and every five (5) years thereafter. More Information
- This requirement can also be satisfied by completing the GRAD 61200 course.
- Must have a total GPA of 3.0 or better.
- Any 300 or 400 course must be completed with a B- or better.
*Students can have up to 6 credits of 300-400 level courses applied to their plan of study.
Take 8 courses:
-
Four technical courses:
- CS 52600 or CNIT 55500, and
- CS 55500 or CS 35500 and
- CS 62600 or CS 52800, or CS 52900 or a graduate course from Area B approved by the student’s committee.
- CS 65500 or special topics course in theoretical or applied cryptography beyond CS 55500, or a graduate course from Area B approved by the student’s committee—or equivalents
-
Two philosophical/ethical courses:
PHIL 52400 or PHIL 41100 or PHIL 42400 or PHIL 62400† or TECH 62100 IAE†
*PHIL 58000 is no longer available, but if you have already taken PHIL 58000, it will be recognized as meeting your requirements.
-
Two political/social courses:
POL 62000† and TECH 62100 TAP†, CS 52300 (CS52300 Cannot be taken for both Area B and Area A)
Any six courses not taken in Area A:
- AGEC 60800, 69100†
- ASM 59100†
- AT 53200
- CNIT 42100, 42200, 45500, 45600, 47000, 47100, 49900†, 51100, 51200, 55600, 55700, 55800, 58100†, 62300†
- COM 51200, 51800, 55800, 55900, 57400, 59000†, 63200†
- CS 50300, 52300, 52700, 52800, 52900, 53600§, 53700, 55600, 56500, 57700, 58000, 59000†, CS 62600, 63600, 65500, 69000†
- CSR 63100
- ECE 56500,
- ECET 52500
- ECON 60600, 61000
- EDPS 53300
- ENE 69500
- ENGL 62800
- IE 53000, 53200, 57700§, 65900, 67400
- IT 53000, 54000, 54500, 58100†
- LING 50000, 52100, 53100, 68900(=ECE 66900)†
- MGMT 54700§, 59000†, 68400
- OBHR 68100, 68300
- PHIL 49000, 52400*, 53500, 62400†
- POL 43000, 62000†
- PSY 57700§
- STAT 50200, 51200, 51300, 51400, 51700
- TECH 58100†, 62100†
§ Note: May take one or the other of the following but not both:
* Unless Taken Under Area A
- CS 53600 or MGMT 54700
- PSY 57700 or IE 57700
† When content is appropriate
Any four courses:
- CNIT 62300RMC (replaces TECH 64600), 62300 NLIAS (Natural Language in Information Assurance and Security) when not taken as Area B
- ** COM 59000F, 59000G, 60000, 60100, 61000†, 63200†, 67400†, 67600†
- CS 50200, 54100, 54200, 57300
- ECE 54400, 56200, 56500, 57000, 57300
- ECET 58100†
- EDPS 53300
- ENE 69500
- FNR 55800
- IT 50700
- LING 50000, 53100, 53200, 68900†
- MGMT 50500, 50600, 54400, 54500, 56100, 59000†, 60000, 60100, 63000, 68300
- OBHR 64200, 64300
- POL 62200
- STAT 69500†
Any course from Area B above, not taken to satisfy Area B requirement, can be taken in Area C.
** Note that COM 59000F and 59000G as well as COM 60000 and 60100 are restricted to only COM Ph.D. students.
Courses from at least five different graduate programs should be taken among Areas A, B, and C. Five graduate courses must constitute a declared and approved meaningful research concentration.
Specific Departmental Requirements
- Students graduating via the Department of Communication must satisfy that department’s requirements for the Masters’ degree in Information Security, take COM 60000 and COM 60100 and make sure that they earn a minimum of 12 graduate credits in Communication;
- Students graduating via Polytechnic Institute must satisfy that department’s requirements for the Masters’ degree in Information Security;
- Students graduating via Linguistics must take LING 53100 and LING 68900: Natural Language Processing.
- Program Requirements