We offer three undergraduate majors, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Computer Science (ABET - CAC accredited), a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Cybersecurity, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Computer Science. Please visit our official catalog page for detailed information. In addition, the B.S. degree has several concentrations available.
How to Select Between the B.S. and B.A.?
The B.S. in Computer Science is the traditional computer science degree program, which is heavy on the science and math side (as all bachelor in science degrees are). As a B.S. degree, it is fairly tightly constrained in terms of fitting its requirements into the 120 credit overall requirement, and so students need to be very careful that the non-CS courses they are choosing fit into the various slots that need filled for the degree. It is ABET-CAC accredited and should be your default choice if you have no reason to choose otherwise, and it should be your choice if you are at all considering graduate school.
The B.S. in Cybersecurity is a new degree with a strong focus on preparing students for a career in the cybersecurity industry. It is more constrained in terms of courses than the B.S. in Computer Science, with students needing to take a specific set of upper division courses that focus on cybersecurity topics.
The B.A. in Computer Science is designed as an innovative open degree program, where you have much more open credit to use for your own educational design. This degree is intended for students that have interests outside computer science and want the open credit to use to study other disciplines in some depth. It is a great degree to use in a double major, but you do not need to do a full double major to take advantage of its open plan. We strongly encourage you to at least have one minor in another department to distinguish yourself and your capabilities.
ABET statement: The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of the ABET, under the General and Computer Science Program Criteria. This accreditation was designated in August 2016 and was retroactively applied to October 1, 2014; it extends automatically through September 30, 2022. ABET accreditation ensures that NMSU Computer Science B.S. graduates meet the highest level of quality and that students enrolling in the program have access to the maximum available opportunities.
Accelerated Masters Program
We have an official Accelerated Masters Program degree plan, where a student can achieve both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science in five years. Please read the catalog for more detail, and talk to your CS faculty mentor. You must have at least a 3.3 GPA to be admitted (some conditional admissions are given to students slightly below 3.3), and you must apply as a junior, and especially before you take any CS 400-level electives. [ online application form ]
