The University of Arizona

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Benchmark this program against our national recognition pages and use the key guides below to evaluate ROI, admissions difficulty, and outcomes.

Admission Snapshot

Typical admitted student: Bachelor's degree in computer science or a closely related technical field required. Minimum GPA of 3.0. Prerequisites include programming, data structures, algorithms, and discrete math. GRE: verify current requirement with UArizona CS department. International applicants: TOEFL 79 iBT or IELTS 6.5 minimum. Application deadlines: Fall priority January 15; Spring August 1. Apply at grad.arizona.edu.

About This Program

The University of Arizona's MS in Computer Science is the flagship CS graduate degree at Arizona's land-grant research university. Located in Tucson, the program benefits from the university's membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is home to nationally recognized research groups in NLP, machine learning, computer vision, and bioinformatics AI. The department offers strong industry connections to the Tucson and Phoenix tech corridors, defense contractors (Raytheon Technologies HQ is in Tucson), and federal agencies including the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.

Career Outcomes

30-credit thesis or 33-credit non-thesis MSCS at the University of Arizona in Tucson, with research strengths in AI, machine learning, data science, and human language technology within a top-100 public research university.

• 1. Machine Learning Engineer
• 2. Data Scientist
• 3. Software Engineer
• 4. AI Research Scientist
• 5. NLP / Vision Engineer

What You'll Learn

• Complete 30–33 credits spanning required breadth areas in theory, systems, and applications.
• Specialize in AI/ML, NLP, computer vision, data science, or cybersecurity through elective coursework.
• Conduct applied or theoretical research under faculty supervision in one of UArizona's interdisciplinary AI labs.
• Satisfy capstone via supervised thesis or applied project course.

Curriculum Highlights

The MS in Computer Science at the University of Arizona is offered by the Department of Computer Science in the College of Science. The thesis track requires 24 course credits plus 6 thesis credits; the non-thesis track requires 30 course credits plus a 3-credit project. Core breadth requirements span theory, systems, and applications. Elective tracks include machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, data science, cybersecurity, and software engineering. The department's close ties to the BIO5 Institute and UArizona Health Sciences create opportunities for health informatics AI research. Catalog: catalog.arizona.edu.

Top Employers

Raytheon Technologies, University of Arizona Health Sciences, IBM Tucson, Amazon, Google, Meta, Arizona state government technology agencies; verify current recruiting through UArizona Career Services.

Admissions

Bachelor's degree in computer science or a closely related technical field required. Minimum GPA of 3.0. Prerequisites include programming, data structures, algorithms, and discrete math. GRE: verify current requirement with UArizona CS department. International applicants: TOEFL 79 iBT or IELTS 6.5 minimum. Application deadlines: Fall priority January 15; Spring August 1. Apply at grad.arizona.edu.

Application Materials

• Official Transcripts: Required
• Statement of Purpose: Required
• Letters of Recommendation: Three required
• CV/Resume: Required
• GRE General: Verify current policy with UArizona CS department
• English Proficiency: TOEFL 79+ iBT or IELTS 6.5+ for international applicants
• Application: Via UArizona Graduate Admissions portal

Academic Requirements

• Degree Required: Bachelor's in CS or closely related; minimum 3.0 GPA
• Prerequisites: Programming, data structures, algorithms, discrete math
• GRE/GMAT: Verify current policy
• TOEFL/IELTS: Required for international applicants (TOEFL 79+ iBT or IELTS 6.5+)