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Department of Computer Science
Nguyen Engineering Building, 4300
4400 University Drive, MS 4A5
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: 703-993-1530
Email: csinfo@gmu.edu
This graduate certificate program provides knowledge, tools, and techniques to those who are working in or planning to work in software engineering but do not want to complete requirements for a master’s degree in the field. The certificate may be pursued concurrently with any of the graduate degree programs in the Volgenau School.
2015-2016 Academic Year
This graduate certificate program provides knowledge, tools, and techniques to those who are working in or planning to work in software engineering but do not want to complete requirements for a master’s degree in the field. The certificate may be pursued concurrently with any of the graduate degree programs in the Volgenau School.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and have earned a GPA of 3.00 or higher in the last 60 credits. In addition, applicants must complete a self-assessment form, which can be obtained from the Computer Science Department. This form provides summary information concerning background and preparation for the program.
Applicants must possess knowledge equivalent to the following undergraduate courses: structured programming in a modern programming language, data structures, discrete mathematics, and machine organization. The level of knowledge may also be achieved by taking the following foundation courses at Mason: INFS 501 - Discrete and Logical Structures for Information Systems, SWE 510 - Object-Oriented Programming in Java, INFS 515 - Computer Organization Course and Operating Systems, and INFS 519 - Program Design and Data Structures. In addition, it is desirable, but not necessary, for applicants to have at least one year of appropriate work experience in building or modifying software systems.
Applicants must submit a one- to two-page statement of educational and work experience in the computing field that includes a statement of career goals in software engineering.
The graduate certificate may be pursued on a part-time or full-time basis
Certificate Requirements (12 credits)
- Three courses from the following:
- SWE 619 - Object-Oriented Software Specification and Construction (3 credits)
- SWE 621 - Software Modeling and Architectural Design (3 credits)
- SWE 622 - Distributed Software Engineering (3 credits)
- SWE 637 - Software Testing (3 credits)
- One additional course from the following, subject to satisfying prerequisites:
- CS 675 - Distributed Systems (3 credits)
- CS 706 - Concurrent Software Systems (3 credits)
- SWE 620 - Software Requirements Analysis and Specification (3 credits)
- SWE 622 - Distributed Software Engineering (3 credits)
- SWE 625 - Software Project Management (3 credits)
- SWE 626 - Software Project Laboratory (3 credits)
- SWE 631 - Software Design Patterns (3 credits)
- SWE 632 - User Interface Design and Development (3 credits)
- SWE 637 - Software Testing (3 credits)
- SYST 621 - Systems Architecture Design and Evaluation (3 credits)
- SWE 642 - Software Engineering for the World Wide Web (3 credits)
- SWE 645 - Component-Based Software Development (3 credits)
- SWE 681 - Secure Software Design and Programming (3 credits)
- SWE 699 - Special Topics in Software Engineering (3 credits)
- SWE 721 - Reusable Software Architectures (3 credits)
- SWE 727 - Quality of Service for Software Architectures (3 credits)
- SWE 760 - Software Analysis and Design of Real-Time Systems (3 credits)
- SWE 763 - Software Engineering Experimentation (3 credits)
- SWE 795 - Advanced Topics in Software Engineering (3 credits)
- SWE 798 - Research Project (3 credits)
Opportunities
Students who enroll in a certificate program will receive state-of-the art scientific and practical information in cutting-edge areas. All courses are taught by our distinguished faculty with years of experience in their respective fields or research and practice. As graduate student at Mason you will have access to the vast resources of our library and the open lab facilities in the Volgenau School.
Graduate certificates may be pursued on a full-time or part-time basis.