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Department of Computer Science

Potential MS Applicants

Reasons to study Computer Science at Fresno State:

  • Ranking: Forbes Magazine ranked Fresno State as one of "America's Best Public Colleges in the U.S." in 2009; U.S. News & World Report ranked Fresno State as 37th among the best Master's Universities in the West in 2011; and Washington Monthly magazine ranked Fresno State as 15th of the "America's Top 50 Master's Universities" in 2011.
  • Tuition Fee: In 2011-2012, an in-state Fresno State undergraduate student (12 units x 2 semesters)'s tuition fee is $6763. An out-state/international undergraduate student's tuition fee is $11,227 ( $11,497 for a 9-unit graduate student). Based on CollegeBoard, "In 2011-12, public four-year colleges charge, on average, $8,244 in tuition and fees for in-state students. The average surcharge for full-time out-of-state students at these institutions is $12,526."
  • Living Cost: Tuition and living costs for Fresno State students is the *lowest* among all 23 campuses in the CSU system, averaging 10% to 15% less than CSU campuses in larger cities. Additionally, according to CNN-Money, Fresno's living costs are 25% (San Diego) to 45% (San Jose) less than other major metropolitan areas of California.
  • Salary: Based on Glassdoor.com (Feb. 2012), software engineers' median salary is $72,500 in Fresno area, whilst the median salary nation-wide is $62,000.
  • Geographic Advantages: Fresno is the geographic center of California and its fifth-largest city. From here, you can reach Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, all within 2 to 4 hours. These geographic advantages make interviews convenient as well as time and cost effective.
  • Courses offering: Computer Science department offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate level courses. In addition to fundamental Computer Science courses offered in most US universities, our department specializes in algorithms, bioinformatics, cloud computing, human computer interaction, software engineering, programming languages, and wireless networking in both practice and research aspects. Please refer to catalog and schedule for more information.
  • Community Engagement: In 2009, Fresno State received the Presidential Award for General Community Service from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Fresno State has made the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in 2007 and 2010. Under the supervision of the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, each year Csci152S Software Engeering students outreach to local nonprofit organizations and develop software for them.
  • Industry: Similar to Silicon Valley, Central Valley is friendly to IT and software industry. There are a number of technology-oriented companies located in Fresno metro area. Our department has close relationships to local companies and partner with local professional communities (e.g., software cluster).
  • Facilities: Fresno State's Library is the newest one among 23 CSU campuses. The library is also the largest academic library between Sacramento and Los Angeles. It has a physical collection of over a million books, subscriptions to over 60,000 online journals, magazines and newspapers, and access to a large collection of electronic books. Our department facilities include a Computational Science Center comprising three high-performance compute clusters and a collaborative smart classroom for both educational and research purposes, as well as various UNIX workstations and personal computing devices.
  • Research: Our faculty's interests span diverse areas in both research and practices. Specialties include: Algorithms, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Cloud and Services Computing, High-Performance Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, Logics, Meta-heuristics, Parallel/Distributed Processing, Programming Languages, Software and Language Engineering, Theory of Computation, Web Technologies, and Wireless and Mobile Computing.
  • Alumni's Achievements: For the past 20+ years, our alumni have been successful in both academia and industry. Some have gone on to earn PhDs at first-tier universities and become college professors; others have become professionals working at Apple, Boeing, Cisco, Google, HP, Microsoft, Oracle, Schneider Electric, VMWare, and other firms in Silicon Valley and Fresno.
  • Preparation for Advanced Degrees: The courses offered by the department maintain good balances between theories and practices as well as between research and education. A number of alumni further prused and earned Ph.D. degrees after graduation.
  • Leisure: ISSP and international student organizations sometimes organize culture introduction/exchange events. Computer Science Club occasionally hosts some student-friendly activities. Fresno is also not far from the Bay area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and several famous national parks, beaches, and lakes. You may visit these places during breaks.

Minimum Admission Requirements for Graduate Students

Testimonies

  • TBA

Apply Now!

  • Please apply via  Cal State Apply.
  • Statements of purpose, writing samples, and letters of recommendation are to be emailed directly to the department. All other official supporting documents, such as transcripts, must be mailed to the appropriate admissions office:
  • Domestic Students mail documents to:

California State University, Fresno
5150 N. Maple Ave. JA 57
Fresno, CA 93740-8026

  • International Students mail documents to:

California State University, Fresno
Attn: International Admissions
5150 N. Maple Ave. JA 56
Fresno, CA 93740-8026