CSE program requirements

Admission requirements

Admission to the CSE program is based on academic record and letters of recommendation. GRE scores may also be considered for students in a degree program. Prerequisites for admittance, in addition to a bachelor’s degree:

  • One year of general college physics or chemistry
  • One year of differential/integral calculus, and either a course in differential equations (e.g. MATH 316), a course in applied statistics (e.g. STAT 427), or a course in numerical methods (e.g. MATH 375)
  • A course in computer programming, or equivalent experience with a language used for high-performance and/or data-intensive computing such as C, C++, Fortran, Java, or Python
  • For the certificate earned alongside a degree, admission is to the participating home department. For post-degree CSE students, a graduate degree in a mathematical, scientific, or engineering discipline and degree-seeking admission at UNM is required.

Program requirements

To complete the CSE program, a student must:

  • Be admitted to the CSE program, as described above
  • For students earning the certificate alongside a degree, complete all degree requirements of their participating home department
  • Complete CSE program core requirements, based on the degree program:
    • M.S. and post-degree students complete 3 credit hours of CSE program core courses;
    • Ph.D. students complete 6 credit hours of CSE program core courses.
  • Complete a total of 9 credit hours of approved CSE electives or program core courses not used to fulfill the core requirement
  • Complete a computational science and engineering research project through either:
    • a thesis or dissertation with a significant computational component under the direction of at least one associated faculty member on the student’s committee; or
    • an advanced computational project (3 credit hour minimum) under the direction of one associated faculty member, presented at an open forum.

Core courses

Course Title Fall 2026
CS 471 / MATH 471 Introduction to Scientific Computing ✅
CS 542 Introduction to Parallel Processing —
CS 567 Principles and Applications of Big Data —

Offering status checked against the UNM Schedule of Classes for Fall 2026 on August 30, 2026 (click a course for its live schedule entry). Core courses typically alternate semesters — the Spring 2027 schedule publishes in mid-October 2026. Plan your sequence with the Program Advisor (csecert@carc.unm.edu).

Electives

The list of approved CSE program electives is maintained by the CSE Program Committee. Students may petition the committee to substitute a course (for an equivalent number of credit hours) for any course of the approved curriculum. Most CSE program courses have a CSE program course as a prerequisite, so students are strongly encouraged to work with a Program Advisor to develop their program of study before enrollment.