The goal of the M.S. in Computational Media (CM) is to help students build on existing strengths and move into new areas of computational media work. The design of the degree ensures, first, that students have a meaningful foundation in the key areas needed for undertaking interdisciplinary CM work. This may require some additional development in one or more areas (e.g., a sequence of computer programming classes). In addition, the M.S. coursework includes both broad and topical classes that help students understand the different ways that innovative work in CM connects the knowledge and methods of the different disciplines that contribute to it. Finally, the M.S. also includes a student-defined thesis, in which they demonstrate their ability to apply their foundational and integrative knowledge while developing novel work through supervised research. The M.S. is appropriate for students continuing in a variety of directions, including pursuing a terminal degree and performing innovative media creation.

M.S. students must complete a minimum of 35 quarter credits of graduate and upper-division courses, including 15 credits of core courses, 10 credits of topic courses, and between 7 - 10 credits of supervised research (CMPM 299). No more than 15 credits may be upper-division undergraduate courses.