Khoury College of Computer Sciences


The Khoury College of Computer Sciences is one of the nine colleges of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in computer science, data science and cybersecurity. Prior to December 16, 2018, Khoury College was known as the College of Computer and Information Science.
The College offers Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science, and doctoral degrees in computer science, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in interdisciplinary, computer-related fields. Some 1000 masters and 133 doctoral candidates are enrolled in the College.

History

Founded in 1982, Northeastern's Khoury College of Computer Sciences was the first college in the United States devoted to computer science. The College is also among the first to offer an information assurance degree program. At the end of 1987, Khoury College proposed Law of Demeter which was widely used in software development area.

Naming donation

On December 16, 2018, Northeastern University announced a $50 million gift from Northeastern alumnus and trustee Amin Khoury, in order to "support all aspects of the college's future focus. As a result, the College of Computer and Information Science was renamed Khoury College of Computer Sciences.

Academic programs

In addition to a traditional computer science curriculum, Khoury College offers numerous other information science programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Computer science

The computer science program at Khoury College focuses on the fundamentals of computer program design, software design, computer networking, computation theory, and other technical computer-related subjects.

Undergraduate degrees

The CS program offers both . While both require a core curriculum of computer science, mathematics, science, and humanities coursework, the B.A. candidates are required to take more humanities coursework than B.S. candidates. The B.S. is thus the more technical of the two degrees, with the B.A. aimed at giving students a social science context with which to frame their understanding of computer science. Khoury College offers the following degrees:
Khoury College offers multiple combined major options within its own programs:
The combined B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science substitutes four master-level courses for their undergraduate equivalents. Students then have only to take four master-level electives to complete the program. This allows a student to graduate with both degrees on either a five-year track, or a six-year track with an additional co-op experience.
In addition, the College partners with other colleges at Northeastern to offer several joint degrees, such as combining Computer Science with Journalism, Game Design or Interactive Media.

Information science

—the interdisciplinary study of how humans use information technology—combines a technical understanding of computer science and system design with the behavior context of the social sciences. Coursework covers the fields of information architecture, information system design and development, programming design, database design, and social informatics, among others. A two-semester senior capstone project, designed to integrate the many skill sets developed in the program, is required. Currently, only the B.S. of Information Science is offered, though it may be offered in conjunction with another degree.

Graduate degrees

Khoury College offers both Master of Science and doctoral degrees. In 2018, Khoury College's graduate program in computer science was ranked 49th in the list of the "Best Computer Science Graduate Schools." The publication also ranked the graduate program 12th on its list of "Best Programming Language Programs."

Master's degrees

Khoury College offers the following master's degrees:
Candidates for the MS in Computer Science can choose from the following concentrations:
Khoury College began offering the M.S. in Information Assurance in 2006, for which it has gained recognition by the National Security Agency as both a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research. Masters candidates take coursework addressing the various technical, policy, and criminal justice-related issues involved in information assurance, preparing them for careers as corporate and government information executives. Full-time candidates for the M.S. in Cybersecurity typically finish the program in two years, with 32 semester hours required to earn the degree.

PhD program

The PhD program prepares students for research careers in government, industry, or academia. Candidates are required to take coursework in computer systems, principles of programming languages, advanced algorithms, and computation theory. Electives in these and other subjects are also available. Candidates are given a maximum of five years to complete this coursework and their doctoral thesis.Khoury College offers four PhD programs:
In the 2011–2012 school year, the information assurance program began offering the Ph.D in Information Assurance, designed to be an interdisciplinary program with a focus on information assurance policy and research. Candidates for this doctoral degree take a core curriculum of computer networking, network security, hardware and software security, information security risk management, and information assurance policy. Elective coursework is then taken in one of three areas of concentration, namely:
Candidates for the have a maximum of five years to complete their required coursework and doctoral thesis.
The PhD in Personal Health Informatics is an interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Personal Health Informatics prepares researchers to design and evaluate technologies that improve health and wellness with the potential to transform healthcare. The joint degree program combines a strong curriculum in human-computer interface technology and experimental design in health sciences.

Student groups

The following student groups and organizations are part of the Khoury College community:
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Students of the college also participate in a variety of information security competitions, most notably the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The College's team won its regional qualifier, the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, in 2009, and took first place at the national competition in 2010. Khoury College was host to the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in 2011.

Cooperative education within Khoury College

Students at Khoury College have the option of participating in Northeastern's Cooperative Education Program. The co-op program allows students to take semester-long internships with public and private-sector organizations, exposing them to the real world application of the skills and knowledge taught in their academic major. Nearly two-thirds of Khoury College's graduating students are offered full-time positions by the companies for at which they worked a co-op.
Companies that participate in this program range from small startups to large enterprises including Google, Microsoft, John Hancock, and Amazon.com. The college has been able to achieve 100% placement in the past 7 years for all students who choose to go on 5-year co-op program.