Located in Bethlehem Pennsylvania, Lehigh University was founded in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. The private research university is considered one of the 24 Hidden Ivies in the northeastern U.S. and encompasses four colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economics, the College of Education and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. Lehigh has produced National Medal of Science winners, Fulbright Fellows, Pulitzer Prize winners and members of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Lehigh University Accreditation Details

Lehigh University is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In addition, a number of its degree programs are accredited by the respective accrediting agency for their fields.

Lehigh University Application Requirements

Students seeking admittance into an undergraduate degree program at Lehigh University must complete the Common Application. They must also submit an official high school transcript as well as a school report that includes a counselor recommendation. Lehigh requires one teacher recommendation as well as mid-year report forms as well as official ACT or SAT test scores. Students are required to pay the $70 application fee through the Common Application website.

Students who wish to pursue graduate studies from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science may be admitted as an associate or regulate graduate student. Only regular graduate students are eligible for graduate degrees.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Students pursuing an undergraduate degree can expect to pay $50,320 per year. Those in the Engineering and Science department may also be assessed an additional $520 fee. However, Lehigh University encourages all students, including undergraduate and graduate students, to apply for financial aid as the school is committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated need for all accepted students. The school offers a combination of loans, work study, scholarships and grants to meet the gap between what the student can pay and the cost of attendance. Lehigh’s affordability combined with the high career salaries of its graduates are several reasons why Lehigh has placed on a number of national lists for return on investment and value.

Financial assistance for graduate students is available in several forms, including scholarships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships and fellowships that are provided by government agencies, corporations and donors.

Computer Science Degrees Available

The department of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University offers both graduate and undergraduate degree programs in computer engineering, computer science and computer science with a business focus, along with opportunities for research in each of these fields. Graduates of these programs can either pursue an advanced degree in graduate school or seek a position in computer engineering, computer science or computer systems analysis. Computer science is one of the fastest-growing fields today, and students pursuing a degree in this industry from Lehigh University are well-prepared to tackle the demands of the workforce.

Lehigh University offers a 128-credit-hour Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, a 120-credit-hour Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a 127-credit-hour Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the College of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Business from both the College of Business and Economics and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. A 17-credit-hour minor in computer science is also available for students not majoring in computer science and business, computer science or computer engineering.

Students pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science can expect to take required courses such as software engineering, computer organization and architecture, systems software, programming and data structures, fundamentals of programming and programming languages. Other core courses include the design and analysis of algorithms, operating system design, discrete structures and an introduction to the theory of computation. Required math and science courses include calculus, statistics, physics, applied engineering computer methods and an introduction to chemical principles.

The undergraduate computer science degrees at Lehigh University emphasize the fundamentals of the field while offering opportunities for hands-on experience. Students can choose electives based on their goals and interests, whether they are preparing to enter into the industry or pursue graduate studies. Students also have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a senior design project, and the school encourages students to participate in research activities sponsored by the department. Students may also use their senior project or independent study courses as a way to become involved while still receiving course credit.

Graduate study leads to a 42-credit-hour doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) or 30-credit-hour master’s degree in computer science. In conjunction with Lehigh University’s department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), a B.S. in Computer Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering are also offered from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. The CSE department also works with the College of Business and Economics to provide a master’s degree in business and engineering (MB&E).

Graduate students are given the opportunity to deepen their understanding, professional knowledge and capability within their specific fields. Each graduate student is required to work with his or her advisor to develop a program of study tailored to his or her goals. Key areas within the graduate department include information systems engineering, software systems engineering and computer systems engineering.

Both undergraduate and graduate research is encouraged. Lehigh University boasts a number of computer laboratories for its computer science students, and the department has research laboratories in web mining, security, artificial intelligence, image processing, networking and robotics. Using computer laboratories is a critical part of the computer science degrees at Lehigh University, and the network includes more than 60 workstations, compute servers and file services running the Unix operating system. Students have the opportunity to use a number of software tools, including computer-aided design packages, hardware and software simulators, software development tools and programming languages such as Matlab, Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, C and C++.

Neither the university nor the computer science department requires students to own personal computers. However, students may take advantage of the resources available to them, including multiple large-capacity compute servers, public sites containing hundreds of Macintoshes and PCs and campus-wide wireless network access. In addition, most classrooms at Lehigh University are equipped with a minimum of one video projection system and one PC.

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