Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Case Western Reserve University is also known as CWRU, Case, Case Western and Case Western Reserve. The private university was founded in 1967 by Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology in a merger Time described as the establishment of “Cleveland’s Big-Leaguer” university. The school is associated with 16 Nobel laureates as well as the founders of Gmail, Craigslist and Vaccine, which later became Norton AntiVirus. In 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked CWRU as 37 on its list of top undergraduate programs in the country.

Case Western Reserve University Accreditation Details

Case Western Reserve University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of six regional agencies that accredit universities and colleges in the U.S. at the institutional level. In addition, the school’s computer science program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. The school also belongs to the Association of American Universities.

Case Western Reserve University Application Requirements

First-year students must first complete the Coalition Application or Common Application for consideration. Students are also required to submit an official high school transcript, two teacher recommendations and a school report that includes a counselor recommendation. Students must arrange for their ACT and/or SAT scores to be sent directly to CWRU and pay a $70 application fee. For students unable to pay this fee, a fee waiver may be requested upon submission of the Coalition Application or Common Application.

Graduate students must show evidence of a complete bachelor’s degree program in a field of physical, mathematical or engineering sciences as well as fluency in spoken and written English. Foreign applicants must demonstrate English proficiency by scoring at least a 577 on the TOEFL paper-based exam or 90 on the TOEFL Internet-based exam. Applicants must also submit original copies of GRE scores , with the exception of students who are applying to the B.S./M.S. program.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Tuition for most undergraduate degrees at CWRU is $47,074 for both residential and commuter students. Graduate students can expect to pay $1,827 per credit hour, or $21,927 per 12-credit-hour semester. The school offers several types of financial aid for eligible students, including scholarships, grants, the Federal College Work-Study Program (FCWSP) and loans.

Computer Science Degrees Available

Case Western Reserve University offers a number of computer science degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and students pursuing B.A., B.S.E. and B.S. degrees are able to earn a minor in computer science to supplement their undergraduate degrees. The goal of the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degrees is to produce students who have fundamental technical knowledge of the field and the experience necessary to become leaders in the industry.

Breadth and core courses provide students with the flexibility to learn across a number of disciplines in order to prepare them for a range of professions. The curriculum is designed to teach fundamental knowledge and skills needed by all computer science graduates. Upon graduation, students will be able to apply their knowledge of mathematics and computing to their career goals as they work ethically, professionally and effectively in computing-related professions.

The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science is designed to give students a strong background in the fundamentals of computer science and mathematics. The curriculum is designed in accordance with the latest ACM/IEEE guidelines. Graduates of this program will be able to use their knowledge to evaluate and analyze software systems as well as the underlying abstractions on which they are based. Graduates will also be able to design, develop and implement software systems. Students pursuing the bachelor of science degree may choose one of five technical areas in which to specialize, including bioinformatics, databases and data mining, algorithms and theory, software engineering and computer systems, networks and security. The B.S. degree is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.

The Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science combines a computing major with a liberal arts program. It is less technical than the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree, but it is still professional in that graduates may seek employment as computer professionals. The degree is more suitable for students with a broad range of interests. For instance, students may choose to major in another field as well as major in computer science and complete all requirements for the double major within four years. This is because over one-third of the courses are open electives. Additionally, if a student chooses to major in computer science and a second technical field like physics or mathematics, CWRU will accept many of the technical electives for both majors. Students may also wish to major in computer science and take pre-med courses to prepare for graduate studies, and the coursework for both degrees can be completed in as little as four years.

Graduate students can choose from one of two plans for the Master of Science in Computer and Information Science degree, each requiring 27 credit hours per semester. The first plan requires 18 semester hours of courses and 9 semester hours of thesis, and Plan B requires 21 semester hours of course credit and a 6-semester-hour project. The latter is typically restricted to part-time students or special cases as approved by the department’s faculty. Each graduate student pursuing a master’s degree will be assigned a faculty advisor, and students must pick a research advisor before the end of their first semester. This individual is responsible for the supervision of the student’s project or thesis.

The M.S. in Computer Science requires students to have significant knowledge of undergraduate computer science material. This includes knowledge in operating systems, algorithms and data structures. Students must also have specialized knowledge in at least one of the following tracks: artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, databases and data mining, algorithms and theory, software engineering and computer systems, networks and security.

Case Western Reserve University also offers a Ph.D. in Computer and Science, and in order to earn their degree, students must satisfy a number of requirements, including a dissertation, a qualifying examination, a research proposal, the mathematics and science requirement and coursework. All programs of study need to contain at least 36 hours of courses past the undergraduate degree, and Case Western Reserve University requires that at least two of the courses be in mathematics or a basic science.

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