I want to present some information that I find useful regarding the actual set of courses that you must complete to earn a graduate degree at Columbia.  Since I’m primarily interested in the Computer Science major, some of what I will be presenting will be specific to that program but most of the requirements are the same across a number of the engineering degrees.

To begin with, the CS degree requires the completion of 30 credits (or points).  Each class is 3 points.  Therefore, you must complete a minimum of 10 classes to earn your degree.

The recommendation from the CVN staff is to take only one class per semester if you are working full-time.  Since they offer three semesters per year (spring, summer, and fall), that means about 3 years to get the degree if you somehow manage to take 2 courses in one of the 9 semesters.

For the Computer Science Program, there are required courses for the degree and then a set of courses that correspond to the track that you are following.  The following tracks are offered:

Computer Security
Foundations of Computer Science
Machine Learning
Natural Language Processing
Network Systems
Software Systems
Vision and Graphics
M.S. Personalized

For any of these tracks, you must complete at least four Core courses out of the following six:

COMS W4115: Programming Languages and Translators
COMS W4118: Operating Systems
COMS W4156: Advanced Software Engineering
CSOR W4231: Analysis of Algorithms
COMS W4701: Artificial Intelligence
CSEE W4824: Computer Architecture

Since I’m planning on following the Network Systems track, I need to take the following course:

CSEE W4119: Introduction to Computer Networks

That leaves 5 courses for electives.  You can take any 4 of the following classes but you need to make sure that at least (2) are 6000-level courses:

COMS E6181: Advanced Internet Services
COMS E6998: Advanced Internet Routing
COMS W6998: Content Networking
COMS W4180: Introduction to Network Security
COMS W4261: Introduction to Cryptography
COMS W4995: VOIP Security
COMS E6998: Advanced Topics in Security
COMS E6185: Intrusion and Anomaly Detection Systems
COMS E6118: Operating Systems II
COMS E6180: Modeling & Performance Evaluation
COMS E6125: Web Enhanced Information Management
COMS E6901: Projects in Computer Science
ELEN E6717: Information Theory
ELEN E4703: Wireless Communications
ELEN E6761: Computer Communication Networks
ELEN E6950: Wireless & Mobile Networks, I
ELEN E6951: Wireless & Mobile Networks, II
SIEO W4606: Stochastic Processes (or substitute with IEOR-W4106)
IEOR E6704: Queuing Theory and Applications
IEOR E6801: Monte Carlo & Discrete Event Simulation
IEOR E4406: Facilities Location, Routing, Network Design

One class is left for you to take as a free elective.

Here is the shocker: the classes are expensive.   Remember that you are paying graduate school tuition as well as a CVN program fee.  There is no financial aid available for CVN students either beyond what the government provides.

Here is how it breaks down for 2008:

CVN Credit Tuition:                   $1184 per point (Credit Hour)
CVN Audit Tuition:                    $634 per point (Credit Hour)
CVN Fee:                              $375 per course

Non-refundable one-time fees:


Transcript Fee:                       $75
Graduate Admission Application Fee:   $65
Certificate Program Application Fee:  $100
Late Registration Fee:                $100
CVN Withdrawal Fee:                   $75, plus prorated tuition

For example:

A three credit course would be $3552 + transcript fee $75 (one-time) + CVN fee $375 = $4002.

EXPENSIVE.