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The Bay State Fellowship Program

The Department of Computer Science offers a tuition-free masters degree, accompanied by a small assistantship to any undergraduate computer science major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who completes the CmpSci BS degree with an overall GPA of at least 3.60. In recognition of their academic achievements, participants will be designated as "Bay State Fellows" by the department. Fellows may participate in the program for up to two years (four semesters), although it is possible to complete the program in less time. Students that complete the CmpSci BA degree are also encouraged to apply to the program if they have similarly high GPA, but because there is great latitude in how the BA may be completed, they are not guaranteed the fellowship. In short, BA students should ensure the CS electives they select for their degree follow the guidelines below (regarding 401, etc).

The Bay State Fellowship Program is also open to computer science majors from Smith College and Mount Holyoke College. For the specific requirements, interested students at Smith College should visit this web page and Mount Holyoke students can refer to this web page.

Students interested in the Bay State Fellowship program who do not satisfy the requirements may want to apply to the Department's graduate program in the MS track. Students admitted into the MS track are not provided with assistantships or other financial support.

The Computer Science masters degree is a 30 credit program that requires 24 course credits and a six credit masters project. Up to six credits of previous work -- for example, graduate courses taken while an undergraduate and not used to satisfy undergraduate computer science requirements -- may be applied to the 30 credit MS requirement. Some MS work -- for example, the 6 credit project -- may be done over the summer.

Requirements and Qualifications

To be eligible for the program, an undergraduate must have actually completed the computer science BS degree, and must have taken at least 15 of the department's required 21 technical courses at the Amherst campus (and thus transfer students are eligible to participate in the program). Additionally, and in recognition of the mathematical demands the department places on its graduate students, to be elegible for the Bay State Fellowhip, applicants must have taken one of the following classes with a grade of B- or better: CMPSCI 401, Formal Language Theory; CMPSCI 575 / Math 513, Combinatorics and Graph Theory; CMPSCI 513 Logic in Computer Sicence; or Math 411, Modern Algebra. Any of these courses may also be used as electives in the standard Computer Science curriculum. Finally, applicants must have completed a one-semester independent study project (for example, an honors project) as part of their undergraduate program. Projects done outside the CS Department must be vetted by a CS faculty member. This project requirement goes into effect beginning with December 2006 graduates.

Bay State Fellows must begin the program in the fall term. Students who wish to participate must notify the Computer Science Associate Chair for Academic Programs and complete the (brief) application process by February 15 of the year they plan to begin their program of studies.

For planning purposes, students who are interested in the Bay State Fellows' program often need to know about eligibility before completing their senior year. Therefore, students who notify the department during the Spring semester of their senior year that they wish to start the program in the next fall semester will be accepted into the program at the time of inquiry, if their current GPA is 3.60 or better, and if all other requirements are met. However, early acceptance is conditional: students who receive grades below B- in technical courses in their final undergraduate semester may, at the discretion of the department, forfeit their Bay State Fellow status.

The fellowship appointment includes an approximately 1/2 time assistantship, which comes - minimally - with a small stipend along with a waiver of most fees*. In return, participating students are required to make a corresponding commitment to the educational or research mission of the department, either by serving as a half-time teaching assistant, or by serving in some other half-time research or project assistant job. The nature of a student's assistantship will be determined at the discretion of the department.

A student who qualifies for the Bay State Fellowship program must begin the masters program within one year of graduation.

*Stipend and fee waiver subject to availability of funds.