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The Second Bachelor’s Degree Program


Students who have already obtained a bachelor's degree either from the University of Massachusetts or from another school in any field can choose to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in computer science. This is a great choice if you are not trained to enter the graduate program in CS but would still like a degree in CS.  The application is made directly through the UMass Admissions Department. 

Please contact the Admissions Department at UMass for an application at 413-545-0222. Applications are not available through the Computer Science department. There are strict cut-off dates for acceptance each semester, please be aware of them.

Guidelines for transfer credit

To obtain BA or BS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, the student must fulfill all of the requirements necessary for that degree.  This includes all of the general education and credit requirements set forth by the university as well as the specific requirements for the chosen degree in Computer Science.  However, work completed at UMass or other schools is evaluated prior to admission and an individualized contract is drawn up.  The contract shows all of the courses necessary for the student to receive the chosen degree.  The student must accept the terms of the contract in order to be admitted into the program.

It it is typical that incoming students have already completed the equivalent of UMass' General Education (GenEd) requirements for their first bachelor's degree. Students that have science and math bachelors also often have completed many of the science and math requirements of the CS degree. Hence, typically what remains are upper-level electives. However, we welcome students that need to start with frosh-level CS and math.

Experience

In many cases the individual who chooses to pursue a second bachelors degree in Computer Science has work experience in the field.  Although there is no written policy dictating how work experience can be used as a substitute for classroom experience, the department tends to be reasonably flexible on this point, though upper-level electives are typically not substituted.  In the end, the student has chosen to return to school and should expect to either have transfer credit from classroom work or to actually take most of the classes necessary to complete the degree.

Residency Requirements

The University requires that second bachelor's degree students complete 45 credits at UMass Amherst, regardless of background and experience. Furthermore, 30 credits of the 45 must be complete as an admitted student in the program. In short, there is a limit of 15 credits that can be taken as a non-matriculated student at UMass before entering the program. (Courses taken at other campuses in the UMass system do not count towards the 45 or 30.)


How to register for courses

Course registration at the university is done through Spire.  Spire automatically accesses the student’s records to ensure that the student has the pre-reqs necessary before allowing the student to enroll in a course.  This presents a problem for most Second Bachelor’s Degree students since the student may have a large amount of transfer credit, but doesn’t have an actual record at the university.  For help with course registration once admitted to the program, contact Darlene Fahey in the CS main office.