Computing Career Change Opportunity
Learn the skills needed to make a career change into the thriving digital economy. The Computing Career Change Opportunity within the Computer and Information Science master’s program provides students a smooth transition from a liberal arts or science background to a career in computer and information science.
The Computing Career Change Opportunity begins with a study of the Foundations of Computing to prepare you for our M.S. in Computer and Information Science program. Students in this program must enroll in 33 additional credits after the 7-credit Foundations course and meet all of the graduation requirements to complete the program. Courses are offered online and on-campus.
In addition to Foundations of Computing, students have the option to add a specialization in Information Assurance and Cyber Defense or AI and Analytics.
Scholarship Opportunities:
The new COSMIC 2.0 project is funded through the National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program and will allow Marquette to provide scholarships to low-income domestic students. S-STEM scholarship recipients will receive support through distance learning adaptations to the Foundations course, as well as academic resources such as faculty mentoring and peer mentoring, study groups, online cohort building and career services.
Each scholar will be eligible to receive up to $15,000 per academic year and $6,400 during the summer when they enroll in the summer bridge course (Foundations of Computing). In total, a student may receive up to $36,400 in scholarship support to help cover their cost of attendance. In addition, each scholar will be provided with a laptop for use throughout the program.
Computer and Information Science Career Opportunities:
- Application developer/programmer
- Software engineer
- Cyber security specialist
- Systems analyst
- Enterprise/solutions architect
- Big data analytics specialist
- Business intelligence engineer
Dr. Md. Tahmidul Islam Molla, assistant professor of practice in computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a nearly $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an online rapid entry bridge course for people seeking a career change to pursue a Master of Science in computer and information science.
The project builds on the success of Change Opportunity — Start Masters in Computing (COSMIC), a two-year, in-person graduate program that caters to those who don’t have a degree in computing but wish to move into the field. Launched in 2016, the original COSMIC program featured a highly focused in-person bridge course combined with an innovative curriculum that allowed people without computer science degrees to merge quickly and efficiently into the professional Master’s in Computer and Information Science program.
