Academic MS Information Science Plan of Study

Please check the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College for a complete description of the M.S. guidelines and requirements of the University of Iowa Graduate College. The requirements described here are in addition to the university-wide requirements for master’s degrees.

The interdisciplinary M.S. student will complete a minimum of 32 credits of coursework beyond the bachelor's degree with at least 18 of the 32 hours satisfying the requirements of the Informatics Certificate. The requirements described here are in addition to the university-wide requirements for master's degrees described in the Graduate College Manual of Rules and Regulations, Section X.

The M.S. is organized to allow each student, along with their advisor, to prepare the most appropriate plan of study. A list of sample electives provides an overview of possible coursework for individual plans of study.

Master of Science Guidelines and Milestones

M.S. Final Exam Procedures (with and without thesis)

The structure and evaluation of the master’s final examination will follow the procedures outlined in the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College, Sections X.H. through X.J. Additional exam requirements are identified below.

  1. The student will set up a committee of at least 3 UI faculty members who are sufficiently familiar with his/her coursework, etc.
  2. A meeting will be set up during which the student is asked to make a brief 15 to 20 minute presentation that summarizes the knowledge acquired in the program. The student’s presentation should encompass at least a few courses; as an example, the student could interconnect term projects completed in different courses of the program of study. The presentation must demonstrate aspects such as coherence of ideas and connections to the field.
  3. The student’s presentation will be followed by a 10 to 15 minute question answering session.
  4. Please also refer to the Graduate College Guidelines for further details on this final exam.