MCS Online iPOS Help Page

All MCS online students list the program chair, Dr. Yalin Wang, as the faculty chair in the iPOS. No one else should be listed. 

**Students admitted prior to Spring 2026 may have the previous program chair listed.  You do not need to update the program chair if your iPOS has already been approved.

Courses from any of the area lists can be used toward electives, as long as they are not being used to meet your core requirement or a concentration requirement. The pop-up warning lets you know the course could count toward that particular area, however it does not prevent you from including the course in your electives. 

You should still be able to submit the iPOS even with these notifications, provided all sections have the correct number of credits and meet degree requirements. 

When adding 'Electives' in the iPOS, you can add ANY class listed on the Planned Course Rotation list that has not already been placed in an Area or Concentration. 

• General MCS will have 21 credits (7 courses) of Electives

• Cybersecurity Concentration will have 12 credits (4 courses) of Electives

• Big Data Concentration will have 6 credits (2 courses) of Electives

*While the Planned Course Rotation List has a section of 'Electives' (CSE 598), you are not limited to the 598 Elective courses only when adding to the 'Elective' section of the iPOS.

When your iPOS is returned to you, you should receive an email with the return comment, stating what needs to be corrected before you resubmit. You may need to check your junk or spam if you are not seeing the email.

Some common reasons IPOS are returned to students:

• Listing courses that are not offered online. Your iPOS may only have courses that are planned to be offered online for MCS Online degree students. Please use the Planned Course Rotation and degree check sheets above to assist you in selecting the appropriate courses. 

• Adding the incorrect number of courses in the different sections. The core area section should only have 3 courses listed: one from each area (Foundations, Systems, Applications).  If you are in a program with a concentration (Cybersecurity or Big Data): The concentration courses are pre-populated and should be added accordingly in the concentration section. All other courses should be listed under electives.  No courses should be listed under open courses. 

• Too many courses are listed on the iPOS. Only the 30 required credit hours should be added. You may take additional courses later if you like, but you should only list the minimum number of classes on your iPOS as they cannot be removed later.

• Anticipated Graduation Term is incorrect. Expected graduation term should be the same as the last term you have a course on your iPOS. Students will apply for graduation at the start of their last term, and degree conferral is at the end of that same semester.  For example, if the last course on your plan of study will be in Fall 2025, then Fall 2025 would be your anticipated graduation term. 

• Not meeting continuous enrollment. ASU graduate students are required to be registered in at least one course every Fall and Spring semester, including their admit and graduation semesters.

Yes! You may update your iPOS as many times as needed by submitting a course change.  We recommend you review your iPOS once per semester and update it to align with your course registration. The course change will be approved as long as the degree requirements are still met. Remember that you should always be adding and removing an equivalent number of credits. 

Courses in the current semester, or that you are already enrolled in for the next semester, must be added "from transcript" not as "future course". That means that if you have a course listed already for a future course, you will not see the current semester in the term dropdown if you want to change one to the on-going semester. 

You will need to "remove" the current listing and re-add the class for the term you have enrolled, using the "from transcript" option for electives, or by selecting the enrolled section for core or concentration requirements in the add menu.  

All courses you would like to apply to your program must be submitted through the iPOS for approval. You may be required to submit a syllabus so it is recommended you gather this information before submission. Please refer to the ASU pre-admission credit policy in the graduate policies and procedures.

• Computer science students must submit the transfer credit request form and required documentation.

Accelerated Master's Program students can list up to 12 "pre-admission" credit hours. 9 credits can be shared with undergraduate degree, 6 credits of approved 400-level courses and 3 credits of a 500-level course with grades "C" or better. In order for 12 credits to be approved on the iPOS, students must have 3 graduate credits in "reserve" status on the DARS, completed with 'B' or better.

• 400-level courses must be listed on the CSE 4XX Approved Electives tab of the CS Graduate Course List in order to share between undergraduate and graduate degrees. 

• When adding pre-admission credits to the IPOS, use the Add from Transcript button.