Welcome to the MCS Online program!

You do not need to formally accept your admission to ASU. You need to clear any holds and priority tasks and register for courses to show your intent to join. 

Click on the item in your MyASU and you will find the details of what needs to be done and who to contact if necessary. 

• The process for submitting degree certificates and official transcripts is outlined here: https://admission.asu.edu/transcripts 

• Questions regarding official transcripts or the degree certificate need to be sent to Graduate Admissions: gograd@asu.edu 

The main method of communication used by the university and the school to correspond with you is through your ASU email account. Make sure you register for your first course as soon as possible. This will ensure you have access to your ASU email account and are receiving important communication. 

It is important to regularly check your ASU email account. It is not recommended to forward your ASU email to another account. All official communications from ASU will go to your ASU email address.  

Manage your ASU email via the Profile tab on My ASU. For assistance with your ASU e-mail account, visit: https://contact.asu.edu/. 

There will be a mandatory onboarding course that will need to be completed prior to the start of your first course. Degree requirements and other important information will be covered. You will receive an email notification to your ASU email when you have been added to the course on Canvas (monitor your inbox and spam folders). 

• The 2025-2026 Onboarding course is now available. If you did not receive a notification, you can access the course by clicking on the Canvas link in My ASU. You may also self-enroll for the course here. 

At the time of application, your transcript and supporting documentation is evaluated and it is determined if you are lacking any of the required prerequisite courses. If you have been assigned an additional course requirement (also known as a deficiency course), it is listed in your ASU Admission letter. Additional course requirements are the priority and must be completed by the deadline listed in your admit letter. 

Were you assigned an additional course requirement that must be completed "prior to enrollment"? If yes, then please read this document for guidance.  

You have the following options to meet your additional course requirements:

1. 1. Option 1 - Petition for Reevaluation: If you believe you have previously completed a course that is equivalent to the additional course requirement that was assigned, you can submit the waiver form here: https://fultonapps.asu.edu/deficiency/.  You will need to upload the Petition for Reevaluation form and supporting documents, such as syllabus, catalog description, and university transcripts (including the grade scale), to prove that you have met the requirements.  Be advised that the documents you uploaded during the admission application have been evaluated, so a reevaluation petition should only be submitted if you have new information to provide.  Once the petition has been reviewed, the decision is final. Petitions may only be submitted during your first two sessions in the program (deadlines).

   2. Option 2 – Competency (test-out) exam: An online course competency examination (offered through CareerCatalyst) is provided to allow students entering with additional course requirements to test-out of the class. It is to establish whether the student’s existing knowledge of the course material is sufficient for the requirement to be waived.  Competency exams may only be taken during your first two sessions in the program. The following courses are available:

• Computer Organization & Assembly Language Programming (230)

• Data Structures & Algorithms (310)

• Operating Systems (330)

• Principles of Programming Languages (340)

A student must pass the final exam to complete the course.

• A maximum of two attempts is allowed for each course topic to receive a Certificate of Completion. Each attempt requires the student to enroll and pay for the course.

• The exam may only be taken prior to attempting the for-credit course. 

• Once you have passed the final exam, you will need to submit the Deficiency waiver form and upload your certificate here: https://fultonapps.asu.edu/deficiency/

• The certificate will only be accepted if the exam was taken during your first two sessions in the program (deadlines). 

You can learn more about the Computer Science competency exams in onboarding. 

• Note: CareerCatalyst courses are non-credit bearing, and cannot be counted for credit to any degree program at ASU. Use of these courses as will only apply to additional course requirements assigned at admission.

1. 3. Option 3 - Take the course: You may take for-credit, graded courses to satisfy assigned additional course requirements. These courses will appear on your ASU transcript, but do not count toward your MCS degree requirements. 

      1. 1. 1. 1. • • CSE 310 and CSE 330 are now offered online, but only in C session. Students may also take the equivalent SER courses, which are offered in A and B sessions: SER 222 and SER 334. 

                    • CSE 230 and CSE 340 are offered online in the A and B sessions.

Note: Deficiencies/Additional course requirements are undergraduate courses and are subject to a higher tuition rate and course fees.

IMPORTANT: Graduate students are required to take at least one graduate-level course every fall and spring semester in order to meet the continuous enrollment requirement. There is an exception if you are taking an additional course requirement that is listed on your admit letter.  Please contact mcsonline@asu.edu for guidance.

• CSE 535 Mobile Computing

• CSE 539 Applied Cryptography

• CSE 551 Foundations of Algorithms

  • • Students assigned CSE 310 as a deficiency should not take this course until the deficiency has been completed. 

    • This course is not recommended for first semester students.

• CSE 565 Software Verification, Validation, and Testing 

• CSE 572 Data Mining

• CSE 575 Statistical Machine Learning

• CSE 511 Data Processing at Scale

• CSE 531 Distributed and Multiprocessor Operating Systems

• CSE 543 Information Assurance and Security

• CSE 548 Advanced Computer Network Security

• CSE 568 Biocomputing

• CSE 571 Artificial Intelligence

• CSE 598 Advanced Software Analysis and Design

Continuous Enrollment Requirement: You must be enrolled in at least 1 graduate-level course every Fall and Spring semester or you will be discontinued from the program. It is fine to take one class in either session A or B, or multiple classes in each session. 

Summer registration is required if it is your first semester, if you are completing a culminating experience, or graduating.

Recommended Course Load: If you will be working full-time while completing the MCS degree, then it is recommended to take only one course in session A and one course in session B.

Please remember not all courses are offered every session or semester and not every course listed in the course catalog is offered online.  

• The Computer Science MCS Handbook is available here.   

• The Planned Course Rotation & Area List lists the MCS online courses and which semester they are planned to be offered. This list is tentative and subject to change. 

• The catalog is available on the ASU website: www.asu.edu/catalog 

It is your responsibility as a student to familiarize yourself with dates and deadlines. 

Registration and Tuition deadlines are listed on the academic calendar: https://students.asu.edu/academic-calendar

Tuition payment options can be found here: https://students.asu.edu/tuitionandbilling.

Questions regarding tuition and billing should be directed to Student Business Services: https://students.asu.edu/contact-tuition-billing  

Online students are required to have an approved photo on file and have the option to purchase a Sun Card, ASU’s official student ID. Directions for completing this task are here.

Visit these websites for more information regarding available resources:

• https://students.asu.edu/financialaid

• https://graduate.asu.edu/pay-for-college

• https://graduate.engineering.asu.edu/fellowships/

Students may defer their initial term of admission to the next term through their My ASU page by using the Request Change link. If you have registered for a class after being admitted to the program, then your deferral cannot be processed. You must first drop all your classes and then request the deferral. 

The deadline to request a deferral is 11:59 PM (AZ time) on the session B drop deadline (see academic calendar). 

Students may only defer their admission one time.