Mix & Match
Study across technical areas and computer science disciplines in our flexible curriculum.
Master of Engineering in Computer Science (Part Time)
Acquire formal expertise in advanced technical fields of computer science, like machine learning and computer security. Then apply your knowledge immediately to innovation challenges issued by real companies from New York’s tech sector. You’ll build complete digital solutions for social impact and the marketplace by working in teams with other Cornell Tech students from business, law, and technology. Whether you plan to move up or spin out, this flexible, two-year part-time Cornell computer science program will accelerate your trajectory.
Computer Science at Cornell Tech
Learn, Launch, Lead
Build & Test
Build something meaningful and new with a cross-disciplinary team, then test it with real users and industry experts.
Learn & Leverage
Learn from top faculty with extensive industry experience and leverage your project work into a startup with the help of their mentorship.
In one semester, I went from starting research to speaking at the biggest Smart Contracts conference in London. That makes me feel really confident about taking what I’ve learned here out into the field.”
About the Master of Engineering in Computer Science Degree: Part Time
Designed with input from leading tech industry advisors, the Master of Engineering in Computer Science at Cornell Tech offers a flexible course of study with rigorous technical courses in both fundamental and advanced emerging areas of computing. Your academic coursework will give you exceptional training in artificial intelligence and machine learning, engineering software, systems, platforms, and products for complex business challenges and human needs.
A hallmark of all degrees at Cornell Tech is the Studio curriculum. Studio courses focus on preparing you for innovation within major tech companies, entrepreneurship within startup ventures, or in public-interest organizations. In cross-disciplinary teams, you’ll work with other Cornell Tech students to create your own startup as well as develop usable solutions for real corporations. In the process, you’ll develop the business savvy and communication skills—as well as peerless technical know-how—that have made previous graduates prime recruiting targets of companies like Google, Facebook, and numerous startups. Note that since this is a part-time offering, students are not eligible for F-1 or J-1 visa sponsorship.
Technical Topics Covered
Algorithms and Data Structures for Applications
Applied Machine Learning
Blockchains & Cryptocurrencies
Computer Vision
Cryptography
Cybersecurity
Data Mining & Signal Processing
Distributed Systems
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Machine Learning Engineering
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Networks & Markets
Studio Topics Covered
Entrepreneurship
Intellectual Property
Law for Non-Lawyers
Leadership for Digital Transformation
Product Management
Startup Funding & Pitching
Part Time Program Requirements and Structure
The part-time path is a different way to take our rigorous CS MEng program, and therefore follows the exact curriculum requirements as the full-time program. The only difference is that students taking the part-time option can complete their coursework over 2 years, doing 6-9 credits per semester for a total of 30 credits. The program is fully in-person for both part- and full-time students. While there are early morning, late afternoon, and some evening classes, we do not currently offer late-evening or weekend classes.
In any semester, part-time students can choose any class that matches the curriculum requirements based on their schedule and availability, with the following additional guidelines and special arrangements:
First semester (Fall 2024): We guarantee part-time students a spot in courses in the following course blocks:
[BLOCK 1: Mon/Wed]
· HCI & Design CS 5682 (Mondays/Wednesdays 10:10am-11:25am)
· Applied Machine Learning CS 5785 (Mondays/Wednesdays 2:55pm-4:10pm)
· Machine Learning Engineering CS 5781(Mondays/Wednesdays 5:55pm-7:10pm)
[BLOCK 2: Tue/Thu]
· HCI & Design CS 5682. (Tuesdays/Thursdays 8:40-9:55am)
· Applied Machine Learning CS 5785 (Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:40am-12:55pm)
· Algorithms and Data Structures for Applications CS 5112 (Tuesdays/Thursdays 1:25-2:40pm)
Students are not limited to courses in these two blocks, and are welcome to take any of the above courses that fit the program requirements, based on availability. See here for the full list of available Cornell Tech courses for fall 2024.
Second semester: (Spring 2025): No specific requirements, take courses based on program requirements and available class schedule.
Third semester (Fall 2025): Required: Product Studio (TECH 5900, mandatory; currently offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons). Take other courses based on program requirements and available class schedule.
Final semester (Spring 2026): Required: one of the studio courses: Startup Studio 5910, BigCo Studio TECH 5920, PiTech Studio TECH 5930 (mandatory; currently offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons) and a Studio elective. Take other courses based on program requirements and available class schedule.
In the final year, students are also expected to attend Maker Days which take place on Thursday evenings and Fridays, 3-4 times a semester.
Featured course
Applied Machine Learning
Credits 3
Learn and apply key concepts of modeling, analysis and validation from Machine Learning, Data Mining and Signal Processing to analyze and extract meaning from data. Implement algorithms and perform experiments on images, text, audio and mobile sensor measurements. Gain working knowledge of supervised and unsupervised techniques including classification, regression, clustering, feature selection, association rule mining, and dimensionality reduction.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Vitaly Shmatikov
Professor
Vitaly Shmatikov is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University and Cornell Tech. Before joining Cornell, he worked at the University of Texas at Austin and SRI International. He received the Caspar Bowden PET Award for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies three times, in 2008, 2014, and 2018, and was a runner-up in 2013. Dr. Shmatikov's research group won the Test-of-Time Awards from the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P / “Oakland”) and the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS), multiple Best Practical Paper and Best Student Paper Awards from IEEE S&P and NDSS, and the NYU-Poly AT&T Best Applied Security Paper Award. Dr. Shmatikov earned his PhD in computer science and MS in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University.
Yoav Artzi
Associate Professor
Yoav Artzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Cornell Tech at Cornell University. His research focuses on developing learning methods for natural language understanding and generation in automated interactive systems. He received an NSF CAREER award, and his work was acknowledged by awards and honorable mentions at ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, and IROS. Yoav holds a B.Sc. from Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.
Noah Snavely
Professor
Noah Snavely is a Professor at Cornell Tech and in the Computer Science Department at Cornell University. Professor Noah Snavely’s group explores the use of massive, unstructured collections of online photos to understand our world. In the aggregate, the trillions of photos uploaded to the web each year reveal a rich portrait of the world – the cities and environments that surround us, and the patterns of activity that make up our everyday lives. Snavely’s research group develops new technology for tapping these unorganized image collections to model the world in 3D, to analyze images for computer graphics applications, and to detect trends in social media photos.
Security & Privacy
Cornell Tech has one of the world’s leading academic research groups specializing in security, privacy and cryptography. Its faculty is known for their for their highly cited and award-winning research results as well as their influence on various industry, non-profit, and government practices.
Artificial Intelligence & Robotics
Cornell Tech’s artificial intelligence group includes world experts in computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning. Cornell Tech faculty work on the spectrum of AI methods, from fundamental algorithms to user-facing applications.
Data & Modeling
The Data & Modeling Research Group at Cornell Tech includes faculty with backgrounds in computer science, electrical engineering, business, and operations research. Their research focuses on developing models for decision-making support in a variety of areas including logistics, retail, marketing, defense, biotech, finance, and healthcare.
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) & Social Computing
Several faculty at Cornell Tech study the design, implementation, impact, and broader implications of computing technologies in everyday human activities. Particular areas of research interest include accessibility, educational technology, Computer Science education, Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD), Computer-supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and social computing.
Companies Hiring Recent Graduates
Career Outcomes
Cornell Tech offers best-in-class career management services to set you up for success after graduation. 90% of recent job seekers (versus startup founders) from the Computer Science program accepted Software Developer roles at mature companies or startups, while others accepted roles such as Product Manager, Program Manager, Data Analyst or Data Scientist.
Diversity & Inclusion
Cornell Tech was founded to advance technology as a means to a better quality of life for all communities in New York City, across the nation, and around the world. Our best work results in ethical, inclusive, accessible technology for all users, especially the underserved and underrepresented.
Vital to that mission is building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community of students, faculty, and staff. We seek to build things with — not just for — real people and believe in the power of participation and representation.
Salary Ranges
For 2017 graduates across all technical programs who accepted software development positions, the starting salary range was $95,000 to $158,000. In most cases, offers included equity, sign-on or year-end targeted bonuses, and relocation compensation (where applicable).
Learn & Work in NYC
With its central location in New York City, Cornell Tech students benefit from fluid interactions with some of the foremost tech companies in the country including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Qualcomm, Verizon, The New York Times, and others.
Alumni Success
Cornell Tech alumni have founded more than 41 startups since our first graduating class in 2014. From mentoring students to hiring new graduates, our alumni stay closely engaged.
Intellectual Property Agreements
The Cornell Standard Project (CSP) agreements make it easy for students and organizations to collaborate in a manner that will enable the intellectual property created in that collaboration to be used by the students outside the collaboration, for example, in a commercial context after they graduate from school.
Who Should Apply?
The Master of Engineering in Computer Science: Part Time program welcomes candidates who have an academic background in computer science or a related technical field, a strong entrepreneurial streak, and a passion to lead in the tech industry. If you do not have a technical academic background, your application should demonstrate coursework in software engineering and linear algebra and a working knowledge of data structures and algorithms.
I set out to start my own software company and I’m doing just that.”
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