Welcome to the Boise State Computer Science Department! Our mission is to provide a high-quality undergraduate and graduate education in computer science that prepares students for productive careers and lifelong learning.
Department Excellence
- Employer surveys and industry feedback affirms the quality of graduates over the long term
- Local employers prefer Boise State CS graduates over those from other programs in the region
- Graduating seniors score in the top 20% of the national Major Field Test for Computer Science compared to around 200+ other CS departments
- Large faculty size with expertise in many areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, cybersecurity, software engineering, human computer interaction, and more.
- Variety of degrees such as bachelors in CS with emphasis in cybersecurity, machine learning, entrepreneurship, masters in CS or Cybersecurity, PhD in Computing with emphasis in CS, Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Computational Math Science and Engineering,
Student Benefits
- A collegial department atmosphere, where students and faculty interact frequently
- The Kount Learning Center is open seven days a week to help first year and sophomore students
- Large number of expert faculty allows for a variety of emphasis areas and specialized courses in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, as well as other core computer science areas
- Many experiential learning opportunities such as internships and undergraduate research that allow students to “hit the ground running”
Students and Graduates are in Demand
- A majority of upper division students have internships at local tech companies, providing additional financial security and real world application of computer science principles
- Hundreds of software, tech and other companies in the Boise area that need CS graduates. About 85% of bachelors graduates remain in the Boise metro area
- Computer Science is predicted by the Bureau of Labor to grow substantially over the next ten years
- High starting salaries (among top 2 or 3 majors, nationally). Recently, the salaries for graduating bachelors degree students have ranged from 60K to 110K (in the Boise metro area), with the average salary of around $74K. Average salary for alumni five years after graduation is $117K (from the US Department of Education website)
- Students have been placed at Amazon, AppDetex (Tracer), Boeing, Boise Inc, Clearwater Analytics, Cradlepoint, First to File, Google, Healthwise, HP, Idaho National Lab, Kount (Equifax), MarkMonitor, Micron, Microsoft, Paylocity, Qualcomm, Vynyl and many others
- Easy access: many software/tech and other companies that hire interns/graduating students are conveniently located near the department building. Refer to the Boise Software Ecosystem map to get a sense of how close some of these companies are
