Software Engineering, BS + Artificial Intelligence, MS (Pending Chancellor’s Office Approval)

Admission Requirements
Graduate Standing Requirements
Program Requirements (141 units)
Advising Roadmap

This program is pending Chancellor’s Office approval.

The Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence Spartan Accelerated Graduate Education (SAGE) Program allows students to earn Software Engineering, BS and Artificial Intelligence, MS in just five years, instead of the typical six when completed separately. The program consists of 108 units for the BS and 33 units for the MS, with 12 units of graduate coursework double-counted toward both degrees, for a total of 141 program units. The Student Success Center supports participants throughout the process, ensuring a smooth transition from undergraduate to graduate status without requiring a separate graduate application. This accelerated pathway not only provides financial benefits but also helps graduates advance more quickly into careers in artificial intelligence, software engineering, and related fields.

Total SAGE Program Units (BS+MS): 141 Units

For more information, contact the Engineering Student Success Center (Success-Engineering@sjsu.edu).

Admission Requirements

Students must successfully complete a minimum of 75 undergraduate degree applicable units and not more than 120 undergraduate degree applicable units at the time of admission into the SAGE program.
Students must be enrolled in or have completed the undergraduate Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (100W/GWAR prior to admission into the SAGE program).
Students must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA at the time of admission into the SAGE program.

Graduate Standing Requirements

SAGE students in the undergraduate career must have completed all lower division courses (designated as 0-99, including lower division general education courses and American Institutions courses) BEFORE transitioning into the SAGE graduate degree objective status. Students who have completed 120 degree eligible units but not completed all lower division courses will be removed from the SAGE program and will complete the standalone undergraduate degree. Students may then enter the standalone masters program, but will have to apply to the graduate program separately and are subject to graduate admissions requirements at SJSU. Additionally, any graduate courses used to meet undergraduate degree requirements may not be used in the graduate program.

Additional Department Requirements/Criteria:

Maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher, with no individual grade below a “C”. Students in the first four years of the program who do not maintain these standards will be withdrawn from the SAGE Scholars program and returned to the non-SAGE program.
Meet every semester with an academic advisor to plan and track coursework and graduate status. Once the degree is conferred, students meet every semester with their graduate advisor to plan a formal course of study.
The proposed graduate program must be approved by the graduate coordinator before the student may be considered a candidate for the graduate degree.

Program Requirements (141 units)

Software Engineering, BS (108 units)

Students must satisfy all of the major and Undergraduate University Graduation Requirements , which includes unit, GPA, and residency requirements as well as the below identified General Education , American Institutions, Graduation Writing Assessment, and Physical Education requirements. Courses that meet Undergraduate University Graduation Requirements are noted with an area designation (see Course Note Abbreviations ).

(Exceptions for University Graduation Requirements apply to this major.)

University Requirements (21 units)

The Lower and Upper Division General Education requirements may be satisfied by coursework outlined below. To satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) , students must pass ENGR 100W with a grade of “C” or better (“C-” not accepted).

The following 15 units are not satisfied by the major or the American Institutions courses outlined below:

Core Lower Division GE: 12 (13 units may be satisfied by major coursework: Areas 5A , 5B , 5C , 2 , 3B ; 3 units of GE Area 1B is met with completion of the major)
6 required units of American Institutions / US123 may be satisfied by selecting applicable GE courses in Area 4
GWAR / WID: 3 (Required: ENGR 100W )

Major Preparation (30 units)

ENGL 1B - Argument and Analysis 3 unit(s) (GE Area 3B / Formerly Area C2) (or equivalent second semester composition course.)
GE Area 5B 3 unit(s)
MATH 30 - Calculus I 3 unit(s) (GE Area 2 / Formerly Area B4)
MATH 31 - Calculus II 4 unit(s) (GE Area 2 / Formerly Area B4)
MATH 42 - Discrete Mathematics 3 unit(s)
PHYS 50 - General Physics I: Mechanics 4 unit(s) (GE Area 5A and 5C / Formerly Area B1 and B3)

Complete Additional Math/Science Electives (7 units)

Students must complete a total of 7 units from any of the following courses.

Any GE Area 5 course 1-5 unit(s)
MATH 32 - Calculus III 3 unit(s) (GE Area 2 / Formerly Area B4)
MATH 108 - Introduction to Abstract Mathematics and Proofs 3 unit(s)
MATH 115 - Modern Geometry and Transformations 3 unit(s)
MATH 126 - Theory of Numbers 3 unit(s)
MATH 142 - Introduction to Combinatorics 3 unit(s)
MATH 150 - Theory of Interest 3 unit(s)
MATH 170 - Mathematical Modeling for the Life Sciences 3 unit(s)

Complete One Course From:

MATH 33LA - Differential Equations and Linear Algebra 3 unit(s)
MATH 142 - Introduction to Combinatorics 3 unit(s)

Major Requirements (54 units)

Core Courses (11 units)

CS 46A - Introduction to Programming 4 unit(s)
CS 46B - Introduction to Data Structures 4 unit(s)
ENGR 10 - Introduction to Engineering 3 unit(s)

Required Courses (43 units)

Note: Must complete CMPE 195A /CMPE 195B and ENGR 195A /ENGR 195B with “C” or better to meet GE Area requirements.

CMPE 70 - Assembly Language Programming 3 unit(s)
CMPE 120 - Computer Organization and Architecture 3 unit(s)
CMPE 131 - Software Engineering I 3 unit(s)
CMPE 148 - Computer Networks I 3 unit(s)
CMPE 165 - Software Engineering Process Management 3 unit(s)
CMPE 172 - Large Scale Systems 3 unit(s)
CMPE 187 - Software Quality Engineering 3 unit(s)
CS 146 - Data Structures and Algorithms 3 unit(s)
CS 149 - Operating Systems 3 unit(s)
CS 157A - Introduction to Database Management Systems 3 unit(s)
CS 166 - Information Security 3 unit(s)
ISE 164 - Computer and Human Interaction 3 unit(s)
Senior Design:
CMPE 195A - Senior Design Project I 2 unit(s) (GE UD Area 4 / Formerly Area S)
CMPE 195B - Senior Design Project II 3 unit(s) (GE UD Area 3 / Formerly Area V)
ENGR 195A - Global and Social Issues in Engineering 1 unit(s) (GE UD Area 4 / Formerly Area S)
ENGR 195B - Global and Social Issues in Engineering 1 unit(s) (GE UD Area 3 / Formerly Area V)

University Elective Lower or Upper Division (3 units)

Artificial Intelligence, MS (33 units)

Core Courses (9 units)

CMPE 252 - Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering 3 unit(s)
CMPE 257 - Machine Learning 3 unit(s)
ISE 201 - Math Foundations for Decision and Data Sciences 3 unit(s)

Campus Graduate GWAR (3 units)

CMPE 294 - Computer Engineering Seminar 3 unit(s) (CGGWAR)

Specialization Courses (6 units)

Complete two courses from one of the specialization areas.

Intelligent Data Systems (at least 6 units)
CMPE 256 - Recommender Systems 3 unit(s)
CMPE 258 - Deep Learning 3 unit(s)
CMPE 259 - Natural Language Processing 3 unit(s)
CMPE 266 - Big Data Engineering and Analytics 3 unit(s)
Autonomous Systems (at least 6 units)
CMPE 249 - Intelligent Autonomous Systems 3 unit(s)
CMPE 258 - Deep Learning 3 unit(s)
CMPE 260 - Reinforcement Learning 3 unit(s)
Cybersecurity in AI (at least 6 units)
CMPE 209 - Network Security and Applications 3 unit(s)
CMPE 219 - Cybersecurity Clinics with HCI 3 unit(s)
CMPE 253 - AI Threat Intelligence 3 unit(s)

Approved Electives (9 units)

Complete one course (3 units) of any 200-level CMPE courses in the Area of Specialization except the first-choice specialization.

Complete two courses (6 units) of any 200-level CMPE courses except CMPE 295 or CMPE 299 culminating experience classes, CMPE 298 , or CMPE 298I . To take graduate courses in other departments, students need to consult with the MS CMPE graduate advisor.

Culminating Experience (6 units)

Complete One Option (Plan A or Plan B):

Plan A (Thesis) (6 units)

CMPE 299A - Master Thesis I 3 unit(s)
CMPE 299B - Master Thesis II 3 unit(s)

Plan B (Project) (6 units)

CMPE 295A - Master Project I 3 unit(s)
CMPE 295B - Master Project II 3 unit(s)

Total Units Required (141 units)

Double-counting credits between degrees note: The standalone Software Engineering, BS program requires 6 units of approved Technical Electives. Students satisfy this requirement in the SAGE Program by completing 6 units required within the Core requirements in the Artificial Intelligence, MS degree. In addition, the standalone Software Engineering, BS program requires ISE 130 (3 units), and the standalone Artificial Intelligence, MS program requires ISE 201 (3 units). SAGE students complete ISE 201, as a three-unit course will satisfy both requirements for Software Engineering, BS and Artificial Intelligence, MS .

These 12 units of graduate coursework are double-counted toward both the BS and MS degrees, reducing the total program units from 153 to 141 (108 BS + 33 MS). Specifically:

6 units of MS Core courses (CMPE 252 and CMPE 257 ) satisfy the BS Approved Upper Division Electives requirement.
ISE 201 (3 units) in the MS Core replaces ISE 130 or MATH 161A in the BS Major Preparation, as ISE 201 covers and expands upon the content of ISE 130.
One CMPE 2XX graduate elective (3 units) satisfies the BS University Elective Upper Division requirement.