Online Study
Information Technology
Program Overview
The MS in information technology (IT) is a unique and flexible program that allows the student to craft his or her own program of study within the broad range of the IT computing discipline. Students studying at a distance can build upon a core that focuses on current themes in IT with specialty areas such as application development, project management, human-computer interaction, or electronic commerce.
Curriculum Review
The graduate program of study consists of 48-quarter credit hours comprised of the MS/IT core course (4 credits), the concentration areas (36 credits total), and an elective and capstone experience (8 credits total).
MS/IT core (4 credits):
The MS/IT core consists of 4 credit hours earned by taking
Current Themes in Information Technology (4002-718).
Students are expected to complete this core course during their
first quarter of study in the MS program unless otherwise
advised by the graduate program coordinator.
Concentrations (36 credits):
Each student must select two or three concentration
areas, designed to explore in some depth a unique aspect
of information technology.
Elective (0 or 4 credits):
A course to support the concentration(s).
MS capstone experience (4 or 8 credits):
A masters project or thesis is required to complete the MS
graduation requirements. The capstone experience should
build upon the students concentrations and electives.
Admission Requirements
The MS/IT admission requirements include prior academic study and/or extensive work experience in fundamental information technology concepts. Specific information is available at http://www.it.rit.edu/it/grad/MSITprereq.maml. Applicants should minimally have a baccalaureate or equivalent degree from an accredited institution of higher education and a minimum cumulative grade-point average equivalent to 3.0 out of 4.0 (“B” average) or a first class degree from a foreign university. Applicants with undergraduate performance below this level may need to submit GRE scores (standard examination). Applicants whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL scores. A minimum score of 570 (paper-based), 230 (computerbased),or 88 (Internet-based) is required. RIT’s reporting number for the GRE and TOEFL is 2760.
Prerequisites
It is expected that students wishing to enter the master’s program will have a background in fundamental information technology concepts, including object-oriented programming, computer hardware and networking, and Web site design and multimedia concepts.
Students without the necessary background should complete the prerequisites before applying to the program. Bridge program courses are available to satisfy the prerequisites requirements.