The concentration in Computer Science is designed to teach students skills and ideas they will use immediately and in the future. Because information technology affects every aspect of society, graduates with computer science degrees have open to them an enormous variety of careers—engineering, teaching, medicine, law, basic science, entertainment, management, and countless others.
Computer Science studies the fundamentals of computation and computation’s interaction with the world. Computer scientists develop new algorithms, invent new systems and theories that empower people, and advance the science of computing. The Computer Science curriculum is designed to offer students flexibility. Students can combine their studies with other fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, psychology, and linguistics. Harvard College students are eligible to apply for an AB/SM degree program. Information on the requirements for the SM degree can be found on the S.M. requirements page. Each applicant must submit a complete application to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).
The Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree is designed for industry professionals with years of work experience who wish to complete their degrees part time, both on campus and online, without disruption to their employment. Our typical student is over 30, has previously completed one or two years of college, and works full time.
Harvard School of Engineering offers a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in Computer Science, conferred through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In addition to the Ph.D. in Computer Science, the Harvard School of Engineering also offers master’s degrees in Computational Science and Engineering as well as in Data Science. Computer scientists at Harvard pursue work in a wide range of areas including theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, economics and computer science, privacy and security, data-management systems, intelligent interfaces, operating systems, computer graphics, computational linguistics, robotics, networks, architectures, program languages, machine learning, and visualization.