South Dakota - School of Mines and Technology
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Rapid City, USA
BSc
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Aug 2026
TUITION FEES
USD 29,200 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
What is Computer Science?
Computer science is foundational in applying and studying interactions between humans and computers. Computer science and computer scientists study computers, computing, the software and hardware in a computer, and their applications in our modern society.
Software is arguably one of the most rapidly-changing fields in science and engineering. It exists everywhere in our daily lives, and the data it creates exists all around us.
What does a computer scientist do?
Students studying computer science at South Dakota Mines gain expertise and experience in all phases of software development, including design, architecture, implementation, testing, and deployment. Computer science students at Mines will become effective in communicating and operating in a team environment and will gain exposure to many different software languages, technologies, and platforms. The hands-on and immersive experience is at the heart of the computer science program at South Dakota Mines.
Students majoring in computer science at Mines gain exposure to robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, cybersecurity, virtual reality, data science, and application development.
Students prepare for these roles: software developer, software engineer, data scientist, data analyst, software tester, security analyst, and application developer.
International students may seek scholarship opportunities but should be aware that many scholarships are limited to US citizens or permanent residents. South Dakota Mines does not offer scholarships specifically for international students. You must be ADMITTED by January 15 of the year you are planning to enroll in the fall semester if you wish to be considered for scholarships. Scholarships are only awarded for a start date of the fall semester. Please see the Scholarships website for information on Mines scholarships.
International students are NOT eligible for South Dakota Mines or federal loan programs and should not apply for such financial assistance.
Freshman Year
First Semester
- Survey of Computer Science and Engineering
- Test-Driven Software Development
- Composition I
- Calculus I
- Introduction to Digital Systems/Lab
Second Semester
- Programming Techniques
- Finite Structures
- Calculus II
- Science Elective
- Science Elective Lab
Sophomore Year
First Semester
- Data Structures & Algorithms
- RISC Assembly
- Calculus III
- General Education Goal 3 or 4 Elective(s)
Second Semester
- Software Engineering and Design
- Database Management Systems
- Communication in the STEM Workplace
- Introduction to Probability and Statistics
- University Physics I
Junior Year
First Semester
- Analysis of Algorithms
- CPU & GPU Organization and Architecture
- Explorations in STEM Communications
- MATH 315 Linear Algebra
- Science Elective
- Science Elective Lab
Second Semester
- Operating Systems and Virtual Machines/Lab
- CSC Elective
- Math Elective
- General Education Goal 3 or 4 Elective(s)
Senior Year
First Semester
- Programming Languages
- CSC Elective
- Free Elective
- General Education Goal 3 or 4 Elective(s)
- Senior Design I
Second Semester
- Senior Design II
- Graphical User Interface Programming
- CSC Electives
- Free Elective
With a computer science degree from South Dakota Mines, you have countless career options, including:
- Software developer
- Database administrator
- Software engineer
- Database design and management
- Parallel computing
- Programming, virtual reality
- Robotics
- Mob web development
- Information security analysts
- Computer programmer
- Information assurance and cryptography