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Informatics

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Informatics Academics

I am the iSchool

Alejandro Huante: Alejandro Huante, Informatics: "I love observing how people interact with technology and how to improve their experience or if there are any problems." Read more.

There are six core areas of the curriculum: data, development, design, discovery, ethics and organizations. Together, these six areas prepare Informatics students to study, design and develop information technology for the good of people, organizations and society.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Informatics includes three sets of courses:

  • Lower-division requirements
  • Core courses
  • Concentrations/transcriptable options

Lower-division requirements

Our lower-division courses span all six of the core areas of the curriculum, teaching foundational concepts and skills.

  • INFO 200: Intellectual Foundations of Informatics
  • INFO 201: Technical Foundations
  • CSE 142: Computer Programming I
  • STAT 311: Elements of Statistical Methods OR QMETH 201: Introduction to Statistical Methods. (These are two preapproved courses available to fulfill this requirement. There are other options that can be approved by the academic advisor.)
  • English Composition
  • I&S (Individuals and Societies) course

Core courses

Our core courses, all at the 300-level, span the six areas of the curriculum: data, development, design, discovery, ethics and organizations. Each course provides a foundation that students use in their Capstone projects. Students deepen their expertise in a broad range of electives taught by iSchool faculty and invited guest faculty from industry, government and nonprofits around the Puget Sound area.

  • INFO 300: Research Methods
  • INFO 330: Databases & Data Modeling
  • INFO 340: Client-Side Development
  • INFO 350: Information Ethics and Policy
  • INFO 360: Design Methods
  • INFO 380: Information Systems Analysis and Management
  • INFO 490: Capstone Project I (Details)
  • INFO 491: Capstone Project II

In addition to the core INFO courses, the degree also requires two foundational courses in computer science, to provide the foundations necessary for succeeding in technical Informatics courses and technical interviews:

  • CSE 143: Computer Programming II
  • Choose one of these three options:
    • CSE 373: Data Structures and Algorithms (4 credits)
    • INFO 442: Cooperative Software Development (5 credits), not offered every quarter
    • INFO 443: Software Architecture (5 credits), not offered every quarter

Building upon these foundations, students then take a range of Informatics electives, culminating in either a Capstone project for students interested in careers in industry or a research project for those interested in pursuing academic or industry research. View our list of approved electives.

Concentrations/transcriptable options

To help students navigate our wide array of electives, there are several groups of courses we recommend for particular careers. Some of these are organized as transcriptable options that appear on students' diplomas: 

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