Informatics, BA

The major in informatics provides students with the necessary training for employment in careers such as software development, user experience, and data analytics. It provides good preparation for graduate study in a variety of disciplines.

Students may declare a major in informatics when they are admitted to the university or afterward. All students begin the major as Bachelor of Arts students but may switch to the Bachelor of Science programs at any time.

The informatics major combines fundamental and practical computing knowledge with a choice of cognate areas from the liberal arts and sciences, providing students with the necessary background and specialized skills to work at the interface of computing and another discipline. Students may begin the major without a chosen cognate area; they may declare a cognate at any time. Some cognates are available only with the Bachelor of Arts, others are available only with the Bachelor of Science. A student's choice of cognate determines whether the student will earn a BA or a BS.

Informatics majors are advised at the Academic Advising Center until they have completed 30 s.h., at which point they are assigned a departmental advisor. Students being advised at the Academic Advising Center also can consult with an informatics faculty advisor.

Transfer students who have taken a course approved as equivalent to a required informatics or computer science course are exempt from that course. Transfer course grades are included in the informatics grade-point average.

Students should consult the Department of Computer Science website or visit the department's office for information about general policies, elective areas, and internships, scholarships, and student groups, such as the university's chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Women in Computing Sciences (WiCS).

Many informatics major courses are offered once per year and have prerequisites that are also only offered annually. Speak with an advisor for more information.

Advanced Placement

The Computer Science Advanced Placement (AP) exam may be used to satisfy requirements. See Advanced Placement Credit Policy on the Department of Computer Science website.

Learning Outcomes

  • Students can apply computational thinking approaches to solve problems.
  • Students can individually and collaboratively develop software using professional tools.
  • Students can extract, organize, analyze, and present data from a variety of sources.
  • Students can contribute to the development of usable, useful, and enjoyable software applications by using human-centered methods.
  • Students understand social, professional, and ethical issues related to computing.
  • Students have a thorough understanding of a chosen cognate area.