Students will be required to demonstrate competency in programming languages, in keeping with the fact that programming will be an important job skill. The required coursework in parallel computing will fulfill part of this requirement. Applicants with degrees in mathematics or a non-industrial science will be encouraged to earn an engineering degree before applying to the program, unless their work experience is equivalent. The applicant is encouraged to contact the Laboratory for Scientific Computation for a copy of the student handbook for the program. Normally all credits must be lecture or laboratory courses, but well-prepared students may petition to count reading or research courses as part of the total.
Many departments participating in the program have no language requirement.
Mathematics requires two foreign languages for doctoral students, but students in Mathematics and Scientific Computing are required to know only one foreign language. The student's dissertation must conform to the usual Rackham requirements. In addition, scientific computing must be an important part of the research described in the thesis. Where possible, the dissertation committee should also include at least one member from the home department who is involved in scientific computing, preferable the committee chair.