Graduate Studies in Computational Linguistics

Computational linguistics (CL) / natural language processing (NLP) is a computer programming-intensive career field with wide-ranging applications in language technologies. CL/NLP skills are in high demand in areas such as artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs), dialogue systems and chatbots, machine translation, speech recognition, speech synthesis, search engines, question-answering systems, and automated text analysis. Brandeis offers three graduate degree programs for students interested in this field.

• The two-year Master of Science (MS) in Computational Linguistics program is an accessible, intensive two-year curriculum for students who have a linguistics, language, computer science, mathematics, or science background, as well as students without prior study of computer science or linguistics.
• The Five-Year Bachelor's/MS Program in Computational Linguistics program allows Brandeis BA students to complete the first-year coursework of the two-year Computational Linguistics MS degree during their undergraduate studies.
• The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Science program allows students to study computational linguistics while pursuing their doctoral degree.  

Individualized Curriculum and Close Relationships with Faculty

Our students enjoy close and individualized teaching, advising, and mentoring relationships with faculty, as well as strong working relationships with fellow students in the program.

For the MS program, the first year curriculum allows students who need it to establish a strong foundation in both computer science and linguistics, while also enabling those with prior background in both fields to begin more advanced coursework from the start. In the second year, students take advanced courses in computational linguistics, as well as courses on applied or theoretically oriented topics within computational linguistics, natural language processing, computer science, and linguistics. 

In the Five-Year Bachelor's/MS Program, students complete the first-year coursework of the two-year Computational Linguistics MS degree during their undergraduate studies, and spend the fifth year doing coursework that mirrors the second-year curriculum of the two-year Computational Linguistics MS.

While pursuing their doctoral degree in Computer Science, PhD students have the option to study a range of topics within theoretical and applied computational linguistics.

Excellent Placement After Graduation

Graduates of the programs enjoy a very high placement rate in both industry jobs and PhD programs. Our alumni work or have worked in computational linguistics and natural language processing at companies ranging from Adobe, Amazon, Meta/Facebook, General Electric, Google, IBM and IBM Watson, and Intuit, to Athena Health, AVOKE, BBN, Babel Street, Mass General Brigham/Harvard Medical School, Callminer, Charles River Analytics, The MITRE Corporation, Rakuten, Raytheon, SAP Labs, UFA Inc. and a range of start-ups in the greater metropolitan areas of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, California, and beyond.