CS is commonly offered by the Faculty of Mathematics as a co-op program, with students usually attending 8 school and 6 co-op terms in their degree. CS is more flexible than the other two programs with the ability to choose from a wider range and number of electives, take terms off, and change academic schedules.
CFM combines core CS courses with electives from areas such as accounting, economics, and financial management. This is a joint offering by the Faculty of Mathematics and the School of Accounting and Finance. The program is offered only as a co-op program with 8 school and 6 co-op terms.
CS/BBA is a joint program with the Wilfrid Laurier University. It is an exclusive offering that provides students experience in CS as well as many areas of business. There are 10 school terms and either 4 or 5 co-op terms in the usual schedule, so it's a longer degree with more academic terms than CS or CFM.
The 2024 CS Class Profile consists of data relevant to CS, CFM, and CS/BBA students. These are combined as students in these programs tend to have similar experiences with many required CS courses being shared. In the standard co-op offering, CS and CFM take 4 years and 2 semesters to complete, whereas CS/BBA can take up to a full 5 years.
CS, CFM, and CS/BBA at the University of Waterloo are known to be very prestigious programs and are well known in Canada and across the world. For prospective students or anyone who is interested in learning more about what the students are like, this Class Profile will attempt to answer some of your questions, and you may even learn a thing or two you didn't expect!
According to Institutional Analysis & Planning, there were 613 graduates from CS, CFM, and CS/BBA in 2024, leading to an overall survey turnout of 7.8%. By program, this was 6.6% from CS and 19.4% from CS/BBA. We unfortunately did not get any responses from CFM students this year.