That program has a requirement for writing a "scholarly paper" described here: http://www.cs.umd.edu/grad/policy-manual#7.2.MS-nonthesis-requirements http://www

That program has a requirement for writing a "scholarly paper" described here: http://www.cs.umd.edu/grad/policy-manual#7.2.MS-nonthesis-requirements http://www.cs.umd.edu/grad/policy-manual#7.2.MS-nonthesis-re... This was most likely done to satisfy that requirement to earn a MS "along the way" to a PhD.