The purpose of completing 96 university units worth of graduate courses is to cover breadth across many areas in and beyond Computer Science. By taking five star courses, one per five areas, students acquire breadth through exposure to basic knowledge, concepts, and skills in five different areas in Computer Science. Through the equivalent of three elective courses, students typically choose to gain more depth in the student's particular area of research. Some students use electives to gain more breadth by specialized exposure to an area outside of the student's research area and even outside of Computer Science.
Syllabi for all courses are monitored by the Doctoral Review Committee (DRC). Homeworks and exams in each course are limited to its prerequisite material and topics covered by its syllabus.