The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering (abbreviated as the Allen School) is a department-level school within the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in computer science and computer engineering, and is housed in two adjacent buildings: the Bill & Melinda Gates and Paul G. Allen Centers for Computer Science and Engineering. Originally known as the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, it was renamed the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering following a $50 million endowment from Paul Allen and Microsoft in 2017.
The school is recognized for its research contributions across areas such as Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, and Deep learning, and its faculty and alumni have played roles in advancing fields like neural networks and large language models. It consistently ranks among the top computer science programs in the United States, with a strong emphasis on both theoretical foundations and practical applications.
History
The Computer Science Group was created in March 1967 as a graduate program under the Graduate School. In 1973, the Department of Computer Science was established as an inter-college unit between the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. An undergraduate major started accepting students in the 1975–76 academic year. In 1989, the department became a unit of the College of Engineering and the Computer Engineering degree program was added. The professional master's program, which features evening courses, debuted in 1996. The five year combined BS/MS program started in 2008.
On March 9, 2017, CSE's 50th anniversary, the UW Board of Regents voted to elevate the CSE department to a school, naming it after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen with a $50 million endowment from Allen and Microsoft. This elevation reflected the school's growth and its importance to the university and the broader tech ecosystem.
As of 2023, the Allen School employs an equivalent of 92 full-time employees across tenure-track, teaching-track, and research professors. Turing Award laureate Richard M. Karp was on the faculty from 1995 to 1999. Over 650 PhD students have graduated from the school, many of whom have gone on to careers in academia and industry, including positions at leading tech companies and research labs.
Buildings
In 1964, the UW Computer Center was constructed near Roberts Hall in a building then known as Roberts Hall Annex, now known as Wilcox Hall. Offices for the Computer Science Group were housed in Roberts Hall, until they moved to Sieg Hall in 1974 when it became a department. They stayed there until the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering was constructed in 2003. The building was completed in 2003, along with the adjoined Electrical & Computer Engineering building. It was designed by LMN Architects.
In 2015, the school started the campaign to build a second building, sited across the street from the Allen Center, on the site of the decommissioned UW nuclear reactor. This 135,000 square foot building was designed by LMN Architects, who also designed the Allen Center. It contains a 250-seat auditorium, two large classrooms, undergraduate work spaces, and office space for faculty and graduate students.
Funding was secured through a combination of $41.5 million in public funds and $68.5 million in private donations, mostly from Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, totaling $110 million. Although Bill & Melinda Gates did not donate any money themselves, a group including Microsoft and 13 couples who called themselves "friends of Bill & Melinda Gates" succeeded in naming the building after the couple. On February 28, 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering officially opened, with classes starting inside the following quarter. The site formerly housed More Hall Annex, which contained a nuclear research reactor.
Academics
The school offers two bachelors of science degree programs: computer science and computer engineering. 90% of undergraduates are enrolled in the computer science major. The size of the undergraduate program has risen rapidly, more than tripling from 558 students in 2012 to 1,996 in 2021. This growth reflects the increasing demand for computing education and the school's efforts to expand access.
The curriculum covers a broad range of topics, including algorithms, systems, Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, and Deep learning. Students have opportunities to engage in research through capstone projects and collaborations with faculty on cutting-edge topics such as transformers and Generative AI. The school also offers graduate programs at the master's and doctoral levels, with PhD students contributing to a vibrant research environment.
Admissions
Admission to the undergraduate majors is highly competitive. Since 2017, computer science has been the most desired major for confirmed incoming freshman at UW. Applicants to both majors are considered as one pool, so neither is more competitive. There are four pathways to admission into either major:
- Direct to major for freshman applicants
- Current UW student admission
- Washington State Academic Redshirt (STARS) Program
- Transfer admission
For most of the school's history, current UW student admits made up the majority of students. Starting in fall 2019, the school shifted its admission strategy from prioritizing current UW student admission to admitting the majority of its undergraduate majors directly admission for freshman applicants. Of those current UW students who are admitted, the Allen School gives preference to "interest changers" - people who only discover an interest in computing after starting at UW. In the 2019-20 admissions cycle, about 200 students were admitted directly, 100 students were admitted from current UW students, and 60-70 students were admitted as transfer students. As of 2023, most undergraduates are direct admits, and about 25-30% of majors are current UW student admits. In 2021 and 2022, only 9% and 8% of direct admits were accepted. The direct admission pathway is designed primarily for Washington state residents, and approximately one quarter of applications from in-state are accepted.
The STARS program is a program in College of Engineering designed to support students from low-income, first-generation, and other underserved backgrounds. The term "redshirting" is derived from athletes in US college sports who delay their entrance into games by spending a year training. Similarly, students in the STARS program spend a year in STEM courses with a cohort of STARS students before entering their undergraduate STEM major. Transfer admission is for students transferring to UW from another college. Applicants must submit a supplemental application to the Allen School in addition to the UW transfer process. Preference is given to students transferring from a Washington state community college.
Demographics
In 2022, the Allen School had a total of 1,930 undergraduates majors, with an incoming class of 526 students. The incoming class was made up of 391 direct admits, 44 transfer students, and 91 students from other pathways. The gender breakdown for undergraduate students was 34% female and 66% male. The racial demographics of undergraduate majors were 78% white and Asian, 10% Black, Hispanic, Latina/x/o, American Indian, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, while the 12% of students who are international were not counted. Washington state residents made up 82% of undergraduates and the remaining 6% of domestic students were from out of state. 20% of undergraduates were eligible for the federal Pell grant.
Although the Allen School's percentage of women in undergraduate programs (34%) outpaces some other computer science schools in America, it falls behind other computing programs at UW, including Human Centered Design & Engineering (66% female) and the Information School (41% female). The school has initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion, such as outreach programs and partnerships with organizations that support underrepresented groups in computing.
Research
The Allen School is a major research institution, with faculty and students working on a wide array of topics. Research areas include Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, Deep learning, neural networks, and large language models, as well as systems, networking, human-computer interaction, and theoretical computer science. The school has strong ties to industry, with collaborations with companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Amazon Web Services, and its graduates often move into leadership roles in tech.
Faculty members have contributed to foundational work in areas such as transformers and Multi-Head Attention, which underpin modern Generative AI systems. The school also hosts several research centers and labs, fostering interdisciplinary work that spans fields like robotics, health informatics, and computational biology. Research funding comes from federal agencies, industry partners, and private foundations.
Notable people
Faculty
The Allen School has a distinguished faculty, including:
- Leilani Battle, known for her work in data visualization and human-data interaction
- Luis Ceze, an expert in computer architecture and systems, with interests in Machine learning acceleration
- Carl Ebeling (formerly), a pioneer in reconfigurable computing
- Ali Farhadi, a researcher in computer vision and Machine learning, who also leads the Allen Institute for AI
- Tadayoshi Kohno, a security and privacy researcher
- William Stafford Noble, a computational biologist
- Stuart Reges (teaching-track), known for his contributions to computer science education
- Ryen W. White (affiliate), a researcher in information retrieval and search
Many faculty members have received prestigious awards, including ACM Fellowships and NSF CAREER awards. The school also attracts visiting researchers and postdoctoral fellows from around the world, contributing to a dynamic intellectual environment.
Impact and legacy
The Allen School has had a significant impact on the field of computer science, both through its research and its graduates. Its alumni have gone on to found companies, lead research labs, and contribute to major technological advances. The school's location in Seattle, a hub for technology companies like Microsoft and Amazon, provides unique opportunities for collaboration and internships.
The school's naming after Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, underscores its connection to the tech industry. The endowment from Allen and Microsoft has supported scholarships, faculty recruitment, and research initiatives. As of 2023, the school continues to grow, with plans to expand its facilities and programs to meet the demand for computing education.
See also
References
This article is based on information from the Wikipedia article on the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, licensed under CC BY-SA.