Data Science Requirements

In the Departments of Computer Science and of Mathematics and of Statistics

Data science is an interdisciplinary field, comprising a body of knowledge and skills for the collection, storage, integration, analysis, inference, communication, and ethics of data in context. The data science major and minor equip students with the analytical tools and capacities needed to interact with real-world data in a research environment that is changing and growing very quickly.

Completion of 12 courses, including Environmental Studies 218, Computer Science 151 or 152 or 153; 231, 251 or 252, and 310; Mathematics 160 or 165, and 253; Statistics 212, 321, and 324; and a sequence of two closely related three- or four-credit courses offered by any department. These courses must either incorporate significant data analysis using a variety of tools or be primarily concerned with applied or theoretical ideas of direct relevance to data science. These courses, together with a description of how they meet the requirements, must be approved by the Data Science Committee at least four months prior to enrolling in the first course of the sequence. A student majoring in economics or psychology who has completed the second semester of the respective statistics/methods sequence need not take Statistics 212. A student majoring in computer science or statistics may not major in data science. While not required, both Mathematics 274 and 381 are recommended for students majoring in data science.

Completion of seven courses, including Computer Science 151, 152, or 153; 231, and 251 or 252; Mathematics 122 or 160 or 165; Statistics 212 and 321; and one of the following: Computer Science 341, 343, 346, Mathematics 253, or Statistics 3XX. A student majoring in economics or psychology who has completed the second semester of the respective statistics/methods sequence need not take Statistics 212. A student majoring in computer science, mathematical sciences with a concentration in statistics, or statistics may not minor in data science. A student minoring in data science may not minor in computer science or in statistics.