Data Science

Requirements

Students in the MS in Data Science program must complete a total of 30 credits via a combination of required (core) and elective courses. During the registration and drop-add period, students may consult pre-assigned academic advisors to select courses from approved list that fit their domain interests.

Required Courses

MTH 522 - Mathematical Statistics (3 credits)
CIS 552 - Database Design (3 credits) or CIS 452 - Database Systems (3 credits)
- Note: If you have taken an undergraduate database course before you should take CIS 552.
- Note: Students cannot take both CIS 452 and CIS 552.
DSC 520/EAS 520 - High Performance Scientific Computing (3 credits)
DSC 530/CIS 568 - Data Visualization (3 credits) OR DSC 531/ CIS 530 - Advanced Data Mining (3 credits)
- Note: If you take both DSC 530 and DSC 521/CIS 530 then one of the courses will count as a technical elective

Complete Required Project or Thesis

Students must complete one of the following three options:

Option #1: Complete DSC 550 – Master’s Project 3 credits
Option #2: Complete DSC 550 – Master’s Project 3 credits followed by DSC 690 – Master’s Thesis 3 credits (upon completion of DSC 550)
Option #3: Complete DSC 690 – Master’s Thesis 6 Credit’s.

Elective Courses

Depending on whether students choose project or thesis options, they must select five or six additional approved 400-, 500-and above elective courses. Please see the additional requirements below regarding the 400-level courses that can be counted toward the degree.

Select five additional approved 500- or 600-level courses

Approved courses from another department may be substituted, with prior approval from the Graduate Curriculum Committee or Director(s) of the Data Science Program.

Additional Requirements

As many as two (six credits) approved 400-level undergraduate courses may substitute for graduate required courses or electives, only with prior approval of the Graduate Curriculum Committee.
No more than 9 credits of coursework taken as a non-degree special student may subsequently be credited toward the graduate degree.
Students must meet the university graduate requirement of at least a 3.0 grade point average; For 500- and above level courses, only courses graded C or better may count toward the degree. For 400- level courses, only courses graded B or better may count toward the degree.
Students electing a Master’s Thesis option will prepare and defend their thesis to a faculty committee.

Note: Per federal mandate, international students can only take at most one online course (OCE) per semester.