Academics

B.S. Program

The Bachelor of Science in Data Science is a rigorous program open to students in the School of Engineering. The program requires 38 courses, including introductory, foundation, HASS, breadth, and concentration courses. The BSDS is designed both as a standalone major and a double major option for those students in Engineering who wish to add data science to an existing engineering major. Students adding Data Science as a second major must fulfill all of the requirements on the degree sheet, subject to double-counting rules.

Please see the degree sheet and sample program for more details.

• Introductory courses (10 SHUs) include an Engineering 1 course; Engineering Science 2; Math 32, 36, 42, and 61; Physics 11; Chemistry 1 or 16; One of Physics 12, Chemistry 2, or Biology 13; and a natural science elective.
   
• The foundation requirement (5 courses) includes Computer Science 11 and 15, Mathematics 70, one course in ethics and social context (Philosophy 24 or Engineering Management 54), and a statistics course chosen from MATH 162, EE 24 or 104.
   
• The Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts (HASS) requirement (6 courses) includes English 1 or 3 and five courses in Humanities, Arts, or Social Sciences. Of these five courses, one must be Humanities, one must be Social Science, and two must be in the same department.
   
• The disciplinary breadth requirement includes three courses in a related application discipline including physics, biology, chemistry, and others. Each student must plan a set of three courses and petition the Data Science program directors for approval.
   
• The concentration requirement (11 courses) includes Computer Science 40, 135, and 160, Math 128 or Computer Science 136, and five Data Science electives, three of which must be numbered above 100.
  
  Those three must include:
  • A: One course in data infrastructure (including Computer Science 112, 115, 116, 117, 118, 51, and 151)
  • B: One course in data analytics and/or interfaces (including Computer Science 171, 175, 177, 52, and 152)
  • C: One course in computational and theoretical aspects of data science (including Math 123, 126; EE 109, 127, 140)
    
  
  Plus 2 additional courses:
  • From (A)-(C) as well as Math 51, 87, 151, 152, 155, 158, 161, 162; ME 150; or CEE 187; and at most one credit of Independent Study or Research (COMP 93, 94, 191, 193, or 194; EE 93, 94, 95, 96, 191, 192) and at most one credit of thesis (COMP 197 or EE 197) .
     
• A capstone experience including the two courses Computer Science 87 and 88 (Senior Capstone Project in Data Science I and II) is required.

For a research experience, students should consider partly fulfilling concentration elective requirements via a senior thesis, coordinated with the capstone experience and breadth elective choices.

ABET accreditation
The B.S.D.S. is not accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission or Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. For an ABET-accredited degree, see the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (B.S.C.S.), Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering or Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.