School of Engineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Data Science (BSDS)

Program Co-Directors: Associate Professor Alva Couch (Computer Science) and Associate Professor Shuchin Aeron (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Data science refers to the analytic and computational methods and systems that support data-centric real-world problem solving. The Bachelor of Science in Data Science (BSDS) is offered to students in the School of Engineering who desire to concentrate on developing and applying such methods to data-oriented scientific and engineering analysis and problem solving. 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.

The BSDS degree is only available to students in the School of Engineering. Double-majoring in the BSDS and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) programs is not practical due to overlap between the major concentrations.

Requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Data Science (BSDS) requires 38 courses, including introductory, foundation, HASS, breadth, and concentration courses. Please consult the degree sheet for 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; one of Math 123, Math 125, Math 126 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 BSDS 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 (BSCS), Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (BSCPE), or Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE).