Data Science, B.S. Program
Program Description
Data Science has been a rapidly growing science in recent years and has many applications. It is widely used by businesses and government organizations to understand changes in the economy, health policies, and business practices and to make forecasts about future events based on past patterns. Statistics based data science models help draw accurate inferences on large databases.
The program helps students navigate their journey by understanding the various career opportunities for data scientists. The program provides tools in statistical methodology, programming and mathematics which are required to become a practicing data scientist. Students get hands-on exposure to real life projects and large data sets along with modern statistical software.
This program helps create individuals who are job-ready and support the demands of data scientists in today’s world.
Program Learning Outcomes
Students graduating with a B.S. in Data Science from Cal State East Bay will be able to:
- Acquire, organize, clean and manage data from multiple sources, including massive data sets, open source and free data sources.
- Apply appropriate statistical models, data mining tools, and machine learning algorithms to gather insights from data and make decisions.
- Communicate to stakeholders, the results and implications from data analyses using effective tools such as descriptive statistics, data visualizations and dashboards.
- Understand data issues such as privacy, ethical significance and policy considerations.
- Recognize modern applications of data sets, their limitations and learn best practices for reproducible research.
- Distinguish applications of DS in various fields.
Program Roadmaps
These program roadmaps represent recommended pathways through the program. Please see an advisor to create an education plan that is customized to meet your needs.
4-Year Freshmen Roadmaps
2-Year ADT Roadmaps
- ADT to Data Science, B.S.
Admission Requirements
CSU undergrad eligibility.
Career Opportunities
- Entry Level jobs - data analyst, junior data scientist, research scientist and data engineer.
- Specialized Roles - machine learning engineer, data scientist, data engineer.
- Industry-Specific Roles - Healthcare data analysts. Public Health analysts, Environmental data analyst, Law Enforcement Analysts, Financial data analyst, marketing data analyst.
- Advanced Roles - Data Architect, Chief Data Officer.
Preparation
- For Advanced Placement course equivalencies, see the Undergrad Orientation & Enrollment chapter.
- This degree is perfect for students with basic skills and interests in math, statistics and computer programming.
- Courses in areas to which data science is applied will also be helpful. Examples are business, computer science, mathematics, public health, and physics.
- Community college students are advised to complete the lower division requirements for the major before transferring to Cal State East Bay.
Credit/No Credit Courses
It is the policy of the department that no course taken on a “CR/NC” basis may be applied toward any of the Upper Division Core requirements. Individual petitions for waiver of this policy will be treated according to the same procedures as petitions to waive other degree requirements.
Degree Requirements Unit-Outline
A baccalaureate of arts degree requires a total of 120 units:
- The major requirements consist of 58 units
- General Education (GE) & Graduation Requirements (GR) consist of 52 units;
- Free Electives may consist of 10 units (actual number of free elective units may depend on GE/GR units).
Note: It may be possible to double-count units within the graduation requirements or a course may satisfy both a graduation requirement and a major requirement. Students should contact their program advisors for information.
Data Science Major Requirements (58 units)
Please consult an advisor in the department for clarification and interpretation of the major requirements.
Introductory Core (13 units)
Take the following Lower-division requirements for 13 units:
Advanced Core (33 units)
The following courses for 33 units are required as outlined below:
Pathway (12 units)
Twelve (12) units of approved courses in an approved area in addition to those used for the requirements. Areas currently approved include the following: Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics and Health Sciences. For other areas, contact the Department of Statistics and Biostatistics. To gain departmental approval, these courses must include at least one upper division course and be judged to constitute a coherent program of study.
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