The Bachelor of Science in Data Science (BSDS) prepares students to meet the challenges presented by the explosive growth of very large scale and complex data sources. The availability of data from sources such as business activities, social media, and scientific instruments constantly creates new problems requiring data-driven solutions and opportunities and problems for innovation. BS in Data Science students develop the knowledge and skill to address these opportunities for the benefit of individuals and organizations. Students in the degree complete a minor, typically in business or the sciences, to provide knowledge and skill in a specific subject area to which data science techniques can be applied.
Data Science students learn to:
- Define domain specific and context-relevant data analytics questions and hypotheses for individuals and organizations
- Select relevant data sources and transform data suitable for solving data analytics problems
- Identify appropriate techniques and tools for acquiring, retrieving, analyzing, and making use of the data
- Apply data analytics techniques and skills to build analytical and predictive models for answering data science questions
- Create visualizations and communicate data analytics results to stakeholders and decision-makers
- Assess the necessary skills arising from the interdisciplinary nature of data science as a combination of hacking skills, analytical techniques, and domain knowledge
The degrees in Computing and Security Technology, Data Science, and Information Systems share a common first year. This allows students to easily switch among the degrees early in their studies. In addition, some of the electives in each degree are accessible to students in the other two majors; this provides a deeper and broader set of advanced topics for students in all three majors.

