Data Science

Graduate Program at Colorado School of Mines

Apply Now

Data Science

Graduate Program at Colorado School of Mines

Apply Now

Data Science Program Overview

The data science certificate programs are designed for college graduates and professionals seeking entry into this emerging field.

The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Data Science – Computer Science,12 credits, focuses on data science concepts within computer science. It helps students develop essential skills, including (1) deriving predictive insights by applying advanced statistics, modeling, and programming skills, (2) acquiring in-depth knowledge of machine learning and computational techniques, and (3) unearthing important questions and intelligence for a range of industries, from product design to finance.

The 12-credit Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Data Science – Foundations provides an introduction to foundational concepts in statistics and computer science as well as applying methods to analyze data. Students will gain a perspective on the kinds of problems that can be solved by data-intensive methods.

The Graduate Certificate in Data Science – Earth Resources, 12 credits, builds on the foundational concepts in data science as it pertains to managing surface and subsurface Earth resources and on specific applications from the petroleum and minerals industries as well as water resource monitoring and remote sensing of Earth change.

The Graduate Certificate in Petroleum Data Analytics, 12 credits, is focused on the data foundation of the oil and gas industry, the challenges of Big Data to oilfield operations and on specific applications for petroleum analytics.

The Graduate Certificate in Data Science – Statistical Learning, 12 credits, covers statistical methods for interpreting complex data sets and quantifying the uncertainty in a data analytics. The program helps students gain new skills in computer science but is grounded in statistical models for data rather than algorithmic approaches.

The Graduate Certificate in Data Science – Signals and Systems, 12 credits, trains recent graduates or mid-career professionals with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related field in mathematical and algorithmic aspects of data science relevant to handling the signals and data processed and generated by modern physical and electrical systems.

The Master of Science in Data Science program gives students a foundation in statistics and computer science as well as the knowledge to apply these skills to a particular science or engineering discipline. The program follows a 3 X 3 + 1 design: three modules, each consisting of three 3-credit courses in a particular aspect of data science (data modeling and statistical learning; machine learning, data processing and algorithms and parallel computation; individualized and domain-specific coursework), plus a mini-module of three 1-credit professional development courses.

Degree Options

Certificates

Master’s Non-Thesis

  • Data Science 

Admissions Deadlines

Meet the Data Science Faculty
Data Science Department Website
Contact Admissions

Data Science Program Facts

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$143,000 average annual salary for data scientists (LinkedIn)

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Data scientist ranked No. 2 best job in America for 2021 (Glassdoor)

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Mines ranked 4th in the nation for best value college (#1 in Colorado), Payscale.com, 2021

Program Details

Certificate Programs

  • GRE: Not Required
  • Letters of Recommendation: Not Required
  • Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
  • Statement of Purpose: Not Required. Suggested if GPA is less than 3.0/4.0
  • Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s). 

Master’s Non-Thesis

  • Bachelor’s degree: Required 
  • GRE: Not Required
  • Letters of Recommendation: Required – two letters. Only one letter of recommendation is required for current Mines students or Mines alumni.
  • Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV): Required
  • Statement of Purpose: Required
  • Transcript(s): Required. Must be submitted for all schools attended (unofficial transcripts accepted for admissions review and must show successful completion of any required prerequisite course(s).

 

For additional information about these admissions requirements, please refer to the Admissions Requirements page

View the Mines Academic Catalog for more program-specific information

 

 Colorado ResidentOut-of-State Student
Tuition**$17,676$39,618
Fees*$2,520$2,520
Room & Board$17,496$17,496
Books & Supplies$1,500$1,500
Misc. Expenses$1,800$1,800
Transportation$1,300$1,300
Total$42,473$64,415
**Cost per credit hour$982$2,201

*Allowance for fees based on mandatory fees charged to all students. Does not include fees for orientation, library, yearbook, refrigerator rental, voice messaging, ect.

At less than 4.5 credit hours, you may be ineligible for financial aid.

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Career Outcomes

  • Algorithm Engineer
  • Analyst
  • Analyst, Partnerships Science
  • Analytical Programmer, Biostatistics and Data Science
  • Analytics Consultant
  • Analytics Strategy Manager
  • Applied Scientist
  • Artificial Intelligence Data Scientist
  • Bioinformatics Data Engineer
  • Bioinformatics Scientist
  • Business Analytics
  • Business Intelligence Developer
  • Business Intelligence Engineer
  • Client Solutions Statistician
  • Clinical Data Manager
  • Clinical Trial Data Science Consultant
  • Cloud Data Engineer
  • Data Analyst
  • Data and Applied Scientist
  • Data Architect
  • Data Science Analyst
  • Data Science Engineer
  • Data Science Manager
  • Data Science Strategist
  • Data Scientist
  • Data Visualization
  • Decision Science Analyst
  • Deep Learning Researcher
  • Financial Modeling and Research
  • Machine Learning Engineer
  • Mathematical Statistician
  • Model Validation Data Scientist
  • People Analytics
  • Product Strategy Leader
  • Programmer Analyst
  • Quantitative Analyst
  • Quantitative Modeling / Data Science Associate
  • Quantitative Researcher
  • Quantitative Risk Analyst
  • Research Science Manager
  • Research Scientist
  • Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Research Scientist
  • Scientific Programmer
  • Senior Programmer and Data Analyst
  • Software Engineer – Mathematical Modeling
  • Solution Designer
  • Spatial Data Scientist
  • Statistical Programmer
  • Statistician
  • System Engineer
  • Systems Analyst
  • Systems Modeling and Optimization
  • Test Engineer

Mines Career Center

The Mines Career Center helps students chart their career paths and prepare for job searches, holds networking events and brings hundreds of employers to campus, among a host of other services.

Scientific Journals

Research and Trade Publications

Professional Organizations

The Harvard Business Review called data scientist “the sexiest job of the 21st century,” all the way back in 2012.

Glassdoor has named data scientist the No. 2 best job in America for 2021, after holding the top spot four years running, from 2016 to 2019, and taking No. 3 in 2020. That’s all no surprise, given the median base salary of $107,801 and a job satisfaction rating of 4.0 on a scale of 1 to 5.

LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerging Jobs Report, which spotlights jobs experiencing tremendous growth, ranked data scientist at No. 3, with 37 percent annual growth since 2015 and average pay of $143,000 per year.

The data science field has topped the report three years running, and LinkedIn says it’s a specialty that continues to grow across all industries. “Our data indicates some of this growth can likely be attributed to the evolution of previously existing jobs, like statisticians, and increased emphasis on data in academic research,” the report says.

Skills unique to the job include machine learning, data science, Python, R and Apache Spark, and the top industries hiring data scientists are information technology and services, computer software, internet, financial services and higher education.

Data engineer also made LinkedIn’s list at No. 8, with 33 percent annual growth since 2015. “Data has quickly become every company’s most valuable resource, and they need savvy engineers that can build infrastructure to keep it organized,” the report says. “Industries from retail to automotive are snapping up this hard-to-hire talent.”

Data specialists were among the tech positions in high demand across North America, according to human resources consulting company Robert Half, along with business intelligence analysts and machine learning specialists.

According to the company’s 2020 salary guide, data jobs were well compensated in the United States. Here’s a sampling of job titles and median annual salaries:

  • Big data engineer: $163,250
  • AI architect: $143,750
  • Data architect: $141,250
  • Data scientist: $125,250
  • Data modeler: $101,750
  • Business intelligence analyst: $110,250
  • Data analyst / report writer: $100,250
  • Data warehouse analyst: $99,250

Grad School Insights

More Data Science insights »