Learning More About Data Science Courses

Data science appeared in curriculum catalogs for universities and colleges in the late 2000s. It is an interdisciplinary field of study that integrates scientific algorithms, processes, methods and systems to produce insights and knowledge. These methods incorporate unstructured and structured data. People in the field work to master the data science life cycle's full spectrum. Data science knowledge is useful for big data, deep learning and data mining work. Today, there are special courses and entire degree programs for data science.



Types of Courses and Degrees for Data Science

Although many of the top-paying jobs for data science require a master's degree, you can find plenty of relevant jobs with a bachelor's degree. Certificates, beginner courses and comprehensive courses are useful for people who are just entering the field. MicroMasters courses are graduate-level classes for people with undergraduate degrees and are useful for career advancement or specialties.


Top Online Data Science Courses

These are some of the most popular data science courses online.

  • Metis Introduction to Data Science

This course is taught live by a notable data scientist. It lasts for six weeks and has an affordable price. Ideal for beginners, it includes an introduction to computer science, linear algebra and statistics. The course moves on to exploratory data analysis and several forms of advanced data modeling.

  • Johns Hopkins University/Course Data Science Specialty

While the course material is free to access, you must pay to receive a certificate and grades. It covers R programming, reproducible research, exploratory data analysis, practical machine learning, statistical inference and several other topics.

  • MIT's EdX Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters

One of the benefits of EdX courses is that you can transfer the credits to several accredited schools if you decide to pursue a master's degree later. The one-time fee for the course is affordable. You should have knowledge of basic computer science, Python and multivariate calculus to start this course. It teaches you about machine learning with Python, advanced statistics and data analysis in social science.

  • Harvard's CS109 Data Science Program

If you are more concerned about gaining useful skills for freelancing instead of a degree or a certificate, this is one of the better data science courses to choose. You learn everything from theories to real-world applications, and it is ideal for beginners. Although the course lacks an interactive platform, it is completely free.

  • University of Michigan/Course Applied Data Science With Python

Every aspect of this course involves Python. You will learn plotting, charting, machine learning, social network analysis and text mining applications. If you want a completion certificate and grades, there is a monthly fee for the time that you are enrolled. It helps to have a strong knowledge of statistics before you start this course.

If you take any courses that you want to use as college credit for a degree later, verify that they are transferable before you enroll.


Top Data Science Bachelor Degree Programs Online

Although most data science bachelor's degree programs are based on campuses, there are a few online and hybrid options. These are the main schools that offer reasonable tuition rates and online bachelor's degree programs in data science:


If you plan to pursue a master's degree, these are some of the most affordable schools with good data science programs:

The bachelor's programs are between 120 and 129 credits, and the master's programs are between 35 and 40 credits. The master's programs also offer multiple specialty choices.

What You Can Do With a Data Science Degree

These are some of the top-paying careers in the data science field:

Enterprise architects work for large companies to develop IT processes and related organizational strategies, and the average salary is over $160,000.

Data engineers perform real-time or batch processing on data to make it readable, and the average salary is over $150,000.

Machine learning scientists research algorithms and new approaches, and the average salary is over $130,000.


Choosing the Right Data Science Courses

Whether you are seeking a master's degree, a bachelor's degree or a certificate, spend some time learning about your options for data science courses online. Compare the online data science courses and programs that fit your financial needs and your career goals for the future.