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Master of Science in Data Science

PROGRAM OVERVIEW Interpret data and solve real-world problems.

Big Data is a $203 billion industry.1 Shopping centers, social media, health care service providers, and educational institutions — everyone is collecting data. In fact, 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years.2

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  • Duration 2 years
  • Cost per Credit $830
  • Credit Hours 30

Program Benefits

  • Four career-focused specializations
  • No GRE or GMAT required
  • Experienced faculty
  • In-demand skills for a variety of industries

Shape Business Strategy With Data

When you graduate in less than two years with your online master’s in data science from Utica College, you’ll have the skills to analyze data, gain valuable insights, and develop innovative solutions in a variety of fields.

Utica’s 30-credit, 100% online master’s in data science program will prepare you to influence strategy and policy-making across organizations and industries. You’ll also learn to evaluate data science regarding ethics, social responsibility, and personal bias. This comprehensive curriculum helps Utica’s program stand out among other New York data science master’s programs.

With small class sizes, project-based coursework, and no residency requirement, our M.S. in Data Science gives you the personal attention and flexibility you need to meet your educational goals.

Develop In-Demand Skills for Career Success

In 2018, the median salary for an entry-level data scientist was $92,500, with the top 25 percent earning an average annual salary of $110,000.3

Experts with just three years of experience and a data science master’s degree, the median salary rises to $120,000, with the top 25 percent of earners making $138,750.3

Experts are predicting that by 2024, more than 250,000 data scientist openings will go unfilled, meaning lots of opportunity for anyone with the skill set to translate big data into meaningful business intelligence.4

Jobs and Income

Use Data to Solve Real-World Business Challenges

With Utica College’s online master’s in data science program, you’ll explore models for collecting data and methods for diving deep into the numbers to identify trends — but that’s only part of the equation. You’ll also learn to use your findings to design and implement solutions to business problems.

Explore the basics through five core courses, then choose from the following career-focused specializations:

  • Business Analytics
  • Cybersecurity
  • Financial Crime
  • Social Science
  • General

To complete the program, you’ll bring everything together with a hands-on capstone project or online thesis involving independent research and data analysis.

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Specialize Your Degree

Choose the general track or one of four specializations. Each will provide you with the most up-to-date skills and expertise to hit the ground running in the industry segment of your choice.

M.S. in Data Science: Business Analytics

Build business theory and practice into your data analytics expertise. You’ll complete this specialization ready to manage risk, predict market and workforce developments, and understand demographic trends and census data.

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M.S. in Data Science: Cybersecurity

Learn state-of-the-art cybersecurity and computer forensic practices, and apply your data science knowledge and skills in unique ways. This specialization features courses from our NSA-designated cybersecurity master’s program.

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M.S. in Data Science: Financial Crime

Enhance your ability to manage the corporate and advanced technological resources that combat economic crime. You’ll complete this specialization ready for positions in the compliance and fraud investigation fields.

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M.S. in Data Science: Social Science Analytics

Enhance your understanding of complex organizations and bureaucracy, social trends, voting data, and research design. You’ll complete this specialization with a macroscopic perspective on community dynamics.

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Admission Requirements

Applying to the online master’s in data science program is straightforward, with no GRE or GMAT required. Just submit the following:

  • Completed application
  • A bachelor’s degree with a minimum GPA of 3.0
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Official transcripts
  • Résumé
  • Personal statement
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Tuition and Financial Aid

This 30-credit program costs $830 per credit hour. Utica College is dedicated to making an advanced education accessible and affordable and offers many avenues for financial aid.

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Learn From Industry Experts

Our online master’s in data science faculty are well versed in the challenges that working with data can present, with hands-on experience in:

  • Health care
  • Geographic information systems (GIS)
  • Urban-rural dynamics
  • Cybersecurity

You’ll benefit from their decades of collective experience and graduate with a network of veteran data professionals who can help you in your career.

Michael McCarthy

Michael McCarthy, Ph.D.

Program Director and Assistant Professor, Data Science

Michael McCarthy, Ph.D., served in the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2007 as an aviation officer and Blackhawk pilot. He concluded his Army tenure serving at Training and Doctrine Command where he was part of a team analyzing future warfare and global trends that will affect the United States and its military in the next five decades.

Dr. McCarthy also worked as an analyst for a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He performed quantitative and qualitative analysis to improve inpatient and outpatient clinic flow, quantitative demographic analysis for strategic planning, coached and led Lean Six Sigma projects, and served as an innovation specialist.

Honors and Distinctions

  • Ph.D. and M.A. in Geography, University of North Carolina
  • B.S. in Geographic Information Systems, United States Military Academy at West Point
Gregory Fulkerson

Gregory Fulkerson, Ph.D.

Adjunct Lecturer, Data Science

Gregory Fulkerson, Ph.D. focuses on issues related to globalization, rurality, community, agriculture, and the environment. His current research investigates the local and global processes leading to environmental degradation and the social response to these problems, particularly in relation to urban-rural processes.

Dr. Fulkerson has extensive expertise in quantitative statistics, qualitative and textual analysis, and big data techniques employing Excel, IBM SPSS Statistics, IBM SPSS Modeler, SAS, PSPP, R, RapidMiner, Atlas Ti, Trackur, InsightMaker, and AMOS analysis software packages. He has published research in several peer-reviewed academic journals, authored books, and edited book volumes.

Dr. Fulkerson is also an Associate Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Oneonta and has been a member of the Rural Sociological Society since 2002, serving as Program Chair in 2015.

Dr. Fulkerson has won the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Scholarship and the Scholar of the Year Award in the School of Social Sciences at SUNY Oneonta (2016). He currently serves as co-editor and author for a book series with Lexington Books, called Studies in Urban-Rural Dynamics.

Honors and Distinctions

  • Outstanding Service Award, Rural Sociological Society
  • More than 16 years of sociology teaching experience
  • B.A. in Sociology from Michigan State University
  • M.A. in Sociology from Western Michigan University
  • Ph.D. in Sociology from North Carolina State University

Selected Publications

  • Fulkerson, G.M. and Thomas, A.R. (2016). Reimagining Rural: Urbanormative Portrayals of Rural Life. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
  • Fulkerson, G.M. and Thomas, A.R. (2016). Reinventing Rural: New Realities in an Urbanizing World. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
  • Fulkerson, G.M. and Thomas, A.R. (2016). Urbanormativity and the spatial demography of suburbia: a response to Meyer and Graybill. Urban Geography, 38(2). 164-169.
  • Fulkerson, G.M. and Thomas, A.R. (2013). Studies in Urbanormativity: Rural Community in Urban Society. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
  • Fulkerson, G.M., Thomas, A.R., Lowe, B.M., and Smith, P.J. (2011). Critical Rural Theory: Structure, Space, Culture. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.

Benefits of Being an Online Student

Whether you are advancing your career or switching it, online learning gives you a unique perspective from your instructors and fellow students. You’ll get the same high-quality education, credentials, and faculty support without slowing down your life.

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Planning Your Budget

Paying for an online education doesn’t have to be stressful. We’ve compiled helpful resources that can get you well on your way to financing your education. Learn more about available options and how you can get started.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Advancing your life and career with an online master’s in data science degree comes with lots of questions, and we want to ensure your search for answers is effortless. If you have a question we haven’t covered, call (866) 295-3106 to speak with an enrollment counselor.

You can finish in less than two years by taking one course every eight weeks. In that time, you’ll complete 30 total credits: 18 credits of core data analytics and research methods coursework and 12 credits in your chosen specialization and a capstone or thesis project.

Utica College’s online M.S. in Data Science puts a special emphasis on social data. With a deeper understanding of people’s preferences and behaviors, you’ll be prepared to give a human face to data and improve public policy, marketing strategy, or operational outcomes in any sector.

Plus, with specializations available in Business Analysis, Social Science, Financial Crime, and Cybersecurity, you’ll graduate ready to dive deep into the area of your choice.

In 2018, Glassdoor ranked Data Scientist the #1 Job in America for salary, opportunity growth, and job satisfaction.

High-paying jobs are available in corporate, governmental, or nonprofit organizations with a median entry-level salary of more than $92,500 in 2018, according to Burtch Works.

See our M.S. in Data Science Career Outlook page for detailed information about the career paths, jobs, and salaries that may be available to you after graduation.

No. While previous experience may provide valuable context to your studies, work history in the field is not required for admittance to the program.

See our full list of admissions requirements for the M.S. in Data Science program.

The Master of Science in Data Science program is a 30-credit-hour program at a cost of $830 per credit hour, for a total estimated tuition cost of $24,900.

For a detailed list of all related expenses and fees, see the M.S. in Data Science Tuition and Fees page.

In order to complete the M.S. in Data Science program, you’ll be required to complete 30 credit hours, which will include a foundational set of courses as well as your chosen specialization and a capstone or thesis project.

See the full M.S. in Data Science curriculum for detailed information.

Sources

  1. Press, G. (2017, January 20). 6 Predictions For The $203 Billion Big Data Analytics Market. Retrieved January 10, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2017/01/20/6-predictions-for-the-203-billion-big-data-analytics-market/
  2. Marr, B. (2018, July 09). How Much Data Do We Create Every Day? The Mind-Blowing Stats Everyone Should Read. Retrieved January 10, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/21/how-much-data-do-we-create-every-day-the-mind-blowing-stats-everyone-should-read/#40f5cce160ba
  3. Burtch, L. (2018, May). The Burtch Works Study Salaries of Data Scientists (Rep.). Retrieved January 10, 2019, from Burtch Works website: https://www.burtchworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Burtch-Works-Study_DS-2018.pdf
  4. The Quant Crunch How the Demand for Data Science Skills is Disrupting the Job Market (Rep.). (2017). Retrieved January 10, 2019, from Burning Glass Technologies, IBM, Business-Higher Education Forum website: https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/3RL3VXGA