The Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) at UC Berkeley was ranked #1 among online data science master’s degree programs by Fortune magazine, in a report published Wednesday, August 28, 2024.
This is Fortune’s third year providing rankings of the best online data science master’s programs. On the importance of these rankings, Fortune stated that “the employment of data scientists is projected to increase by 35% by 2032, surpassing the average growth rate for all other professions in the nation.”
Ashwini (Ashwin) Thota, a data science expert who worked with Fortune on their ranking, added “If you go to a school that teaches you just about statistical algorithms and machine learning theory, you’ll get into a situation where you're not ready to code and implement what you learned…If you want to get a job in data science, you need experience solving problems…”
The MIDS program employs an experiential project-based learning curriculum to ensure students get hands-on experience during their time in the degree program.
“At the UC Berkeley School of Information, we train leaders in the field of data science by maintaining the highest standards of rigor and teaching students to be aware of contextual factors such as ethics, organizational behavior, and responsible research,” Associate Adjunct Professor Paul Laskowski said.
About MIDS
MIDS, which officially launched at the School of Information at UC Berkeley in 2014, was the country’s first fully online master’s degree in data science. MIDS provides a multi-disciplinary curriculum that prepares students in any career to solve real-world problems across their organizations using complex and unstructured data.
“We’ve got a view that data science is more than just sitting and programming—that data science involves issues of identifying the core question that’s coming from business and being able to focus that into the type of question that we can bring an algorithm to solve,” said Alex Hughes, Professor and Head Graduate Advisor for MIDS.
The MIDS curriculum features a wide range of courses that provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how data science can be used to inform decision making in their organizations. Students complete programming-focused courses in concurrence with courses that focus on the ethical impact of data science and how to effectively communicate results.
The 27-unit MIDS program is designed for the working professional’s schedule. The program is typically completed in 20 months, but offers flexible options and can be completed on accelerated, standard, or decelerated paths. MIDS students also participate in an in-person or online immersion experience, and complete a culminating capstone project that integrates the core skills and concepts learned throughout the program.
“At the UC Berkeley School of Information, we train leaders in the field of data science by maintaining the highest standards of rigor and teaching students to be aware of contextual factors such as ethics, organizational behavior, and responsible research.”
Ranking Methodology
Fortune analyzed each school based on a series of criteria: school-provided data (80%) such as acceptance rate, graduation rate, and more; average annual search volume (15%) based on the average number of times people search for each school on Google during a month; and previous Fortune online data science master’s rankings (5%).
Earlier this year the Master of Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) was ranked the #2 online master’s in cybersecurity by Fortune.
