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Data Science

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

Data Science and AI sit at the intersection of computer science, statistics, and business logic. Coursework blends Python/SQL, machine learning, deep learning, algorithms, and data wrangling. You'll build recommendation engines, train models on massive messy datasets, and learn the dark art of hyperparameter tuning. It’s highly applied and incredibly fast-paced; half the libraries you learn will be updated or replaced by the time you graduate.

What you'll do after college

Grads become data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI researchers. Despite the hype of building autonomous AI, a typical day often consists of spending 80% of your time cleaning disastrously messy data and 20% complaining about it. Starting salaries are astronomical, but you must constantly upskill to keep pace with the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$79,589
780
100–63%
$103,822
1,946
62–11%
$135,526
409
10–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$76,199
529
400–1270
$88,935
1,075
1270–1450
$126,196
512
1460–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$68,504p10 $93,915p90 Arts Military STEM Non-Research Female-only Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University Liberal Arts 1–20 Public University 1–25 Private University 21–40 Private University 1–20 Bennington College · $68,167 Johnson & Wales University - Providence · $66,016 United States Air Force Academy · $79,871 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott · $84,439 Florida Polytechnic University · $81,566 Smith College · $80,010 Mount Holyoke College · $80,761 St Catherine University · $80,096 Denison University · $86,244 Lyon College · $71,188 Dickinson College · $89,081 St. Lawrence University · $84,112 William Jewell College · $76,235 Berry College · $70,724 Lake Forest College · $76,495 Beloit College · $70,084 Ohio Wesleyan University · $71,876 Carthage College · $77,635 Goucher College · $69,165 Dordt University · $72,928 Elizabethtown College · $78,730 Centre College · $78,125 Willamette University · $84,484 Knox College · $76,873 Saint Mary's College of California · $93,915 Washington College · $74,497 Loras College · $71,558 Coe College · $73,986 Juniata College · $72,104 Bridgewater College · $68,135 Calvin University · $74,634 Augsburg University · $77,510 Roanoke College · $74,256 Guilford College · $63,972 Nebraska Wesleyan University · $73,557 Franklin College · $72,354 Morgan State University · $68,504 University of California, Davis · $95,858 Salisbury University · $76,942 Florida Atlantic University · $73,977 Ramapo College of New Jersey · $79,734 Pennsylvania State University · $92,838 University of Missouri - Saint Louis · $69,081 University of Pittsburgh · $80,853 Mississippi State University · $74,876 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $83,403 Ball State University · $72,745 Eastern Michigan University · $71,949 New Jersey Institute of Technology · $86,895 Northern Michigan University · $68,494 Cleveland State University · $71,738 University of Houston - Downtown · $72,017 University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth · $75,018 University of Texas at Arlington · $75,932 University of Texas at Dallas · $81,733 College of Charleston · $71,592 University of Vermont · $80,402 Miami University - Ohio · $88,580 University of Michigan - Flint · $72,295 Winona State University · $76,140 Middle Tennessee State University · $67,921 Northern Arizona University · $81,793 University of North Carolina at Charlotte · $78,352 University of Oregon · $83,319 Youngstown State University · $65,453 Portland State University · $81,525 University of Toledo · $74,534 Western Washington University · $77,525 University of Central Oklahoma · $69,037 University of North Texas · $75,025 Cal Poly - Humboldt · $67,086 Colorado State University - Fort Collins · $85,440 University of North Dakota · $77,304 Purdue University Fort Wayne · $67,176 Southern Connecticut State University · $71,824 Stephen F. Austin State University · $66,519 University of Iowa · $79,086 Central Washington University · $78,235 Metropolitan State University · $77,556 Northern Kentucky University · $66,399 Rhode Island College · $69,431 South Dakota State University · $74,132 Stockton University · $75,802 Western Oregon University · $67,915 University of Wisconsin - River Falls · $72,571 University of Washington - Bothell · $94,578 Arizona State University · $84,208 University of Wisconsin - Platteville · $82,131 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee · $75,641 University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point · $71,314 Utah Valley University · $81,302 College of Wooster · $73,151 Xavier University of Louisiana · $63,329 Saint Louis University · $80,949 Baylor University · $83,017 Belmont Abbey College · $63,852 Ohio Dominican University · $78,808 Andrews University · $78,339 Olivet Nazarene University · $70,153 Bellarmine University · $72,893 Harding University · $71,733 American University · $86,411 Arcadia University · $70,808 California Baptist University · $80,366 Concordia University Wisconsin · $74,089 Eastern University · $75,294 Ohio Northern University · $76,050 Lewis University · $75,564 University of San Francisco · $108,001 John Carroll University · $79,914 St. Ambrose University · $75,047 Saint Vincent College · $70,336 Loyola University Chicago · $82,114 Millikin University · $66,753 University of Indianapolis · $76,512 University of Mount Union · $73,282 Canisius University · $72,765 Mercyhurst University · $78,428 Mount St. Mary's University · $75,978 University of Northwestern - St Paul · $79,646 Siena College · $80,234 Saint John's University (NY) · $81,911 Thiel College · $67,393 Carlow University · $70,308 Valparaiso University · $78,102 University of the Incarnate Word · $69,088 Syracuse University · $87,686 Jacksonville University · $80,356 Quinnipiac University · $84,462 Champlain College · $82,155 Drake University · $82,407 Elon University · $81,736 Bradley University · $78,247 University of Charleston · $77,134 Long Island University · $76,550 Lipscomb University · $81,541 Clarkson University · $81,279 Butler University · $79,454 Drexel University · $89,795 Lynn University · $68,666 Norwich University · $78,157 Maryville University of Saint Louis · $76,413 Macalester College · $84,787 University of California, Berkeley · $127,644 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $98,684 William & Mary · $90,818 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $97,360 Rutgers University - New Brunswick · $87,863 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $89,811 University of Central Florida · $74,840 Virginia Tech · $87,861 Ohio State University · $78,944 Emory University · $117,220 Case Western Reserve University · $83,451 New York University · $99,369 Worcester Polytechnic Institute · $96,949 University of Richmond · $92,661 MIT · $178,969 Stanford University · $156,074 University of Chicago · $160,099 Northwestern University · $157,636 Dartmouth · $156,421 Columbia University · $156,706 Tufts University · $146,800 Arts: mean $67,092 Military: mean $82,155 STEM Non-Research: mean $81,566 Female-only: mean $80,289 Liberal Arts: mean $75,873 Public University: mean $76,395 Religious University: mean $76,018 Private University: mean $80,377 Liberal Arts 1–20: mean $84,787 Public University 1–25: mean $92,647 Private University 21–40: mean $97,930 Private University 1–20: mean $158,958 All colleges: p10 $68,504 All colleges: p90 $93,915
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Data Science 169 3,135 63% / 37% 21% $86,001 90%
Data Science 131 2,545 62% / 38% 23% $82,254 88%
Data Analytics 40 258 70% / 30% 9% $75,192 100%
Computational Modeling and Data Analytics 1 158 77% / 23% 7% $87,861
Data Science and Society 1 110 63% / 37% 9% $160,465 98%
Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (Course 6-14) 1 39 46% / 54% 8% $178,969
Data Visualization 1 25 84% / 16% 12% $94,578