An increased emphasis on technology and the importance of accurate data for organizations have triggered the importance of data science programs in recent times. The United States of America (USA) holds a prominent rank in analytics and data science globally. Over 40 USA universities are featured among the world’s top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2022. Undoubtedly, the USA is the dream destination for post-graduation courses in data science. International students tend to choose the USA for data science courses due to the global brand exposure, academic excellence, finest scope for research, and high-paying job opportunities.
Keep reading to learn more about the top data science universities, admission requirements, documents, job opportunities, and highlights of studying for a master’s in data science in the USA.
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Why Study MS in Data Science in the USA?
Popular Universities –
Popular universities make the USA a leading destination to pursue a Master’s degree in data science. Out of globally ranked 100 universities, 40 universities belong to the USA. These 40 globally ranked universities, like Stanford University, Rochester University, New York University, and Columbia University, are notable institutions that offer data science programs.
Academic Excellence –
The academic system of the USA is reputed and renowned, with universities having strong alum records. In postgraduate courses like ‘Masters in Data Science,’ students get time to study all the related subjects and then choose a major or specialization per their interest and understanding. This speaks about the flexibility in the education system that offers enough scope for excellent results.
Economy –
The United States of America is a leading economy with a promising job market for Data Scientists. The average base salary of a data scientist in the USA is USD 124,283 (INR 92,51,048) per year. This makes the USA a preferred destination for students.
Job Prospects –
Data science produces the most job opportunities in the US after computer science. Data scientist jobs have been ranked number 2 by Glassdoor for three consecutive years from 2017 to 2022.
Faculties –
American universities boosts of their renowned faculties with years of experience and skills to train students according to market standards. The faculties are aware of the requirements of the global brand; hence, it becomes easy for students to work with international brands.
Research & Development –
Excellent scope for research and development! After Germany, United States of America is the best destination for research opportunities. Data science requires a lot of research and innovation. Hence, American universities and the Government offer international students enough opportunities and research prospects.
Cultural Diversity –
An excellent campus life with cultural diversity! The USA is a melting pot of different cultures, races, and ethnicities. Students from all over the globe form a unique cultural amalgamation for personality development and an interesting campus life. The universities organize many cultural events, seminars, and workshops to ensure enough cultural acceptance. Campus life in the US is matchless. Irrespective of the university, one can always find themselves immersed in the American way of life.
Funding & Scholarships –
Data science programs in the US are supported with partial and full funding options. Some of the partially and fully funded master’s scholarships in the USA in 2022 are the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, National GEM Consortium, ACM SIGHPC, Bill Caspar Memorial Diversity Scholarship, and Open Data Science Conference Scholarship. Meritorious and needy students can avail fully funded scholarship opportunities. This helps the economically backward classes with merit, to get quality education abroad.
Internship Opportunities –
An ample number of internship programs and live projects in the data science curriculum offer the students international industry exposure. The top brands that hire students for internship programs are EY, Deloitte, Stanley Morgan, Accenture, IBM, Disney, and Cisco.
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Course Highlights of MS in Data Science in the USA
Duration 1-2 years Eligibility Students must have completed a Bachelor’s degree in the same field with a passing percentage in the topics studied at the undergraduate level. Entrance Exam GRE, TOEFL, IELTS Course Fee The cost ranges from $25,000 – $100,000. Several factors influence the cost, including the university chosen, the location, and whether the student is a native or international student. Jobs Roles and Average Salaries Analytics Engineer – $111,480 Business Analyst – $ 72,000. Data Analyst – $73372 Data Scientist – $96494 Data Engineer – $116,591 Statistician – $97990 Data Visualisation Specialist – $76065
Top Universities for Data Science in the USA
Listed below are some of the top universities in the USA that offer courses in data science:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Getting an MIT data science master’s degree is a dream for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) background students. The best part is, that MIT offers a master’s in data science in just 12 months. The tuition fee is around INR 63,24,812. MIT is a well-recognized American university holding a rank #1 in the USA and 5th globally for data science.
Northwestern University
Northwestern University offers a 12-month program in data science, available offline and online. The tuition fee for a master’s in data science is around INR 41,96,782. Northwestern University has been ranked 17th in the USA and 24th worldwide for data science programs.
Columbia University
Columbia University is the 5th oldest private university in the USA. The Columbia University offers a data science master’s course with a duration of 18 months. The tuition fee is INR 46,14,131. The university is located in New York City and ranked 17th in the USA. To secure admission at Columbia University, GMAT and GRE scores are essential.
University of Southern California
The University of South California data science course is a 24 months master’s degree with an average cost of INR 47,97,610. It is a full-time classroom program with endless job opportunities. The eligibility criteria is a GPA of 3.55/4, and GMAT/GRE score requirements.
University of Minnesota
The eligibility criteria for the University of Minnesota data science master’s program are a 3.46 GPA, 321 GRE, or 703 GMAT mark. For the part-time data science courses, students need a 3.2 GPA and 660 GMAT scores. The tuition fee is INR 49,55,000. Scholarship programs are also available for meritorious students.
Important Resources to Read About USA:
A master’s degree in data science equips students with advanced data analysis, interpretation, and problem-solving skills. The following are the core modules taught in most master’s programs in data science in the United States:
Studying in the USA is an expensive affair, and taking STEM background course is even more costly. A data science course in the USA would cost something between INR 30,00,000 – 55,00,000 on average. To make it affordable, several partial and full funding options are available in public and private universities in the USA. Stanford and MIT offer 100% funding to meritorious international students, making the USA a hub for the cheapest data science masters. This is usually the first step towards the entire journey of doing MS in the USA and the cost of this exam is $205. Some universities do take in applications without GRE, but TOEFL is a test that candidates can not skip. Universities require proof of language proficiency and you might also need to share TOEFL score for visa purposes. The exam costs $170. Each university’s application fees range from $50 (₹3700) to $100 (₹7400), with the former being the most frequent. However, applications are incomplete until official test scores (GRE and TOEFL) are sent through ETS, which costs an additional $47 (GRE: $27; TOEFL: $20). Candidates must pay the VISA charge of $160, followed by the SEVIS fee of $200, once they obtain their official document from the university stating their stay in the United States and the amount to be spent for the year. Depending on the city, destination, and airline, single-way economy class tickets range from ₹40,000 ($517) to ₹60,000 ($776). Return flights range in price from ₹60,000 ($776) to ₹90,000 ($1164).
Read More: Cost of studying engineering in USA for Indian students Before applying for a course, applicants should always check if they meet the required eligibility criteria University Educational Qualification IELTS GPA (out of 4) Stanford University 4 Year- UG degree 7.0 3.96 Yale University UG Degree in the first division 7.0 and above 3.0 Columbia University UG Degree 7.0 3.27 Harvard University UG Degree 6.5 3.0 New York University UG Degree 7.0 3.0
American universities hold a lot of prestige and recognition globally. International students need to fulfill the eligibility criteria and admission requirements to get admission to American universities. Requirements for admission to the best universities to pursue MS in Data Science vary from each other. To meet the competitive edge, students need to ensure that they meet all the admission requirements.
Recommended Read: USA F1 Study Visa Requirements Data Science and Data Analysis is a topic of study that has acquired a lot of popularity in recent years, leading to lucrative job prospects for those who choose to pursue it. The following are some of the application deadlines for the Spring 2023 intake of the MS in Data Analytics/Data Science program in the United States: University Deadline Illinois Institute of Technology November 15, 2022 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth January 18, 2023 Northeastern University November 1, 2022 Boston University November 15, 2022 DePaul University January 15, 2023 Some of the scholarships for international students for MS in Data Science in the USA: The Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Special Interest Group on High-Performance Computing (SIGHPC) partnered with Intel to offer a $15,000 Computational & Data Science Fellowship to master’s or doctorate candidates working on large-scale big data research. Females and members of racial minorities who have finished less than half of their computing degrees at authorized US universities are eligible. One of the most valuable big data scholarships is the CA Technologies Fellowship for Women at the University of Vermont, which covers full tuition up to $14,670 each semester for females pursuing the MS in Complex Systems and Data Science. The Daniel Larose Scholarship for Data Mining Excellence awards $4,000 per year, or $2,000 per semester, to MS in Data Mining students at Central Connecticut State University who excel. Each Spring, the Fisher Family Fund Fellowship Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte awards $2,000 to exceptional graduate students in the College of Computing and Informatics pursuing the Professional MS in Data Science and Business Analytics. The Graduate Health IT Scholarship from the HIMSS Minnesota Chapter awards $1,500 to master’s students and $2,000 to doctorate students who are studying quantitative-based health informatics degrees, such as data analytics or data science. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree and a minimum 3.0 GPA who live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, or South Dakota are eligible. At Saint Mary’s College, The Lilly Endowment Scholarship at Saint Mary’s College awards $1,000 every term for a total of $5,000 to outstanding male or female post-grads who are pursuing the mathematically rigorous M.S. in Data Science program.
Employment opportunities for data science offer a great Return on Investment (ROI). At an entry-level, a data science graduate can earn up to $95,000 (INR 70,70,057) whereas a managerial post can earn up to $195,000 (INR 1,45,12,202) yearly. For the last five years, the American job market has been flourishing with ample job opportunities in data science. Data science and big data are high demanding career opportunities with the top global brands. Find out the jobs after MS in data science in the USA.
Also Read: Part-Time Job Options in the USA for International Students
More Resources to Read About USA: Pursue an MS in Data Analytics from Clark University in the US to get benefits of a unique curriculum. The 22-month blended course will require ten months of online learning and for the rest of the 12 months, students can travel to the US for on-campus education. You can avail the following benefits if you choose to study the course with upGrad Abroad:
Data science has a vibrant future. Pursuing a master’s in data science from prestigious American universities is the best career decision one can take. As per the present market scenario, choosing a career in the young fold emerging Data Science field from a globally ranked USA university is wise.
The USA is the largest analytics and data science market in the entire world. The developed economy of the US offers a large pool of upcoming data science job opportunities. It is also one of the most mature markets in analytics and data science evolution. It is home to 40 globally ranked universities with the highest paying jobs. According to Glassdoor, data science jobs are the second most demanding ones after computer science. Yes, GRE is a compulsory admission criterion for American universities. The score requirement for the top-ranked universities is above 310. However, some universities waive off the GRE score if the students have prior work experience or a brilliant GPA in graduation. Yes, MS in data science is an expensive course in the USA. It would cost between INR 30,00,000 to 55,00,000. However, there are scholarships and full funding opportunities for meritorious international students. As per the evolving market, a data science from a USA university is a good return to investment, as the jobs are the highest paying.
Related Reads:
Course Curriculum of MS in Data Science in the USA
Fees for MS in Data Science in the USA
Pre-Arrival Cost for MS in Data Science in the USA
GRE Fee
TOEFL
Applying to US Universities
VISA
Flight Tickets
Eligibility Criteria for MS in Data Science in the USA
Admission Requirements for Masters in Data Science in the US
Application Deadlines for MS in Data Science in USA
Scholarships for MS in Data Science in the USA
ACM SIGHPC/Intel Computational & Data Science Fellowship:
CA Technologies Fellowship for Women:
Daniel Larose Scholarship for Data Mining Excellence:
Fisher Family Fund Fellowship Program:
HIMSS Minnesota Graduate Health IT Scholarship:
Lilly Endowment Scholarship for Data Science:
Job Opportunities after Masters in Data Science in the US
Top Jobs after MS in Data Science in USA
Study Data Analytics in the USA with upGrad Abroad:
Conclusion
Frequently Asked Questions
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