Data Science Education at Penn State

The intercollege Data Sciences major will educate students on the technical fundamentals of data sciences, with a focus on developing the knowledge and skills needed to manage and analyze large scale unstructured data to address an expanding range of problems in industry, government, and academia. The underlying knowledge for data sciences derives from machine learning, data mining, computer science, statistics, and visualization, and the emerging science of managing and analyzing data at scale. Students will gain breadth of knowledge through common core classes, as well as depth in one of three options. After taking common courses during the pre-major stage, students will choose among options focused on application (College of IST), computation (College of Engineering) and science (College of Science). Students in all three options will come together in their junior and senior years for two shared capstone experiences. In combination the three options position Penn State to offer highly trained professionals who understand data science’s multiple dimensions for a growing segment of the U.S. economy.

Options within the Data Sciences major

There are three options within this major, each corresponding to a college:

• Bachelor of Science in Statistical Modeling Data Sciences (DTSCS_BS) – Only available through the Eberly College of Science
• Bachelor of Science in Applied Data Sciences (DATSC_BS) – Only available through the College of Information Sciences and Technology
• Bachelor of Science in Computational Data Sciences (DTSCE_BS) – Only available through the College of Engineering

See also: http://datasciences.psu.edu/

Social Data Analytics is an interdisciplinary major that prepares students to participate in both a research environment where “big data” is a major source of insight into social and political processes, and an economy increasingly organized around data analytics. Students completing the major will have the technical skills to handle, analyze, apply and present big data, and the disciplinary knowledge to draw valid inferences from such information to address real world problems. The program integrates coursework in the social sciences with courses in statistics, mathematics, information science and computer science to develop the unique skill set necessary to conceptualize data sources in relation to the social conditions from which they arise; to think critically about big data in relation to specific problems; and to derive and test hypotheses through application of data tools and techniques. Students will gain valuable practical experience working with data through a capstone experience and participation in faculty research.

Only available through the College of Liberal Arts

To learn more about this program, view program requirements, or find an academic advisor, visit:
https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/liberal-arts/social-data-analytics-bs/

The DMTA minor will provide students with contextualized understanding of practices and trends in digital media, advertising, marketing and public relations. The minor is needed to provide a viable academic option for students who want to specialize in this fast-growing sector of the communications industry. In addition, completion of the minor will prepare students to pass a number of leading industry certification tests related to analytics, SEM, social media and digital media sales and marketing. The course sequence will begin with required basic courses in both IST (IST 110) and COMM (COMM 320 or COMM 370) to ensure students have the foundational information for the material that follows, and the ability to relate practices and trend in digital media to the larger communication and information technology landscapes. Students will then explore more focused courses in digital media, advertising, marketing and public relations. These areas reflect the major areas of digital communications activity. The digital media analytics course (3 credits) will lay groundwork in audience traffic measurement as well as detail the specifics of digital media system types and technologies. The search engine marketing class (3 credits) provides in-depth experience with the largest online advertising platform—Google Adwords. This course also makes connections to media analytics (also a central part of the Google marketer platform) and social media (also part of the Google Online Marketing Challenge). The digital public relations class (3 credits) will focus on non-paid digital activities, most importantly social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+, and how these activities can be successfully integrated into a communications campaign. The digital advertising class (3 credits) will review new trends in the buying and selling of advertising outside of search engine marketing. Of specific interest are new developments in content marketing, programmatic buying and hybrid real-time-bidding programs that bring together content providers and advertisers in an increasingly automated marketplace. This course sequence is designed to easily accommodate new and related digital courses and to complement existing courses in advertising/public relations, telecommunications, information technology, marketing and media.To learn more about this program, view program requirements, or find an academic advisor, visit:
https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/bellisario-communications/digital-media-trends-analytics-minor/

Intended for professionals looking to acquire analytical skills relevant to the workplace, MPS-DAAN consists of six required courses and three electives. The program culminates in a capstone course that builds upon the theories, technology, and skills learned in previous coursework. Students will be involved in or looking to explore careers as data scientists, modelers, analysts, or architects.

To learn more about this program, view program requirements, or find an academic advisor, visit:
https://greatvalley.psu.edu/academics/masters-degrees/data-analytics

Through its emphasis on research, this program is designed to prepare students for entry into doctoral programs in data analytics. MS-DAAN has five required courses and three electives. Rather than a capstone course, the program requires 6 credits of supervised research, resulting in a thesis paper. Students must pass a thesis defense, and the paper must be accepted by the advisers and/or committee members, the head of the graduate program, and the Graduate School.

To learn more about this program, view program requirements, or find an academic advisor, visit:
https://greatvalley.psu.edu/academics/masters-degrees/data-analytics

In today’s information society, professionals who can make sense of big data are in high demand. The Data Sciences concentration is part of an intercollege initiative between the College of Information Sciences and Technology, College of Engineering, and Eberly College of Science to meet that need. The program will educate students on the technical fundamentals of data sciences, with a focus on developing the knowledge and skills needed to manage and analyze large-scale, unstructured data to address an expanding range of problems in industry, government, and academia. As a result, data sciences graduates will possess the core skills and problem-solving approaches to compete for leading-edge analytics positions across many different industry sectors.

To learn more about this program, view program requirements, or find an academic advisor, visit:
https://ist.psu.edu/education/degree/ms

The Penn State Smeal College of Business online Graduate Certificate in Marketing Analytics is aimed at providing students the core marketing analytics knowledge needed to influence marketing strategy and decision-making in today’s data-driven business environment. Offered in partnership with Penn State World Campus, the program will convey how marketing analytics are conducted, meaningfully communicated, and strategically applied within organizations.To learn more about this program or view program requirements, visit:
https://www.smeal.psu.edu/marketing-analytics/marketing-analytics

The new online Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics from the Penn State Smeal College of Business, delivered in partnership with Penn State World Campus, enables business professionals to develop the quantitative and managerial skills for exploring and analyzing complex data sets to support data-driven business decisions. The program—designed around the framework from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS)—covers the entire life cycle of data and analytics supported decision making using the descriptive/prescriptive/predictive framework for business analytics: descriptive (what happened?), predictive (what will happen?), prescriptive (what should happen?).To learn more about this program or view program requirements, visit:
https://www.smeal.psu.edu/business-analytics/business-analytics