Loyola launches first data science major for undergraduates in Maryland

Loyola University Maryland will offer the first bachelor’s in science in data science in the state beginning in the fall of 2018.

The major is an interdisciplinary program that consists of 15 courses across various departments, including mathematics, statistics, business, and computer science. Students in the program will gain analytic knowledge that will prepare them for careers as business analysts, domain-specific managers, data mining analysts, and business intelligence specialists.

“According to Glassdoor, data science was the highest paid field in 2016, and the demand for data scientists continues to increase. Data-driven decision making is becoming increasingly popular—and important. To help meet that demand, Loyola decided to start an undergraduate major in data science,” said Christopher Morrell, Ph.D., director of the data science master’s program. “The goal of data science is to discover and extract actionable knowledge from data, knowledge that can be used to make predictions and decisions. Achieving these goals requires computational and statistical modeling skills. Loyola's major in data science provides students with applicable skills and expertise to collect, process, and analyze data to benefit organizations and businesses.”

As a Jesuit institution, Loyola will ensure that students in the program learn about the ethical implications of the work they will do as data scientists. The University introduced a graduate program in Data Science in the spring of 2017. For more information, go to loyola.edu/datascience.