Data Science
for the Undergraduate Minor in Data Science
The Minor in Data Science, an interdisciplinary collaboration administered by the Department of Statistics, is designed to provide students with an understanding of data science, including statistical analysis and inference, computation, and business intelligence. A Minor in Data Science will assist students with their major field of study to better prepare them for a career in their chosen field. It will also prepare students for graduate studies in a multitude of areas where data science plays an important role. Interested students should submit the Minor Declaration Form available from the Provost’s website. Advising for undergraduates interested in the Minor in Data Science is available in the Department of Statistics.
All University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduate students are eligible to earn the Minor in Data Science, except for those enrolled in a BS degree program for an X+DS major. While there are no strict prerequisites to enter the Minor, basic familiarity with computers is expected.
for the Undergraduate Minor in Data Science
To complete the Minor, students must complete three core courses plus three supporting courses which cover sufficient data science content from an approved list of courses offered from a range of disciplines. The three core courses are STAT 107, STAT 207, and CS 307. Note that students must complete one calculus course (e.g., MATH 234, MATH 220) and one linear algebra course (e.g., MATH 227, MATH 257) prior to taking CS 307.
To satisfy the completion of three supporting courses in data science, students must choose two courses from the Domain Specific Data Science group and one course from the Data Ethics group. Some courses in the two supporting groups may have prerequisites aside from the three core courses of the Minor. The lists of Supporting Courses that satisfy the Minor in Data Science are dynamic as new classes are added each year. As data science curricula across the University develop, other courses approved by the steering committee for the Minor in Data Science will be added.
Completion of the Minor in Data Science requires at least six hours of advanced (300 or 400 level) course credit distinct from credit earned for any major or another minor.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| STAT/CS/IS 107 | Data Science Discovery | 4 |
| STAT 207 | Data Science Exploration | 4 |
| CS 307 | Modeling and Learning in Data Science | 4 |
| Choose 2 courses in Domain Specific Data Science | 6-8 | |
| Weather and Climate Data Science | ||
| Data Structures | ||
| Algorithms and Data Structures for Data Science | ||
| Data Visualization | ||
| Applied Machine Learning | ||
| Foundations of CyberGIS & Geospatial Data Science | ||
| Introduction to Data Storytelling | ||
| Data Science in the Humanities | ||
| Data Visualization | ||
| Introduction to Computational Linguistics | ||
| Mathematics for Machine Learning | ||
| Basics of Statistical Learning | ||
| Statistical Data Management | ||
| Data Science Programming Methods | ||
| Big Data Analytics | ||
| Choose 1 course in Data Ethics | 3 | |
| Ethics and Policy for Data Science | ||
| Data Management, Curation & Reproducibility | ||
| Total Minimum Hours Required | 21 | |
for the Undergraduate Minor in Data Science
Students will:
- Understand, explain, and utilize basic data science techniques.
- Cultivate data science skills in a domain specific field through interdisciplinary courses.
- Develop and apply ethical practices in data analysis.
for the Undergraduate Minor in Data Science
Department of Statistics
- Data Science Minor page
- Data Science Minor email: datascienceminor@illinois.edu
- Department of Statistics website
- Department of Statistics faculty