University of Washington

Data Science for Undergrads

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Data Science Minor

Students in the Data Science minor program gain literacy and fluency in data science methods and understand their implications for society and the world. This minor helps students leverage familiarity with data science, and gain skills and fluency to work with data in their major domain of study.

All UW undergrads are eligible to declare the Data Science minor. The curriculum has been designed specifically to support arts, humanities, and social sciences students exploring data sciences – all majors and disciplines are welcome!

More on the Data Science minor

Data Science Options

The UW has brought together departments from around campus to create a template for scalable, university-wide program for a data science option for undergraduates.

  • Interested departments extend their core major program with a data science specialization in the form of a “Data Science Option,” which appears on students’ transcripts.
  • Each data science specialization covers the same set of core data science topics, as detailed below.
  • Each department chooses how best to cover the topics in a way that makes most sense for their students. Departments also have additional, domain-specific requirements.

The following departments already have a Data Science Option:

Undergrads must complete courses in the following areas to earn a Data Science Option.

Required areas with recommended courses:

  • Programming: e.g. CSE163 or CSE143
  • Machine learning: e.g. CSE416/STAT416, STAT435, INFO 371
  • Societal implications of data science: SOC225 “Data & Society”, INFO 350 “Information Ethics and Policy”, STAT 303 “Introduction to the Ethics of Algorithmic Decision Making”

Required to cover at least two areas:

  • Data management: e.g. CSE414 or INFO 430
  • Data visualization and communication: e.g. CSE412, INFO474, or HCDE411
  • Advanced statistics and probability: Department-specific course choices

Optional:

  • Introduction to data science: e.g. STAT180/CSE180/INFO180
  • Other department specific requirements
Full list of Data Science courses at UW