There’s no replacement for a formal college or graduate degree. Almost all data science roles in today’s job market state that they require at least a master’s degree in a technical field. There are a few workarounds, which we outline below. But the safest bet is a dedicated master’s degree in data science.
The number of dedicated data science master’s programs has exploded in recent years, and is now a common program at most major universities. Here are some resources to help you find the best program for your situation.
- Top Data Science Master’s Programs
- List of top 23 schools with data science master’s programs, curated by mastersindatascience.org.
- Fully Online Master’s in Data Science
- Offered by University of Texas at Austin, via EdX.
There are certain circumstances where you can get by without a formal master’s degree in a technical field. Here they are.
- Bachelor’s in technical field
- Paired with several years of experience in data analytics, with progressively more technical work
- Master’s in non-technical field
- Paired with several years of experience in data analytics, with progressively more technical work
- Or paired with data science bootcamp
If you fall into one of these categories, shorten your timeline to a full data science role by using our Career Wizard to generate your personalized action plan.