Data science and analytics

University of Missouri-Columbia
Graduate certificate
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Graduate certificate

Data gives clarity to decisions. In turn, practices from statistical analysis to mathematical modeling influence how industries and academia identify trends and draw conclusions. These skills have become increasingly integral to a broad range of career paths — business to health care to technology and the sciences.

Considering this demand, the University of Missouri (Mizzou) designed the online graduate certificate in data science and analytics program for two groups of students. Existing professionals benefit from its comprehensive and applied perspective and gain the tools to extract and visualize insights. For current graduate students, the program enhances their research toolkit and improves how they collect, analyze and interpret data.

Quick facts

Official name

Graduate certificate in data science and analytics

Campus

University of Missouri-Columbia

Program type

Graduate certificate

Academic home

Graduate School | MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics

Delivery mode

100% online

Accreditation

Higher Learning Commission

Credit hours

12

Estimated cost

$12,386.40

*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.

Model of human head with data.

Career prospects

Inaccurate projections become costly, and surface-level numbers don’t tell the whole story. To reduce these risks, a general, applied understanding of data science helps professionals derive more accurate and actionable information — whether for examining market characteristics, predicting a product’s success or extracting patterns from large quantities of scientific information.

Building off previous experience and education, the online graduate certificate in data science and analytics program supports the career trajectories of:

  • Current business, health care and other industry professionals interested in using data analysis to improve their predictive and decision-making skills
  • Doctoral students of anthropology, biotechnology, business, computer science, geography, geospatial science or related fields wanting to refine their approach to research
Burning Glass Technologies. 2021. Salary numbers and employment growth numbers are based on models that consider advertised job posting salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics data and other proprietary and public sources of information for multiple occupations.
10.82%
employment growth
Burning Glass Technologies. 2021. Salary numbers and employment growth numbers are based on models that consider advertised job posting salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics data and other proprietary and public sources of information for multiple occupations.
$105,000
median salary

About the online graduate certificate in data science and analytics

Large-scale data represents possibility. Combing through structured and unstructured information can yield innovative patterns that become trends and forecasts. Available tools also allow you to combine and identify similarities between disparate sources.

Yet, understanding the languages to perform these assessments creates a barrier that limits how professionals uncover insightful results. And in terms of upskilling, many don’t know where to start.

Mizzou’s online graduate certificate program in data science and analytics delivers a thorough introduction to the field — from the principles and tools to industry and research applications. Encompassing its mathematical foundation, machine learning and data management, the program covers the essential hard skills for analyzing data and methods for communicating findings.

Graduating not just doers but leaders and decision-makers, this online certificate program:

  • Highlights data science as a problem-solving tool for addressing various academic and business challenges
  • Explores all areas of the modern data analytics landscape — from statistical analysis to visualization and strategizing
  • Touches on presentation techniques for illustrating the importance of your insights to a range of audiences
  • Connects analytical practices to their mathematical roots
  • Encourages an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving — whether for the classroom, lab or workplace

Program structure

The online graduate certificate in data science and analytics requires 12 credit hours. All courses are fully online, and no campus visits are required.

Students interested in pursuing further studies in this area may transfer their credits into Mizzou’s master of science in data science and analytics program.

Course work covers

To help students acquire key data science competencies, the program explores the following areas:

  • How to access, cleanse, model, visualize and interpret data
  • Python and R languages and open-source tools
  • Statistics, probability, pattern analysis, regression, testing and other mathematical concepts
  • Visualization techniques for the sciences, media and business
  • Database systems and query methods
  • Machine learning, modeling and algorithms

Review all requirements for the online graduate certificate in data science and analytics.

Delivery

100% online

Accreditation

The University of Missouri is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.

Learn more about this program

This program is administered by the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics