Online Master of Computer Science in Data Science
Online MCS-DS
Get an in-demand master in data science degree at the nation's #2 online MCS DS program!
Learn about new statistical and computational methods transforming business and society from the Illinois faculty pioneering them. Siebel School of Computing and Data Science offers a specialized track of courses that satisfy the MCS degree requirements. It also has coursework focusing on data science—extracting new knowledge and finding meaningful information in a massive sea of data.
The Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) track is a non-thesis (coursework-only) program that leads to the MCS degree using courses focusing on data science. The MCS-DS track requires 32 credit hours of graduate coursework, completed through eight graduate-level courses, each at the four-credit-hour level. The MCS-DS includes required coursework in machine learning, data mining, data visualization, and cloud computing.
Students receive lectures through the Coursera platform, but are advised and assessed by Illinois faculty and teaching assistants on the more rigorous assignments, projects, and exams required for university degree credit.
Students who want a more general set of courses should consider the Illinois Online MCS.
Application Information
Who may apply? Applicants should hold a 4-year bachelor's degree (or equivalent). Students with a bachelor’s degree in a field other than CS are encouraged to apply, but they must have prerequisite coursework or commensurate experience in object-oriented programming, data structures, algorithms, linear algebra, and statistics/probability. The recommended undergraduate GPA for applicants applying to the Professional Master's program is a 3.2/4.0 or higher. The Siebel School of Computing and Data Science does not require GRE scores for any of its graduate programs. Applications for the MCS do not require letters of recommendation, but will be considered if included, especially if used to justify experience in lieu of required coursework, or other irregularities.
Admission for UIUC Graduates
If you complete an Illinois degree in CS, CS+X, Mathematics & CS, Statistics & CS, Computer Engineering or a CS minor with a GPA of 3.0 or better in the last two years of your undergraduate degree and a GPA of 3.2 or better in CS courses which includes CS 225, then you are guaranteed admission to our Online MCS or MCS in Data Science (MCS-DS) programs.
There are different conditions for guaranteed admission to our Urbana MCS and Chicago MCS programs for Illinois students due to the limited capacity in those programs.
MCS-DS Degree Requirements
Printable version.
Note: Each MCS-DS course is four credit hours.
Breadth Coursework
Must complete one course each (with a grade of B- or higher) from the four different areas of machine learning, data mining, data visualization and cloud computing.
| Machine Learning: |
CS 441 Applied Machine Learning |
| Data Mining: | CS 410 Text Information Systems CS 411 Database Systems CS 412 Introduction to Data Mining |
| Data Visualization: |
CS 416 Data Visualization |
| Cloud Computing: | CS 425 Distributed Systems (Cloud Computing Concepts) CS 435 Cloud Networking CS 437 Internet of Things CS 498 Cloud Computing Applications |
Advanced Coursework
Must complete three courses (12 credit hours).
- CS 513 Theory and Practice of Data Cleaning
- CS 519 Scientific Visualization
- CS 598 Foundations of Data Curation
- CS 598 Practical Statistical Learning*
- CS 598 Advanced Bayesian Modeling
- CS 598 Deep Learning for Healthcare
- CS 598 Cloud Computing Capstone*
- CS 598 Data Mining Capstone*
* Prerequisites apply. Please see printable MCS-DS Degree Requirements document.
Electives
Not required, but available to use toward the eight courses required for the degree.
- CS 418 Interactive Computer Graphics
- CS 421 Programming Languages and Compilers
- CS 427 Software Engineering I
- CS 450 Numerical Analysis
- CS 463 Computer Security II
- CS 475 Formal Models of Computation
- CS 484 Parallel Programming
- STAT 420 Methods of Applied Statistics
Additional Requirements
- All coursework must be taken through the Coursera MOOC platform.
- Breadth coursework must have a letter grade of B- or higher. Any other course taken for letter grade must have a grade of C or higher.
- Up to 12 credit hours of previous graduate coursework that is approved by the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science (including non-degree graduate courses completed within the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science) may be transferred and applied to the Professional MCS degree requirements.
Tuition & Fees
- Tuition: Tuition rates are posted on the Office of the Registrar's website at https://registrar.illinois.edu/tuition-fees/tuition-fee-rates/tf-rates-term/.
- Please scroll down to "Graduate and Professional" section and then click "Tuition Rates" for the relevant semester.
- Tuition rates for Online Computer Science in Data Science - MCS-DS and MCS Computer Science programs are listed under the "Grad Engineering & Engineering Related rate".
- ProctorU fees: Most Online MCS courses require one or more exams. Exams are proctored online through the ProctorU service, which will be billed directly to the student when an exam is scheduled, at $8.75 (30-min. exam), $14.75 (1-hr. exam), $21.50 (90-min. and 2-hour exam), or $30.25 (3-hour exam).
- Other fees: Some courses can require additional fees, such as the Amazon Web Services cloud programming platform used for the cloud computing courses
Financial Assistance
The Siebel School of Computing and Data Science does not offer research or teaching assistantships to students enrolled in our online programs, including the Online MCS. The Online MCS program is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and enrolled students are eligible for financial assistance. See the Office of Student Financial Aid for further information.
Get Updates
If you are interested in receiving updates about the Online MCS, please complete Coursera's Interest Form.
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