Best Data Scientist programs in Kansas, ranked by enrollment
Develop and implement a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software.
27 schools in Kansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 961 people a year. The job pays a median of $98,130 in Kansas across about 490 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Kansas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
16 programs in Kansas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Kansas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Kansas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1301In Kansas → | 256 | 26.6% | 8 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0701In Kansas → | 238 | 24.8% | 12 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 3 | CIP 27.0101In Kansas → | 166 | 17.3% | 21 | $48,772 | $21,544 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0103In Kansas → | 122 | 12.7% | 4 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 5 | CIP 27.0501In Kansas → | 47 | 4.9% | 1 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 6 | CIP 45.0603In Kansas → | 31 | 3.2% | 4 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 7 | CIP 27.0601In Kansas → | 29 | 3.0% | 2 | — | — |
| 8 | Data Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 30.7001In Kansas → | 26 | 2.7% | 3 | — | — |
| 9 | CIP 11.0802In Kansas → | 21 | 2.2% | 1 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 10 | CIP 27.0301In Kansas → | 9 | 0.9% | 3 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 11 | CIP 11.0804In Kansas → | 5 | 0.5% | 1 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 12 | CIP 30.7101In Kansas → | 4 | 0.4% | 2 | — | — |
| 13 | CIP 26.1104In Kansas → | 3 | 0.3% | 1 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 14 | CIP 11.0102In Kansas → | 2 | 0.2% | 1 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 15 | CIP 27.0399In Kansas → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 16 | CIP 27.0503In Kansas → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
Top 25 schools in Kansas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 27 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wichita State University Wichita, KS Public · 9 feeder programs | 298 | Computer Science | $64,699 | 51% | — | 94% |
| 2 | University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Public · 7 feeder programs | 244 | Management Science | $62,993 | 69% | — | 93% |
| 3 | Kansas State University Manhattan, KS Public · 6 feeder programs | 142 | Management Science | — | 71% | — | 82% |
| 4 | Emporia State University Emporia, KS Public · 4 feeder programs | 61 | Information Technology | — | 56% | — | 98% |
| 5 | Southwestern College Winfield, KS Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 34 | Computer Science | — | 36% | $26,868 | 76% |
| 6 | Benedictine College Atchison, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Computer Science | — | 62% | $24,826 | 98% |
| 7 | Pittsburg State University Pittsburg, KS Public · 3 feeder programs | 22 | Computer Science | — | 57% | — | 89% |
| 8 | Johnson County Community College Overland Park, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration | — | 31% | — | — |
| 9 | Washburn University Topeka, KS Public · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Mathematics, General | — | 53% | — | — |
| 10 | Butler Community College El Dorado, KS Public · 3 feeder programs | 17 | Computer Science | — | 32% | — | — |
| 11 | MidAmerica Nazarene University Olathe, KS Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 13 | Management Science | — | 54% | $28,845 | 79% |
| 12 | Newman University Wichita, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 13 | Data Science, General | — | 53% | $18,520 | 74% |
| 13 | Sterling College Sterling, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 11 | Management Science | — | 41% | $22,406 | 48% |
| 14 | Ottawa University - Ottawa Ottawa, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 8 | Computer Science | — | 28% | $26,935 | 83% |
| 15 | Baker University Baldwin City, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Computer Science | — | 58% | $21,404 | 94% |
| 16 | Donnelly College Kansas City, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Information Technology | — | 46% | $15,557 | — |
| 17 | Ottawa University - Online Overland Park, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 4 | Computer Science | — | 43% | — | — |
| 18 | University of Saint Mary Leavenworth, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Applied Mathematics, General | — | 48% | $22,730 | 87% |
| 19 | Fort Hays State University Hays, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Mathematics, General | — | 48% | — | 90% |
| 20 | Independence Community College Independence, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Computer Science | — | 26% | — | — |
| 21 | Tabor College Hillsboro, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 3 | Mathematics, General | — | 34% | $20,022 | 65% |
| 22 | Bethany College Lindsborg, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Mathematics, General | — | 36% | $28,916 | 56% |
| 23 | Ottawa University - Kansas City Overland Park, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Mathematics, General | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Bethel College - North Newton North Newton, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Mathematics, General | — | 41% | $23,560 | 94% |
| 25 | Dodge City Community College Dodge City, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Mathematics, General | — | 35% | — | — |
All 27 schools in Kansas
Every school in Kansas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State University | Wichita | Public | 298 | 9 |
| University of Kansas | Lawrence | Public | 244 | 7 |
| Kansas State University | Manhattan | Public | 142 | 6 |
| Emporia State University | Emporia | Public | 61 | 4 |
| Southwestern College | Winfield | Private not-for-profit | 34 | 3 |
| Benedictine College | Atchison | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 2 |
| Pittsburg State University | Pittsburg | Public | 22 | 3 |
| Johnson County Community College | Overland Park | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Washburn University | Topeka | Public | 18 | 2 |
| Butler Community College | El Dorado | Public | 17 | 3 |
| MidAmerica Nazarene University | Olathe | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 3 |
| Newman University | Wichita | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 2 |
| Sterling College | Sterling | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 2 |
| Ottawa University - Ottawa | Ottawa | Private not-for-profit | 8 | 2 |
| Baker University | Baldwin City | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 2 |
What data scientists earn in Kansas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $120,230. Kansas pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Kansas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Data Scientists page.
How to become a Data Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Kansas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Data Scientists25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0802Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 26.1104Computational Biology
- 26.1199Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Other
- 27.0101Mathematics, General
- 27.0301Applied Mathematics, General
- 27.0303Computational Mathematics
- 27.0304Computational and Applied Mathematics
- 27.0305Financial Mathematics
- 27.0306Mathematical Biology
- 27.0399Applied Mathematics, Other
- 27.0501Statistics, General
- 27.0502Mathematical Statistics and Probability
- 27.0503Mathematics and Statistics
- 27.0601Applied Statistics, General
- 27.9999Mathematics and Statistics, Other
- 30.0801Mathematics and Computer Science
- 30.3001Computational Science
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4801Linguistics and Computer Science
- 30.7001Data Science, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing data scientists programs in Kansas.
What degree do you need to become a Data Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Management Science, which awarded 256 degrees in Kansas in 2024-25, 26.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Data Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 16 programs to this occupation. The largest are Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Computer Science, Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences, plus 8 more. Together they graduate about 961 people a year in Kansas.
How much do data scientists earn in Kansas?+
The median is $98,130 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.4% below the U.S. median of $120,230. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for data scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +33.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 23,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Kansas?+
27 institutions in Kansas reported graduates from at least one of the 16 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do data scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Intelligence Analyst, Clinical Data Manager, Data Management Manager, Market Intelligence Consultant, Competitive Intelligence Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-2051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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