Best degree programs for Data Scientists, ranked by enrollment
34 college programs and 1,957 schools train Data Scientists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $120,230 median wage, 262,440 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
34 college programs at 1,957 schools train data scientists, graduating 287,849 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Computer Science. The job pays a median of $120,230 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About data scientists
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. Apply data mining, data modeling, natural language processing, and machine learning to extract and analyze information from large structured and unstructured datasets. Visualize, interpret, and report data findings. May create dynamic data reports.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
34 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0701 | 88,326 | 30.7% | 1,033 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0103 | 48,440 | 16.8% | 671 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1301 | 35,090 | 12.2% | 360 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 4 | CIP 27.0101 | 23,537 | 8.2% | 1,300 | $48,772 | $21,544 |
| 5 | CIP 45.0603 | 22,866 | 7.9% | 320 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 6 | CIP 30.7102 | 11,181 | 3.9% | 205 | — | — |
| 7 | Data Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 30.7001 | 11,020 | 3.8% | 297 | — | — |
| 8 | CIP 27.0501 | 7,215 | 2.5% | 200 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 9 | CIP 52.1302 | 5,978 | 2.1% | 107 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 10 | CIP 27.0305 | 5,694 | 2.0% | 127 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 11 | CIP 27.0301 | 3,917 | 1.4% | 224 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 12 | CIP 11.0802 | 3,825 | 1.3% | 115 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 13 | Computational Sciencemain feeder CIP 30.3001 | 2,845 | 1.0% | 83 | $50,745 | $27,000 |
| 14 | CIP 30.7101 | 2,672 | 0.9% | 134 | — | — |
| 15 | CIP 30.7104 | 2,582 | 0.9% | 50 | — | — |
| 16 | CIP 11.0102 | 2,576 | 0.9% | 122 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 17 | CIP 30.0801 | 1,855 | 0.6% | 77 | $89,651 | $23,175 |
| 18 | CIP 26.1103 | 1,606 | 0.6% | 101 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 19 | CIP 11.0804 | 1,256 | 0.4% | 48 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 20 | CIP 27.0503 | 956 | 0.3% | 38 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 21 | CIP 27.0304 | 815 | 0.3% | 45 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 22 | CIP 27.0601 | 562 | 0.2% | 38 | — | — |
| 23 | CIP 27.9999 | 548 | 0.2% | 31 | $59,063 | $21,500 |
| 24 | CIP 27.0502 | 476 | 0.2% | 15 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 25 | CIP 26.1104 | 399 | 0.1% | 29 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 26 | CIP 27.0303 | 389 | 0.1% | 22 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 27 | CIP 26.1199 | 308 | 0.1% | 21 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 28 | CIP 30.7199 | 275 | 0.1% | 21 | — | — |
| 29 | CIP 27.0399 | 221 | 0.1% | 18 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 30 | CIP 30.3901 | 149 | 0.1% | 8 | — | — |
| 31 | CIP 30.7103 | 148 | 0.1% | 4 | — | — |
| 32 | Data Science, Othermain feeder CIP 30.7099 | 91 | 0.0% | 13 | — | — |
| 33 | Linguistics and Computer Sciencemain feeder CIP 30.4801 | 17 | 0.0% | 6 | — | — |
| 34 | CIP 27.0306 | 14 | 0.0% | 4 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 17 feeder programs | 4,844 | Management Science | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 2 | Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 4,496 | Information Technology | 46% | $11,580 | — |
| 3 | DeVry University - Illinois Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3,921 | Information Technology | 37% | $32,381 | 98% |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ Public · 14 feeder programs | 3,804 | Computer Science | 68% | — | 90% |
| 5 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 14 feeder programs | 3,468 | Management Science | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 6 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 10 feeder programs | 3,301 | Management Science | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 7 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 13 feeder programs | 2,990 | Computer Science | 85% | — | 42% |
| 8 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 11 feeder programs | 2,989 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | 93% | — | 9% |
| 9 | University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD Public · 14 feeder programs | 2,977 | Computer Science | 89% | — | 45% |
| 10 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 2,921 | Computer Science | 93% | — | 11% |
| 11 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 9 feeder programs | 2,628 | Management Science | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 12 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 14 feeder programs | 2,544 | Computer Science | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 13 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 13 feeder programs | 2,543 | Computer Science | 86% | — | 27% |
| 14 | The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX Public · 11 feeder programs | 2,385 | Business Analytics | 76% | — | 65% |
| 15 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 18 feeder programs | 2,334 | Information Technology | 94% | $23,803 | 12% |
| 16 | Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 2,298 | Computer Science | 43% | $34,565 | 100% |
| 17 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 9 feeder programs | 2,277 | Computer Science | 95% | $17,613 | 9% |
| 18 | Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN Public · 13 feeder programs | 2,185 | Computer Science | 83% | — | 50% |
| 19 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 11 feeder programs | 2,058 | Business Statistics | 94% | $11,888 | 6% |
| 20 | University of North Texas Denton, TX Public · 10 feeder programs | 2,022 | Mathematics and Statistics | 61% | — | 72% |
| 21 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 15 feeder programs | 2,013 | Computer Science | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 22 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 10 feeder programs | 1,976 | Computer Science | 83% | — | 60% |
| 23 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 1,963 | Computer Science | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 24 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 9 feeder programs | 1,900 | Computer Science | 96% | $11,666 | 5% |
| 25 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 10 feeder programs | 1,851 | Mathematics, General | 89% | — | 27% |
| 26 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 1,810 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | 83% | — | 33% |
| 27 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 18 feeder programs | 1,801 | Financial Analytics | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 28 | University of Phoenix - Arizona Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 1,795 | Information Technology | 21% | $15,478 | — |
| 29 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 10 feeder programs | 1,771 | Computer Science | 69% | — | 80% |
| 30 | University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO Public · 4 feeder programs | 1,770 | Computer Science | 54% | — | 64% |
| 31 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 8 feeder programs | 1,767 | Management Science | 91% | — | 15% |
| 32 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 11 feeder programs | 1,712 | Computer Science | 85% | — | 39% |
| 33 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 12 feeder programs | 1,670 | Computer Science | 85% | — | 42% |
| 34 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 1,663 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | 86% | — | 42% |
| 35 | Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 1,604 | Management Science | — | — | — |
| 36 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 11 feeder programs | 1,573 | Computer Science | 87% | — | 29% |
| 37 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 1,572 | Information Technology | 33% | — | — |
| 38 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR Public · 7 feeder programs | 1,469 | Computer Science | 70% | — | 77% |
| 39 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 13 feeder programs | 1,459 | Information Technology | 68% | — | 87% |
| 40 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 1,445 | Computer Science | 75% | $19,899 | 55% |
| 41 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 11 feeder programs | 1,420 | Computer Science | 85% | — | 80% |
| 42 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 9 feeder programs | 1,386 | Computer Science | 74% | — | 78% |
| 43 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 9 feeder programs | 1,378 | Data Science, General | 90% | — | 45% |
| 44 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 1,330 | Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 45 | Emory University Atlanta, GA Private not-for-profit · 10 feeder programs | 1,326 | Management Science | 91% | $20,586 | 11% |
| 46 | Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 14 feeder programs | 1,313 | Business Statistics | 94% | $14,126 | 12% |
| 47 | Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ Private not-for-profit · 11 feeder programs | 1,290 | Computer Science | 87% | $34,827 | 48% |
| 48 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 12 feeder programs | 1,271 | Computer Science | 65% | — | 86% |
| 49 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 12 feeder programs | 1,217 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 50 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 10 feeder programs | 1,209 | Computer Science | 76% | — | 49% |
What data scientists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $141,590 | 39,310 | 1.28× | 213 | 44,727 |
| New York | $130,460 | 23,970 | 1.47× | 135 | 22,316 |
| Illinois | $106,560 | 10,520 | 1.02× | 70 | 20,163 |
| Massachusetts | $131,750 | 9,420 | 1.53× | 63 | 16,856 |
| Texas | $122,090 | 25,860 | 1.09× | 100 | 15,572 |
| North Carolina | $119,090 | 11,430 | 1.37× | 102 | 14,341 |
| Pennsylvania | $106,850 | 13,810 | 1.35× | 106 | 12,858 |
| Arizona | $107,240 | 4,560 | 0.83× | 28 | 10,304 |
| Florida | $115,820 | 10,240 | 0.61× | 71 | 9,225 |
| Utah | $108,090 | 4,360 | 1.49× | 14 | 8,901 |
| Maryland | $136,370 | 3,340 | 0.72× | 36 | 7,973 |
| Indiana | $91,470 | 3,580 | 0.66× | 44 | 7,484 |
| Virginia | $126,430 | 8,920 | 1.29× | 56 | 6,962 |
| Missouri | $97,090 | 4,730 | 0.95× | 38 | 6,899 |
| Georgia | $104,340 | 9,260 | 1.12× | 43 | 6,542 |
| Ohio | $102,630 | 6,100 | 0.65× | 63 | 6,289 |
| Colorado | $117,400 | 6,280 | 1.29× | 27 | 5,691 |
| New Jersey | $135,280 | 6,430 | 0.89× | 41 | 5,666 |
| Michigan | $100,590 | 7,360 | 0.99× | 53 | 4,617 |
| Washington | $163,350 | 9,600 | 1.60× | 42 | 4,530 |
| Connecticut | $126,340 | 1,760 | 0.61× | 19 | 4,313 |
| Tennessee | $100,330 | 2,790 | 0.50× | 51 | 3,943 |
| Minnesota | $128,800 | 4,020 | 0.81× | 42 | 3,832 |
| New Hampshire | $100,620 | 1,100 | 0.95× | 13 | 3,614 |
| Kentucky | $91,760 | 1,540 | 0.46× | 25 | 3,199 |
| Wisconsin | $106,680 | 4,370 | 0.88× | 34 | 3,190 |
| District of Columbia | $126,490 | 2,680 | 2.27× | 10 | 2,622 |
| Oregon | $125,990 | 2,140 | 0.65× | 22 | 2,506 |
| Alabama | $103,120 | 1,740 | 0.49× | 26 | 2,148 |
| Louisiana | $78,760 | 1,300 | 0.40× | 26 | 2,106 |
| Oklahoma | $86,310 | 1,900 | 0.66× | 32 | 1,779 |
| Idaho | $89,380 | 1,350 | 0.94× | 9 | 1,705 |
| Iowa | $95,830 | 2,300 | 0.87× | 32 | 1,676 |
| Arkansas | $109,390 | 530 | 0.24× | 28 | 1,608 |
| Rhode Island | $102,440 | 1,160 | 1.37× | 10 | 1,485 |
| South Carolina | $91,990 | 3,750 | 0.96× | 27 | 1,386 |
| Nebraska | $98,230 | 1,980 | 1.15× | 16 | 1,105 |
| Kansas | $98,130 | 490 | 0.20× | 27 | 961 |
| Maine | $90,880 | 1,210 | 1.12× | 13 | 828 |
| West Virginia | $85,090 | 390 | 0.33× | 21 | 806 |
| Nevada | $98,540 | 1,680 | 0.64× | 5 | 738 |
| Delaware | — | 770 | 0.94× | 6 | 711 |
| Mississippi | $69,490 | 440 | 0.23× | 23 | 701 |
| Vermont | $127,070 | 200 | 0.38× | 9 | 553 |
| New Mexico | $95,850 | 560 | 0.38× | 14 | 436 |
| Hawaii | $102,130 | 300 | 0.29× | 7 | 390 |
| Montana | $100,490 | 220 | 0.25× | 9 | 308 |
| South Dakota | $96,150 | 220 | 0.29× | 12 | 276 |
| North Dakota | $81,900 | 210 | 0.29× | 9 | 273 |
| Alaskamoderate | $84,110 | 230 | 0.43× | 3 | 70 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Generate standard or custom reports summarizing business, financial, or economic data for review by executives, managers, clients, and other stakeholders.
- Maintain or update business intelligence tools, databases, dashboards, systems, or methods.
- Manage timely flow of business intelligence information to users.
- Provide technical support for existing reports, dashboards, or other tools.
- Identify and analyze industry or geographic trends with business strategy implications.
- Document specifications for business intelligence or information technology reports, dashboards, or other outputs.
- Create business intelligence tools or systems, including design of related databases, spreadsheets, or outputs.
- Collect business intelligence data from available industry reports, public information, field reports, or purchased sources.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Active Listening3.9
- Speaking3.9
- Active Learning3.8
- Writing3.8
- Mathematics3.5
- Monitoring3.4
Knowledge areas
- Computers and Electronics4.1
- English Language3.9
- Mathematics3.5
- Customer and Personal Service3.4
- Administration and Management3.0
- Education and Training2.6
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Inductive Reasoning3.9
- Written Expression3.9
- Deductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Working with Computers4.7
- Processing Information4.6
- Getting Information4.5
- Analyzing Data or Information4.4
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
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.
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
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
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 Computer Science, which awarded 88,326 degrees in 2024-25, 30.7% 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 34 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Science, Computer and Information Sciences, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Mathematics, plus 13 more. Together they graduate about 287,849 people a year.
How much do data scientists earn?+
The median is $120,230 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $67,240 at the 10th percentile to $199,130 at the 90th. 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?+
1,957 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 34 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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