“The floodgates for data creation have been thrown wide open such that data in its various forms like numbers, pictures and text are now being created at a very fast rate. This is an opportunity for our students who may be working in companies that deal with large volumes of data to seize the various career opportunities that could evolve from getting a graduate degree in Data Science,” says Jim Panos, senior vice president of EduCo’s North American operations.
The University of Maryland Baltimore County’s graduate program in Data Science is opening many opportunities for international students who plan to pursue a graduate degree since big data in almost any modern discipline – from science and technology to business to arts, the humanities and social sciences – need to be collated and interpreted so that the information that it provides could be useful.
Dr Anupam Joshi, chair of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering and director of Cybersecutiry Center at UMBC, has emphasised the importance of a graduate degree in data science and how it will impact many industries. He adds, “There are volumes and volumes of data that are now accessible and have to be analysed with the information extracted. That’s the value of a graduate degree in data science.”

UMBC Graduate School’s unique program

UMBC’s data science graduate program was created for those without a computer science background but whose work involves extensive data analysis. It is for those whose work has evolved due to the large volume of data that they need to analyse for decision-making. “What’s unique about our program is we created it for those who didn’t intend to be a computer scientist but have decided, anyway, to learn data science due to the nature of their job and the way it has evolved. They could have a business degree but all of a sudden it became really important to know how to work with data. So I think it’s exciting,” explains Allison Jones, director of Program Development of UMBC’s Division of Professional Studies.