Data Science and Analytics, MS

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Hyperlink to the Program Student Learning Outcomes

Program Description

The Master of Science with a major in Data Science and Analytics Program (MSDSA) at Kennesaw State University is a 36 semester-hour applied, professional degree program which seeks to prepare a diverse student body to utilize cutting edge data science and analytics methods to enable correct, meaningful inferences from data obtained from business, industry, government, and health services. The MSDSA program is open to all individuals looking to advance their careers in data science and analytics. The MSDSA program focuses on the following areas:

Practical, hands-on experience with programming languages and big data tools, through coursework and applied research experiences.
Application of data science and analytical methods and techniques to mine and visualize data for patterns and relationships.
Identifying, building, and evaluating appropriate models for a variety of data science tasks.
Obtaining, cleaning, processing, and transforming data for analysis and modeling.
Effectively interpreting and communicating analysis methods and findings to any audience, orally, visually, and in written formats.

Students may take up to 9 credit hours in related disciplines (e.g. CS, IT, SWEG, IS) to help complement their data science and analytics education and learn additional computational, analytical, and programming knowledge and skills.

This program is a part of the College of Computing and Software Engineering .

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Admission, Enrollment, and Graduation Policies

Admission Requirements

The following are program-specific requirements beyond the general Graduate Admissions requirements. To be considered for admission to this program, the following application materials must be submitted to the KSU Graduate Admissions Office:

Baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited in a manner accepted by Kennesaw State University.
- Applicants should have mathematics coursework that includes at least Calculus I and Calculus II (Optional).
Minimum cumulative undergraduate adjusted grade-point average of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale.
Other criteria will be considered by the MS Admissions Committee for applicants, including
- coursework
- professional certifications
- relevant work experience
- professional activities

Admission Criteria for Unique Cases

Currently, there are no exceptions to the admission requirements.

Transfer Credits

With approval from the program director, a student may substitute up to nine hours of graduate credit from other institutions, from other graduate programs at Kennesaw State University, or from Special Topics or Directed Study Classes offered within the MSDSA program. To be transferred, course work from other institutions must correspond to Kennesaw State University’s MSDSA curriculum.

Students will need to provide course descriptions and syllabi whenever possible. A minimum grade of “B” must have been received in the course and the course work must be no more than five years old.

Graduation Requirements

Each candidate must petition to graduate at least one semester prior to completion of program requirements. For more information, please view the corresponding section of Academic Policies: 5.0 PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS & GRADUATION .

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Program Course Requirements

Program Requirements

Required Courses (12 Credit Hours)

Select one from the following (3 Credit Hours):

Select two from the following (6 Credit Hours):

Required Project (6 to 9 Credit Hours)

Minimum of 6 credit hours are required. Students can take any of the courses here multiple times for credits. But maximally 9 credit hours can be applied for the degree. A written report (a project proposal, a project status update, or a final project report) is required by the end of each semester when any amount of the credits are taken.

Electives (6 to 9 Credit Hours)

Any other 7XXX or 8XXX courses with a DATA or STAT prefix may be used to complete the degree requirements.
Courses from other graduate programs (IT, CS, SWE, IS) may be used with approval of the graduate program coordinator.