University of San Francisco - College of Arts & Sciences
MS in Data ScienceSan Francisco, USA
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Jun 2025
TUITION FEES
USD 39,840 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for living on campus and living in off-campus housing
Key Summary
Introduction
The Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS) is a full-time, one-year program housed at USF’s downtown San Francisco campus.
Commencing annually in early July, this comprehensive 35-unit program offers a state-of-the-art curriculum in AI and data science. Specifically designed for students with aspirations to excel as data scientists, machine learning engineers, data engineers, and AI engineers, the program covers a wide array of courses, including Data Processing, Visualization, A/B testing, Python, SQL, NoSQL database management, Spark, AWS, and other cloud computing tools, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Generative AI, Large Language Models, and other advanced topics. Furthermore, the program places a strong emphasis on fostering business acumen that’s essential for strategically applying this knowledge across industries, including a course on data science-specific resume writing and interview preparation.
Admissions
Curriculum
Major Requirements (35 units)
Linear Algebra Exam
- All students must pass a linear algebra exam before the beginning of the Fall semester to demonstrate competency. Students have two attempts to pass the exam and are provided with ten hours of video resources and practice questions.
Required Courses (35 units)
- MSDS 501 - Computation for Data Science
- MSDS 504 - Review Probability and Statistics
- MSDS 593 - Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization
- MSDS 601 - Linear Regression Analysis
- MSDS 603 - Data Science Entrepreneurship
- MSDS 604 - Time Series Analysis
- MSDS 605 - Data Science Practicum I
- MSDS 610 - Communication for Data Science
- MSDS 621 - Introduction to Machine Learning
- MSDS 625 - Data Science Practicum II
- MSDS 627 - Data Science Practicum III
- MSDS 629 - Experiments in Data Science
- MSDS 630 - Advanced Machine Learning
- MSDS 631 - Special Topics in Data Science
- MSDS 632 - Data Science Practicum IV
- MSDS 633 - Ethics in Data Science
- MSDS 634 - Deep Learning
- MSDS 689 - Data Structures and Algorithms
- MSDS 691 - Relational Databases
- MSDS 692 - Data Acquisition
- MSDS 694 - Distributed Computing
- MSDS 697 - Distributed Data Systems
- MSDS 699 - Machine Learning Laboratory
Seminars
- MSDS 640 - Seminar Series I
- MSDS 641 - Seminar Series II
- MSDS 642 - Seminar Series III
- MSDS 643 - Seminar Series IV
- MSDS 644 - Seminar Series V
Program Outcome
Students will:
- Possess a theoretical understanding of classical statistical models (e.g., generalized linear models, linear time series models, etc.), as well as the ability to apply those models effectively
- Possess a theoretical understanding of machine learning techniques (e.g., random forests, neural networks, naive Bayes, k-means, etc.), as well as the ability to apply those techniques effectively.
- Effectively use modern programming languages (e.g., R, Python, SQL, etc.) and technologies (AWS, Hive, Spark, Hadoop, etc.) to scrape, clean, organize, query, summarize, visualize, and model large volumes and varieties of data.
- Prepare for careers as data scientists by solving real-world, data-driven, business problems with other data scientists, and understanding the social, ethical, legal, and policy issues that increasingly challenge and confront data scientists.
- Develop professional communication skills (e.g., presentations, interviews, email etiquette, etc.), and begin integrating with the Bay Area data science community.
Scholarships and Funding
The MSCS program offers a limited number of merit-based scholarships to incoming and current graduate students, both domestic and international, on a competitive basis.
MSCS Admission Scholarship
Awarded to incoming MSCS applicants with outstanding applications from all backgrounds. Approximate awards range up to $5k over the first year of study.
MSCS Merit Scholarship
Awarded to incoming MSCS applicants with outstanding applications from all backgrounds, or current MSCS graduate students who demonstrate outstanding skills and leadership. Approximate awards range from $5–10k over one to two semesters.
The Dean's Scholarship
An award of up to $15,000 to use toward tuition, research, and conference travel. Connect with other Dean's Scholarship recipients and leaders across the College of Arts & Sciences. Serve as a program representative to USF donor initiatives to help transform the lives of other USF students. Please see the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Scholarships website for more information.
Double Dons Scholarship
USF Alumni and current students can be awarded the USF Double Dons Scholarship upon admission. The scholarship covers 20% of the program tuition, and may not be stacked with other USF scholarship awards. Exceptions may apply.
Career Opportunities
MS in Data Science students benefit from a strong in-house career services program as well as access to the Career Services Center provided by the University. The in-house program is built by our faculty specifically for our students.
Interview Skills and Career Workshops
All students are required to complete 10 hours of interview skills training outside of class time provided by the program. This includes a series of workshops that cover job search coaching, resume and cover letter preparation, technical interviewing, salary negotiation, and more. Each year, the program invites alumni to facilitate mock interviews with current students to provide valuable practice and feedback.