COMPUTER & DATA SCIENCE
Become a Data Guru
The Bachelor of Science (BS) STEM major in Computer and Data Science prepares students to apply an understanding of computer platforms and systems, human-machine interactions, and IT operations, as well as gain quantitative proficiency in data gathering, data analytics, and insight generation to tackle organizational and societal problems effectively and creatively.
Providing students with solid foundation in research methods, mathematics for statistics, visualization techniques, and the latest methods in machine learning and big data wrangling, this major is for analytically-inclined students who are interested in starting careers as IT product and project managers, researchers, data scientists, or simply in applying quantitative learning to solve real world problems in any career setting. The major is at its core interdisciplinary in the fact that it combines courses from computer science, social science, statistics, and business to prepare students to enter a technology-intensive and data-rich world in need of creative and critical thinking.
This major lays the foundations of learning programming languages such as R, Python, and SQL while students expand their potential to make new and exciting contributions, communicate their results, and tell stories with data that are convincing to experts and non-experts alike.
Required and Elective Courses
required for major
- Data Visualization and Information Design
- Data Analytics & Insight
- Data Ethics & Algorithmic Justice
- Data Science for Business
- IT, Data, and Privacy
- Law, Regulation, and Strategy
- Mind and Virtual Reality
- Mind, Body, and Machines
- Product Strategy & Product Mgmt
- Project Management
electives towards the major
- Behavioral Economics
- Design Thinking
- Innovation and Creativity
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Memory and Learning
- Organizational Innovation
- Prospecting the Future
- Research Methodology and Design
- Serious Games
- Independent Study
- Internship / Practicum / Independent Study
Learning Outcomes
NewU Students majoring in Computer & Data Science will graduate being able to
- Begin using SQL to retrieve and manipulate data
- Apply scientific reasoning in exploring social phenomena
- Begin using a programming language such as R or Python
- Present information in the most clear, concise, and appealing way
- Learn how to collect data, use APIs, scrape the web, and wrangle big data
- Understand IT architecture structures and management information systems
- Be able to analyze data, draw conclusions, and present results to non-experts
- Learn machine learning techniques, including supervised and unsupervised learning
- Think creatively and critically about how technologies affect human perceptions, memory, work, relationships, and physical environments
Pursue a Career as a
Software Developer
Median Salary per Year* - $118,000
Data Analyst
Median Salary per Year* - $87,000
Machine Learning Engineer
Median Salary per Year* - $180,000
Cybersecurity Specialist
Median Salary per Year* - $115,000
Database Administrator
Median Salary per Year* - $104,000
Data Scientist
Median Salary per Year* - $135,000
Information Security Analyst
Median Salary per Year* - $94,000
Web Developer
Median Salary per Year* - $94,000
IT Consultant
Median Salary per Year* - $91,000
* Source: Indeed.com based on Washington, DC market 2023 data