The United States has thousands of degree-granting postsecondary institutions. The National Center for Education Statistics counted 3,896 such institutions in the 2022–23 academic year. U.S. colleges and universities hosted 1,177,766 international students in 2024/25. Students comparing institutions can explore our pages for MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, as well as our guide to universities around the world. Many universities in the United States offer master’s programs in data science. The programs below differ in curriculum, study format, and schedule, so prospective students should review each university’s current program page before applying. This numbered list is a selection of programs to consider, not a formal ranking.
Top Schools Offering Data Science Master’s Programs in the USA
1. Stanford University
Stanford University has seven schools: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Law, Medicine, and Sustainability. Stanford reports 7,289 undergraduate students and 10,025 graduate students as of Autumn Quarter 2025. The Department of Statistics offers an M.S. in Statistics, Data Science track. The 45-unit program is not offered online. It develops mathematical, statistical, computational, and programming skills and takes an average of five quarters to complete.
2. Columbia University
Columbia University, founded as King’s College in 1754, is located in New York City. Its MS in Data Science is jointly offered in collaboration with the Department of Statistics, the Department of Computer Science, and the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. The program requires 21 credits of core coursework and at least 9 elective credits. Core coursework covers algorithms, statistical inference, machine learning, data analysis, and scalable data systems. Students also complete a capstone project.
3. University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley School of Information offers the online Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS). The 27-unit program is designed for working professionals and offers accelerated, standard, and decelerated paths. The standard path can be completed in 20 months with two courses per semester. With approval from UC Berkeley, students may follow an accelerated path of as few as 12 months or a decelerated path of no more than 32 months.
4. University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880. USC Viterbi’s Data Science Program lists multiple master’s-level options. The Master of Science in Applied Data Science trains students to address real-world challenges through data management and data analytics. Interdisciplinary examples include the Master of Science in Environmental Data Science, jointly offered with USC Dornsife, and the Master of Science in Healthcare Data Science, jointly offered with the Keck School of Medicine.
5. Georgetown University
Georgetown University, established in 1789, is a private Catholic and Jesuit research university. Georgetown reports nine schools and more than 22,000 undergraduate and graduate students taking classes at five locations, including its Qatar campus.
Georgetown’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences offers a Master of Science in Data Science & Analytics. The interdisciplinary degree requires 30 credits and is available through full-time or part-time study. Full-time students can complete the program in as few as 16 months, while part-time students can take up to three years. The curriculum allows students to focus on areas such as deep learning, big data, cloud computing, advanced natural language processing, large language models, and artificial intelligence.
6. Michigan State University
Michigan State University (MSU) offers a cross-disciplinary Master of Science in Data Science program shared by the College of Engineering and the College of Natural Science. The program is a collaboration among the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering; the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; and the Department of Statistics and Probability. The 30-credit degree includes 18 required credits, 9 elective credits, and a 3-credit capstone course.
The capstone involves an applied, industrial, or governmental data science project. In her scholarship story, Mahnoor Sheikh, a master’s student from Pakistan, describes her studies as combining foundational work in statistics and data analysis with advanced electives in machine learning and statistics. She also explains that the coursework balances theory and practice and that a machine-learning course strengthened her interest in the field.
The United States offers a broad range of master’s programs in data science. The programs above include online and non-online options, as well as full-time and part-time study formats. Prospective students should compare curricula, delivery formats, timelines, and tuition before applying.
We hope this article on universities in the USA with master’s programs in data science was helpful. Make sure to also check out our Data Science Open Courses and Guide to Studying in the USA sections for more information about available programs and financial aid in the United States.
