Program: Data Science, B.S. - Middle Tennessee State University

Apr 04, 2025

2020-21 Undergraduate Catalog

Lisa Green, program coordinator
Lisa.Green@mtsu.edu
615-898-5775

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that covers the use of data to make decisions, gain insight, or develop knowledge. Data scientists combine skills from computer science, statistics, and business analytics. Students will start from a business understanding of the question at hand, using it to inform and understanding the data available, then use skills in the preparation and display of data and in the modeling of data to evaluate the issue at hand. Finally, they will deploy the model they created in order to ensure that it is widely used. A capstone project or internship will allow students to follow the process of data science in a real-world setting and will ensure that they have a portfolio of work to show prospective employers.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

Data Science, B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

General Education	41 hours
Major Requirements	45 hours
Data Science Electives	12 hours
Supporting Courses	7 hours*
Electives	15-21 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the General Education curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill General Education requirements, the number of elective hours may vary.

General Education (41 hours)

General Education requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in Communication, History, Humanities and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences.

The following courses required by the program meet General Education requirements:

MATH 1910 (Math)
ECON 2410 (Soc/Beh Sci)

Major Requirements (45 hours)

BIA 3620 - Introduction to Business Analytics 3 credit hours
CSCI 1170 - Computer Science I 4 credit hours
CSCI 2170 - Computer Science II 4 credit hours
DATA 1500 - Introduction to Data Science 3 credit hours
DATA 3500 - Data Cleansing and Feature Engineering 3 credit hours
DATA 3550 - Applied Predictive Modeling 3 credit hours
DATA 4950 - Data Science Capstone 3 credit hours
INFS 4790 - Database Design and Development 3 credit hours
MATH 2110 - Data Analysis 1 credit hour
MATH 2530 - Applied Statistics II 3 credit hours
BIA 2610 - Statistical Methods 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours

Data Science Cognate (12 hours)

Choose one cognate from the following:

Supporting Courses (7 hours)

ECON 2410 - Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics 3 credit hours (may be counted in General Education)
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (may be counted in General Education)

Electives/Minor (15-21 hours)

Minor strongly recommended

Curriculum: Data Science

Curricular listings include General Education requirements in Communication, History, Humanities and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.

Students should consult their advisors each semester to plan their schedules.

Freshman Fall

DATA 1500 - Introduction to Data Science 3 credit hours
ENGL 1010 - Expository Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (Math)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Freshman Spring

ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
ECON 2410 - Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics 3 credit hours (Soc/Beh Sci)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours OR
BIA 2610 - Statistical Methods 3 credit hours
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Sophomore Fall

ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
ENGL 2030 - The Experience of Literature 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
HUM 2610 - Foreign Literature in Translation 3 credit hours (Hum/FA)
CSCI 1170 - Computer Science I 4 credit hours
MATH 2530 - Applied Statistics II 3 credit hours
Natural Sciences 4 credit hours
Social/Behavioral Sciences 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 17 Hours

Sophomore Spring

COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication 3 credit hours
CSCI 2170 - Computer Science II 4 credit hours
MATH 2110 - Data Analysis 1 credit hour
Elective/minor 3 credit hours
Natural Sciences 4 credit hours

Academic Map

Degree Requirements

General Education (41 hours)

Major Requirements (45 hours)

Data Science Cognate (12 hours)

Inferential Thinking

Business Intelligence

Machine Learning

Data Science Electives (12 hours)

Supporting Courses (7 hours)

Electives/Minor (15-21 hours)

Curriculum: Data Science

Freshman Fall

Subtotal: 16 Hours

Freshman Spring

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Sophomore Fall

Subtotal: 17 Hours

Sophomore Spring

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Junior Fall

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Junior Spring

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Senior Fall

Subtotal: 15 Hours

Senior Spring

Subtotal: 12 Hours