University of California - Berkeley School of Information
The School of Information at the University of California Berkeley is all about advancing the knowledge and practice in every way that humans interact with digital technologies. It is the newest yet smallest school—located right in the center of campus. It is a graduate research and education community that is committed to broadening access to information and improving its reliability, usability, and credibility while still preserving privacy and security. This practice requires the knowledge and insight from scholars of diverse fields—design, information and computer science, management, social sciences, policy, and even law. The iSchool offers two professional master's degrees as well as an academic doctoral degree. There are about 120 graduate students and 24 faculty members based on the campus's historic South Hall, and about 350 students attending online through distance education. All together they form a wonderful multidisciplinary collective made up of scholars and practitioners.
The School of Information was created in 1994 as the School of Information Management Systems in response to one of the most compelling challenges of society—to enable people to create, discover, manipulate, share, save, and use information in countless forms. In 2006, it was then dubbed the School of Information. Students are at the heart of the School of Information, with students from 6 continents and all over the United States. Two degrees are offered on campus and one is offered online—allowing academic excellence to come together with camaraderie and intimacy that is important for fostering a successful learning experience.
Master of Information and Data Science
The Master of Information and Data Science program is delivered online through distance education, and prepares data science professionals to become leaders within their field. It blends a multidisciplinary curriculum with an experienced faculty, the flexibility of online learning, and an accomplished network of individuals, this program brings UC Berkeley to wherever the student is. Students in this program will complete a 27 unit program drawing on computer science, social sciences, management, statistics, and law. The program maybe completed full-time, part-time, or accelerated. The full-time path can be completed in 20 months while taking two courses per semester and is designed for working professionals. The part-time path may take up to 32 months to complete while taking one course per semester. The accelerated path allows students to complete the program in as little as 12 months when they take three courses per semester. All of these courses are delivered online students are not only expected but required to attend at least one immersion session lasting 3 to 4 days on the UC Berkeley campus.
Students that are adept in object oriented programming will have to complete 12 units of foundation coursework with 12 units of advanced coursework, and then the additional synthetic capstone coursework. Students that lack the proficiency in object oriented programming will be required to complete the Python for Data Science course as part of a 15 unit foundation for coursework, and then they will be able to complete 9 units of advanced coursework along with the capstone course.
