About

An eleven-week certificate program covering data science and Big Data principles and techniques for IT professionals and business decision-makers

DePaul University's Data Science for Business Program is designed for IT professionals and business decision-makers to understand the fundamental principles of data science and be able to apply them to their business. These principles underpin the processes and strategies necessary to solve business problems through "data-analytic thinking"-necessary for extracting useful knowledge and business value from Big Data. Participants will learn about and understand many different data mining techniques in use today. The program provides a broad overview of concepts, techniques, and algorithms in Machine Learning, data analysis, R language, recommender systems, cloud computing, and data visualization for business. The program aims to prepare students with analytical and practical skills emphasizing breadth and depth in a range of relevant disciplines and capabilities in data sciences and Big Data analytics for the business.

Program content consists of lectures and demonstrations complemented with hands-on labs. Students will use a variety of tools and techniques such as Microsoft Azure™ Machine Learning Studio, IBM Watson Analytics, Google Machine Learning, and AWS Machine Learning modules to learn best practices and real-world scenarios. Reading assignments, case studies, group discussions, and projects will be assigned. Exploration of some cloud services may only be accessible via the use of a student’s own credit card. Students should expect to spend a small fee to access these services.

Students in this program will learn to:

• Understand business challenges and determine the most appropriate type of analysis to solve problems
• Describe the role and responsibilities of a data scientist. Explain several ways in which data scientists create value for organizations across many industry sectors.
• Experiment with different open source software products and technologies
• Have a good understanding of the capabilities provided by various data analysis methods and apply the appropriate ones to provide end-to-end solutions for the business
• Gather social media data for text analysis and sentiment analysis
• Use various data visualization tools to present correlations and patterns

For a complete program description, download the program's brochure

Dates

Spring Quarter 2023:

This session is now closed.

Fees

Spring Quarter 2023

Tuition

• $2,665.00

Full payment of tuition must be received before the start of the program. Students who elect to pay tuition using a credit or debit card will be assessed a non-refundable 2.75% convenience fee.

Refund/Cancellation Policy: DePaul reserves the right to cancel any program before that program’s first scheduled meeting, in which case tuition fees (but not convenience fees) will be refunded. The university's refund policy allows a return of 100% of tuition if the student drops the Data Science for Business Program by April 11, 2023 (convenience fees will not be refunded).

Notice for Current DePaul Students

• Undergraduates: Please be aware that the tuition fee for this program is not included in the university’s full-time term package pricing.

Application Fee

• $40.00non-refundable

Each program requires a $40.00 (non-refundable) application fee that can be paid online (via credit card) during the online application process. If you need to pay this fee by check or money order, please make the check or money order payable to DePaul University and send it to:

DePaul University Institute for Professional Development
243 S. Wabash Avenue
Room 301
Chicago, IL 60604

Textbooks

Textbooks are a separate purchase to be made by students.

Reading materials for certificate programs consist of textbooks and supplementary handouts. Textbook readings are considered preparatory in nature and are typically assigned prior to lectures; supplementary handouts are frequently distributed in class to provide additional information.

Textbooks TBA.

Other Fees

CTA U-Pass Fee: Any IPD certificate program student who enrolls in a full-time course load (8 graduate or 12 undergraduate credit hours) and where at least one course is taught at an on-campus location will be automatically enrolled in the University’s CTA U-Pass program. The CTA U-Pass program provides unlimited rides on CTA transport and it requires that all eligible students participate in the program. The cost of the CTA U-Pass is $105.00 per quarter. Students who meet the eligibility criteria will have this fee added to their student accounts. Students are responsible for this fee regardless of benefit use or card pick-up. Students who are taking courses exclusively online do not qualify for this program. Further information about the U-Pass program is found at upass.depaul.edu.

Payment Options

Fees are payable by check made out to DePaul University, or by credit card. Students who elect to pay tuition using a credit or debit card will be assessed a non-refundable 2.75% convenience fee.

Applicants who are eligible for a tuition reimbursement program offered by their employer and are interested in deferring their tuition payment using the university's Employer Tuition Deferral Plan must return the Employer Tuition Deferral Plan application to the Institute for Professional Development Office. Submitting this application to any other DePaul office may delay the student's registration process. Information about this plan, along with an application form, is found here.

Applicants who wish to use the university's Single Term Payment Plan or a third-party billing arrangement should contact the Institute for Professional Development office at (312) 362-6282 for details.

Scholarships

The Institute for Professional Development is pleased to announce the continuation of a need-based financial award, the Chou Family IPD Scholarship, to provide funding for students interested in our certificate programs in Spring Quarter 2023. Applications for this scholarship will be accepted through March 10, 2023.

Admissions

Admission Requirements

The program is suitable for IT professionals and business decision-makers who will be working with data scientists, managing data science-oriented projects, or investing in data science ventures. Experience with Windows and business software applications is assumed. Programming and a background in statistics is helpful, but not required. In addition, students are required to bring their own laptop computers to class.

Course Credit

The Data Science for Business Program is an accredited course of DePaul University, which follows the quarter system (as opposed to the semester system). Credit hours are awarded to those who successfully complete the program's academic requirements. Academic requirements may include reading and homework assignments, written assignments, labs, projects, and other assignments. No midterm or final exams are conducted.

Course #: IPD 346; 4 undergraduate credit hours

The ability to apply these credit hours to a degree program is always determined by the college granting the degree. To view course transfer guidelines for DePaul's College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM), click here.

Application & Registration Procedure

All interested parties should apply for admission using the Institute for Professional Development's online application; or, download and complete the Application Form and email the form to ipd@cdm.depaul.edu. Upon admission, the Institute office will contact the prospective student with information and instructions about the registration process.

You do not have to be an existing DePaul student to take this certificate program. Registration is restricted to individuals who apply for admission to the program and receive an acceptance letter. IPD staff will register applicants upon receipt of payment and registration form.

Regular DePaul students cannot register themselves via the university's registration system. If interested in enrollment, regular DePaul students should begin by submitting an application for admission. Students must meet the program's admission criteria.