Data Science Minor

Butler’s minor in Data Science offers Butler undergraduate students, across most any major, an opportunity to complement and enhance their knowledge with the skills to create data-based actionable insights to improve decision-making in their chosen fields. The program is designed to provide undergraduate students the mathematical, statistical, and computer programming tools necessary to broaden their disciplinary education, preparing them for success in an increasingly data-driven world.

A minor in Data Science is an ideal vehicle for students whose passion may be in the social sciences, the natural sciences, health sciences, engineering, economics, or business to gain useful and marketable technical skills that will prepare them for graduate training in Data Science/Data Analytics as well as give them broader skills immediately applicable to the workplace. The required courses can be customized so that students can choose options that allow them to develop competencies that will complement their majors.

What we offer:

  • Basic core courses in the vital areas of mathematics and statistics built around Butler’s small class sizes, with direct faculty contact and free tutoring services to ensure student success
  • Rigorous training in core areas of computer science at a liberal arts school with the resources of a premier tech school including the Big Dawg supercomputer
  • Specialized courses developed for the minor that introduce students to the tools of Data Science using the open Data Science concept with access to programming and analytic tools and data sets from across the globe
  • The ability to build a minor that is well integrated with the student’s major affording them opportunities to apply Data Science to their specific field
  • Opportunities for internships in the local Indianapolis community where students can apply their modeling, data analytic, communication skills in real-world settings.
Course Requirements

Content Core (18 or 19 if MA106 is taken):

  • MA 162 Intro. to Statistics (3)
  • CS 142 Intro. to Programming (3)
  • DS 310 Intro. to Data Science (3)
  • MA 106 Calculus I (4) or MA 125 Business Calculus (3)
  • CS 151 Foundations of Computing 1 (3)
  • DS 320 Applications of Data Mining (3)

Electives (6 hours selected from ANY of the courses below):

  • Data Science Electives
    • DS 394 Internship in Data Science  
    • DS 396 Independent Study  
    • DS 398 Special Topics in Data Science    
  • Computer Science Electives
    • CS 248 Object Oriented Programming and Data Structures (3)
    • CS 333 Database Systems (3)
    • CS 351 Algorithms (3)
    • SE 361 Object Oriented Design
  • Math and Statistics Electives
    • MA 360 Probability Theory 1 (3)
    • MA 361 Statistical Methods (3)
    • MA 362 Applied Statistical Methods (3)
    • MA 365 Numerical Analysis (3)
    • MA 369 Multivariate Statistical Methods (3)
    • MA 397 Actuarial Mathematics 1 (3)
    • MA 398 Actuarial Mathematics 2 (3)
  • Other Electives
    • EC 464 Quantitative Methods (3)
    • MS 372 Database Design (3)
    • MS 495 Special Topics / Data Analytics Using R (3)
    • PS 310 Advanced Statistics in Psychology (3)
    • MSTE 330 Data Acquisition in Motorsports I (3)
    • MSTE 330 Data Acquisition in Motorsports 2 (3)
    • SP 455 Spanish Second Language Acquisition (3)

The information found on this website with respect to major/minor/program requirements is primarily directed at providing prospective students a general roadmap of the curriculum. Current Butler students are expected to review their degree audit report at my.butler.edu and speak with their advisor regularly for detailed information regarding their specific degree requirements and their progress toward degree completion.