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Data Analytics – Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

McCausland College of Arts and Sciences
Bulletin Year: 2026-2027

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Important: This course plan is a recommended sequence for this major. Courses designated as critical (!) may have a deadline for completion and/or affect time to graduation. Please see the program notes section for details regarding “critical courses” for this particular Program of Study.

Semester One (15-17 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
! ENGL 101 Critical Reading and Composition (CC-CMW) 3 C    
  MATH 122 or MATH 141 Calculus for Bus. Admin. & Soc. Sci. or Calculus 13 (CC-ARP) 3-4 C   C or better in MATH 111/111I/115 (MATH 122); C or better in MATH 112/115/116 (MATH 141); or through placement exam
  STAT 201 or STAT 205 or STAT 206 or STAT 515 Elementary Statistics or Elem. Stat. for Biological & Life Sci. or Elem. Statistics for Business or Statistical Methods I4 (PR) 3 C   See Bulletin Listing
    Foreign Language5 or other Carolina Core Req.6 (CC-GFL) 3-4      
    UNIV 101 The Student in the University or Carolina Core Requirement6 (PR/CC) 3      

Semester Two (16 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
! ENGL 102 Rhetoric and Composition (CC-CMW, CC-INF) 3 C   C or better in ENGL 101
  MATH 170 Finite Mathematics (CC-ARP) 3 C   C or better in MATH 111/111I/122 or through placement exam
  STAT 301 or STAT 516 Statistical Methods for Data Analytics or Statistical Methods II (MR) 3 C   C or better in STAT 201, 205, 206, PSYC 220 or SOCY 392 (STAT 301); C or better in STAT 515, 509, 512 or equivalent (STAT 516)
    Carolina Core SCI Requirement6 (CC-SCI) 4      
    Foreign Language5 or other Carolina Core Req.6 (CC-GFL) 3      

Semester Three (15 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
  CSCE/STAT 587 or STAT 530 Big Data Analytics or Applied Multivariate Stat. & Data Mining (MR) 3 C   C or better in STAT 301, 509, 513 or 515 (CSCE/STAT 587); C or better in STAT 301, 515, 205, 509, 512, ECON 436, MGSC 291 or PSYC 221 (STAT 530)
  CSCE 106 Scientific Applications Programming (CR) 3 C   C or better in MATH 111 or higher (or by Math Placement Test score into MATH 115 or higher)
  MATH 328 Math. Concepts for Data Analytics (CR) 3 C   C or better in MATH 122 or 141 & in 170; Pre or Coreq: C or better in STAT 301 or 516
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    Foreign Language5 or Carolina Core Req.6 (CR/CC) 3      

Semester Four (16 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
    Carolina Core SCI Requirement6 (CC-SCI) 4      
  CSCE 567 Visualization Tools (MR) 3 C   CSCE 145, 106 or 207
  ISCI 215 or ITEC 101 or PHIL 325 Ethics in the Era of Big Data or Thriving in the Tech Age or Engineering Ethics or any CC-VSR8 (CC-VSR) 3 C    
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    History9 (CR) 3      

Semester Five (15 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
    Data Analytics Major Elective10 (MR) 3 C    
  ENGL 363 or ENGL 462 or ENGL 463 Introduction to Professional Writing or Technical Writing or Business Writing11 (CR) 3 C   C or better in ENGL 101 & 102
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    Carolina Core Requirement6 (CC) 3      
    Social Science (CR) 3      

Semester Six (15 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
  STAT 542 Computing for Data Science (MR, CC-INT) 3 C   C or better in STAT 301, 509, 515 or equivalent
    Data Analytics Major Elective10 (MR) 3 C    
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    Carolina Core Requirement6 or Elective12 (CC/PR) 3      
    Carolina Core Requirement6 or Elective12 (CC/PR) 3      

Semester Seven (15 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
    Data Analytics Major Elective10 (MR) 3 C    
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    Elective12 (PR) 3      
    Elective12 (PR) 3      
    Elective12 (PR) 3      

Semester Eight (12-13 Credit Hours)

Critical Course Code Subject and Title Credit Hours Min. Grade1 Major GPA2 Prerequisites
    Data Analytics Major Elective10 (MR) 3 C    
    Minor Course7 (PR) 3 C    
    Elective12 (PR) 3      
    Elective12 (PR) 3      
    Elective12 (only if needed to meet hours to graduate) (PR) 0-1      

Graduation Requirements Summary

Minimum Total Hours Minimum Major Requirements Hours College & Program Requirements Hours Carolina Core Hours Minimum Institutional GPA
120 24 51-64 32-45 2.000
  1. Regardless of individual course grades, students must maintain a minimum 2.000 cumulative GPA.
  2. Some colleges require a minimum GPA for major courses. Courses indicated in this column are included in the major GPA for this program of study.
  3. Students who place into MATH 111/111I/115 will be required to take it before proceeding to MATH 122 or 141. MATH 141 is required for some minors or second majors, such as Physics. A student who is undecided between majoring in Data Analytics and one of Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Statistics should take MATH 141.
  4. This requirement can be met in a variety of ways; please consult with your advisor. STAT 206 is the default recommendation. STAT 205 requires enrollment in a minor or second major such as Biology, Environmental Science, Marine Science and other biological or health science related fields.  STAT 205 is specifically required for some second majors.  STAT 206 is specifically required for some second majors. PSYC 220 is required for a student majoring in Psychology (after taking PSYC 101). SOCY 392 is required for students getting a second major in Sociology.  Some second majors require STAT 509 or STAT 515.  A student who is undecided between majoring in Data Analytics and one of Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Statistics should take STAT 515 or STAT 509 if they meet the prerequisite. 
  5. Students in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences are required to demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language equivalent to the 122 course through course credit or the corresponding foreign language placement score.
  6. The Carolina Core provides the common core of knowledge, skill and academic experience for all Carolina undergraduate students.
  7. Minor: Students in the Data Analytics B.S. must complete a minor of at least 18 hours.  In lieu of a minor, an additional major may be added to a student’s program of study.  A second major within the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences must include all major courses as well as any prescribed courses noted (*) in the bulletin.  Regulations on an additional degree for a second major in another college can be found under Degree/Certificate Conferral and Graduation Policies in the Undergraduate Academic Regulations.  Prescribed courses noted in the bulletin may be shared with Carolina Core, College Requirements, and Program Requirements in the primary program.  The minor or second major may not be from fields closely aligned to data science theory, and the following programs are excluded: Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics Minor; Computer Engineering, B.S.E.; Computer Information Systems, B.S.; Computer Science, B.S.C.S.; Data Science, B.S.; Data Science minor; Mathematics, B.S.; Mathematics minor; Statistics, B.S.; Statistics minor.  Courses applied toward Carolina Core requirements cannot be counted toward the minor.  No course may satisfy both major and minor requirements. 
  8. Ethics in Data Analysis: If ISCI 215 or ITEC 101 or PHIL 325 were not taken to fulfill the Carolina Core VSR requirement with a grade of C or better, then one of the listed ethics/data-analysis courses must be taken in place of an elective.
  9. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences requires one U.S. History and one non-U.S. History course, both of which must be chosen from the approved Carolina Core GHS courses. Whichever is not fulfilled through the Carolina Core GHS requirement must be fulfilled through this college requirement.
  10. Data Analytics Major Electives (12 hours):  Select four courses from the following list, or from STAT 530, or CSCE/STAT 587 that was not taken as a major course.  Some of these courses have prerequisites not required in the program but may be taken as electives, as part of some minors, or to satisfy other requirements: ANTH 323; BIOL/STAT 588; CRJU 512, 582; CSCE 556, 585, CSCE/STAT 588; EPID 410; GEOG 263, 345, 551; ISCI 310, 560; MATH 529; POLI 475; SOCY 391, 562; STAT 506, STAT 531/CSCE 588, 540, 541, STAT/BIOL 588.  Courses that require prerequisite courses in that subject area: ANTH 550; ECON 336, 436, 594; GEOG 563, 564; ITEC 370; SOCY 561.  Courses that may require a Minor in Business Administration and/or MGSC 291: MGMT 425; MGSC 390, 391, 394; MKTG 448, 470. 
  11. A student who has passed MGMT 250 with a grade of C or higher may use another 3-hour Fine Arts/Humanities Course to satisfy this requirement.
  12. No courses of a remedial, developmental, skill-acquiring, or vocational nature may apply as credit toward degrees in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences allows the use of the Pass-Fail option on elective courses.

Program Notes

  • Courses identified as “critical” must be completed in the student’s first 60 semester hours of work in order for these courses to be credited toward graduation.
  • All undergraduate students must take a 3-credit course or its equivalent with a passing grade that covers the founding documents. This course may fulfill any requirement in the program of study. Courses that meet this requirement are listed in the academic bulletin
  • To be retained in the program, a student must obtain a grade of C or higher in at most two attempts in all mathematics, computer science, and statistics courses required for graduation.
  • The last 30 credit hours toward your degree must be earned in residence at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

Code Definitions

University Requirements: Bachelor’s degree-seeking students must meet Carolina Core (general education) requirements.

Code Definition
CC Carolina Core
CC-AIU Carolina Core – Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding
CC-ARP Carolina Core – Analytical Reasoning and Problem-Solving
CC-CMS Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Spoken Component
CC-CMW Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Written Component
CC-GFL Carolina Core – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Foreign Language
CC-GHS Carolina Core – Historical Thinking
CC-GSS Carolina Core – Social Sciences
CC-INF Carolina Core – Information Literacy
CC-INT Carolina Core – Integrative Course
CC-SCI Carolina Core – Scientific Literacy
CC-VSR Carolina Core – Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility
CR College Requirement
MR Major Requirement
PR Program Requirement

Disclaimer: Major maps are only a suggested or recommended sequence of courses required in a program of study. Please contact your academic advisor for assistance in the application of specific coursework to a program of study and course selection and planning for upcoming semesters.


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