Central College to offer data science major this fall

Central College will begin offering a new degree program this fall aimed at preparing students for data-focused professions across a number of industries.

The Pella private college announced in a news release the launch of a new data science major, described as an interdisciplinary major that will allow students to apply their own passions to their learning and instill skills spanning STEM, social sciences and humanities.

Emphases will be placed on “written and oral communication and ethical responsibility” within the program, the release stated, and all enrolled students are required to complete a senior capstone project to complete their degree.

Examples provided in the release included analyzing data on movement and athletic performance from wearable technology; tracking digital behavior by studying social media data; informing public health responses from disease, mortality rate and vaccinations data, and interpreting and presenting data results in written and oral forms.

Data science as a career is expected to grow by 34% between 2024 and 2034, the release stated, and job openings are predicted to be as many as 23,400 annually, pushed by demand in industries like healthcare, business and government.

“Data is everywhere in today’s society,” said Wendy Weber, Central College mathematics professor and a leader in developing the major, in the release. “This program is designed to give students marketable abilities to visualize, interpret and communicate data analysis across many different contexts.”