Data Science Undergraduate Studies

Already ranked #1 in the country by U.S. News and World Report, UC Berkeley’s Data Science major has recently become the largest on campus. 

This latest milestone reflects the Data Science Undergraduate Studies’ (DSUS) programmatic commitment to breaking down barriers to entry. Students in data science courses have access to free textbooks, tutoring, and cloud computing resources, ensuring that anyone—regardless of financial resources or prior experience—can explore and have tools to excel in data science. 

In an age where data drives decision-making across nearly every industry, UC Berkeley is pioneering a new approach—one that ensures future data scientists understand not just algorithms, but also the human consequences of their work.

Berkeley’s undergraduate Data Science program is embedding Human Contexts and Ethics (HCE) directly into its core technical courses. Instead of treating ethics as an afterthought, faculty are demonstrating their commitment to the "society" piece in the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society--working to show students that technical decisions have real-world consequences for real people.

In the complex world of animal trafficking, Alexandra Stassinopoulos, B.A. ‘21 has found her niche using data to combat illicit networks. A graduate of UC Berkeley's data science program, Stassinopoulos now uses technology to track and disrupt wildlife crimes around the globe.

As conservation efforts increasingly look to solutions from technological innovation, Stassinopoulos represents a new generation of data scientists using their skills in unconventional fields to tackle social challenges.

In this week’s episode, we talk with Professors Mike Ludkovski and Alex Franks from UC Santa Barbara about their diverse research backgrounds—ranging from stochastic modeling to sports analytics—and how they shaped their approach to data science education. They also touch on some major initiatives aimed at expanding access to data science education, including the Southern California Consortium and the Pacific Alliance for Low-Income Inclusion.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

UC Berkeley’s undergraduate data science program retained its No. 1 spot in the 2025 U.S. News and World Report rankings released late Monday. The university also held its No. 2 ranking in computer science at the undergraduate level. It shared that spot with Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Berkeley was also acknowledged in the rankings for its excellence in other undergraduate programs across campus.

UC Berkeley experts received a $1.5 million grant from the California Education Learning Lab (Learning Lab) to launch a first-of-its-kind computing technology hub for the state’s public colleges and universities. The hub will provide access to students across the state to course materials built on the JupyterHub platform, a cloud-based, open-source system widely used in scientific and industrial workplaces. It will be staffed and run by Berkeley for several California higher education institutions, saving money, aligning curricula and facilitating transfer pathways for STEM students.