Best Computer Science Schools (BCSS), a leading authority on computer science, tech education and college rankings, has released a new ranking of the 35 Best Big Data Degrees for 2017 in which UCI was ranked as having the 18th best data science bachelor’s degree program in the nation. The ranking highlights the growth and impact of UCI’s B.S. program in data science, which is housed in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. The data science bachelor’s has a dual emphasis on the principles of both statistics and computer science, with foundational training in statistical and mathematical aspects of data analysis, as well as in the broad principles of computer science (including algorithms, data structures, data management and machine learning).

BCSS noted the program’s partnership between the Department of Statistics and the Department of Computer Science, preparing students for a career in data analysis by combining foundational statistical concepts with computational principles, and the UCI Data Science Initiative. The collaboration is recognized for a highly interdisciplinary approach to big data and analytics. The major is currently also the only undergraduate data science degree in the UC system.

The criteria BCSS uses when compiling top school lists includes information from individual college websites, the National Center for Education Statistics’ IPEDS database, PayScale, and U.S. News & World Report. BCSS carefully assess each school for institutional excellence, a measurement that incorporates data points such as incoming student test scores, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, overall reputation among alumni and employers, endowment size, and other important measurements of what each school has to offer its students. Similarly, schools are also ranked on student success.