Ready or not, we are living in a data-driven world. Every sector in our global economy is using data to make better management and policy decisions. In fact, Data Scientist has ranked the number one job in America for the last three consecutive years, with a median base salary of 120,931. And by 2020, it is predicted that there will be a 28% increase in data science jobs. Data scientist have leadership roles in business, e-commerce, energy, entertainment, manufacturing, media, science, security, telecommunications, and politics. In government, data scientists inform policy decisions. In public health, data scientists detect disease outbreaks. In finance, big data is analyzed to determine risk and make economic projections. Environmental scientists use data science to understand the impact of human activity on the planet. And in business, data scientists help improve efficiency and increase sales.<br>Across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, big data is making a big difference. Those with the right skills will lead this change. American University's MS in Data Science offers students these skills through a diverse set of courses in a flexible, innovative learning space that takes full advantage of the Washington, DC, location. American University's MS in Data Science prepares students to acquire, process, analyze, and present complex data. Students will master both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills used by data scientists in academia, industry, and government. Core courses such as Statistical Machine Learning, Data Science, and Statistical Programming in R will train students to clean, process, visualize, and archive modern datasets, including text, imagery, and biometric data, apply machine learning algorithms to real data, and use the mathematical and statistical language of data scientists. Each student will choose an applied field in which they will analyze data and explain the associated issues in that field, culminating in their capstone experience in their final semester. 30 credit hours of approved graduate coursework. 30 credit hours of approved graduate coursework.