Remember the movie The Social Network?
Yes, it's about Facebook. Yes, it's about Mark Zuckerberg, who is currently one of the ten wealthiest people in the world. And yes, it gets ugly at times. Underneath the drama, however, was a very simple but profound insight: Data can change the world.
A better way to put that insight might be: what we do with data can change the world . . . for better or worse! In the case of Facebook, it had some very humble beginnings involving writing an algorithm that used existing data to create an entirely new way of interacting with others in the digital age.
What kind of Big Data degree should you get?
You can study this field in depth with a degree in big data. If you want the flexibility of an online course of study, take a look at our ranking of the Best Online Big Data Degrees.
But that's just one example. Imagine how much other data is out there about any number of things, and imagine the possibilities of what can be done with it all . . . yes, both good and bad! We are in the infancy stages of even knowing how to collect and store all this data, much less how to interpret it and use it.
Enter the desperate need for technical expertise in this rapidly growing area that has left no industry untouched. Schools are quickly mobilizing to create highly specific programs tailored to the needs we have now for professionals who know how to wrangle terabytes of information, interpret it, and explain to the rest of us how it effects a company's needs on the ground.
How much money can you make with a Big Data degree?
Many schools have responded to this need through Master of Science degrees in a variety of different areas–some in business analytics, some in data mining, and others still in analytics.
But not only is the need for big data analyst in demand, and exponentially so, the field is incredibly lucrative. PayScale, for example, places the average salary for Data Scientists above $96,000 a year. But for Directors of Analytics that number leaps way above $134,000 annually.
What can you do with a Big Data degree?
Maybe Facebook changed the world "for better," maybe it didn't, or maybe it's a bit of both. Whatever your opinion happens to be, there's no escaping the fact that what Mark Zuckerberg did with some calculus chops and some basic data has completely and irreversibly changed the way we interact with each other.
So how will a degree in big data help you? One of these degrees will not only set you up for a lucrative, stable career. It will provide you access to one of the newest, most exciting industries. For example, graduates from this program have gone on to become:
Statisticians
Business Intelligence Consultants
Data Analysts
Data Miners and Data Engineers
What are the requirements for a Big Data degree?
They often go by different names, and many have different emphases, but what they all have in common is a commitment to training professionals in big data who can help us all figure out what to do with all the information at our disposal. These programs ensure you graduate an expert in big data. They do that through rigorous curriculums as well as hands-on experience. Indeed, these programs require practicums and internships
What are the best Big Data degrees?
So where are these programs? And where do you start? That's where we come in. We've compiled a list of the top 50 degrees in big data with your needs in mind. Some are online, some not, and some offer flexibility in this particular respect.
The first thing we want to know, like you, is the bottom line: how much is this going to set me back? So we've included the annual tuition for each school right up front for you. We've also included our College Choice Score, which is computed based on each school's reputation in the field and its return on investment.
The end result is a list of schools that balance cost, reputation, and, ultimately, what they can do for you and your unique goals.
The rankings you're about to read are based on a few important sources. The first source is actual college freshman polled during a nationwide survey published by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
These students rated academic reputation, financial aid offerings, overall cost of school, and the survey also took into account graduate success rates on the post-college job market. These factors were weighed equally alongside data from other publicly available sources, including U.S. News & World Report, the National Center for Education Statistics, and PayScale.com.
The Social Network was a big hit. Could a Social Network 2 be in the works . . . and could it be about you?
Ranking
See our rankings methodology page.
