Data Science Certification

Applicants to the Certification of Professional Achievement Program must submit official transcripts, personal-professional statement, 3 letters of recommendation, resume, and the $150 application fee.  Other requirements include:

• Undergraduate degree
• Prior quantitative coursework (calculus, linear algebra, etc...)
• Prior introductory to computer programming coursework
• Minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.0

Program requirements for completion of the Certification Program:

• 4 Graduate-level classes all earned through CVN, as a non-matriculated student.
• Minimum of 12 credit points
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• Completion of program within two (2) calendar years

• CSOR W4246 ALGORITHMS FOR DATA SCIENCE

• STAT GR5701 PROBABLITY AND STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE

• COMS W4721 MACHINE LEARNING FOR DATA SCIENCE

• STAT GR5702 EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION

CSOR W4246 ALGORITHMS FOR DATA SCIENCE

Prerequisites: basic knowledge in programming (e.g., at the level of COMS W1007), a basic grounding in calculus and linear algebra.
Methods for organizing data, e.g. hashing, trees, queues, lists,priority queues. Streaming algorithms for computing statistics on the data. Sorting and searching. Basic graph models and algorithms for searching, shortest paths, and matching. Dynamic programming. Linear and convex programming. Floating point arithmetic, stability of numerical algorithms, Eigenvalues, singular values, PCA, gradient descent, stochastic gradient descent, and block coordinate descent. Conjugate gradient, Newton and quasi-Newton methods. Large scale applications from signal processing, collaborative filtering, recommendations systems, etc.

STAT GR5701 PROBABLITY AND STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE

Prerequisites: Calculus.
This course covers the following topics: Fundamentals of probability theory and statistical inference used in data science; Probabilistic models, random variables, useful distributions, expectations, law of large numbers, central limit theorem; Statistical inference; point and confidence interval estimation, hypothesis tests, linear regression

COMS W4721 MACHINE LEARNING FOR DATA SCIENCE

Prerequisites: Background in linear algebra and probability and statistics.
An introduction to machine learning, with an emphasis on data science. Topics will include least squares methods, Gaussian distributions, linear classification, linear regression,  maximum likelihood, exponential family distributions, Bayesian networks, Bayesian inference, mixture models, the EM algorithm, graphical models, hidden Markov models, support vector machines, and kernel methods. Part of the course will be focused on methods and problems relevant to big data problems.

STAT GR5702 EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION
Prerequisites: STAT GR5205 and STAT GR5206 at the discretion of the instructor (students should have basic knowledge of R). This course covers visual approaches to exploratory data analysis, with a focus on graphical techniques for finding patterns in high dimensional datasets. We consider data from a variety of fields, which may be continuous, categorical, hierarchical, temporal, and/or spatial in nature. Building on material from STAT GR5205, STAT GR5206 and other applied courses, we cover visual approaches to selecting, interpreting, and evaluating models/algorithms such as linear regression, time series analysis, clustering, and classification.

2023–2024 Tuition & Fees

Please note that all tuition and fees are in U.S. dollars and are estimated. Tuition and most fees are prescribed by statute and are subject to change at the discretion of the Trustees.

CVN Credit Tuition: $2,462.00 per point (Credit Hour)
CVN Fee: $395 non-refundable fee per course
Transcript Fee: $105 non-refundable one-time fee
Tuition Deposit: $1,000 (More information on our Resources page)

Estimated cost of one nondegree course: $7,886.00
Estimated total cost of certification (four courses): $31,229.00

Estimated total cost of MS (ten courses): $77,915.00
*Estimated total cost of DES (ten courses plus a minimum of 12 research credits): $108,249.00

Graduate Admission Application Fee: $85 non-refundable one-time fee 
Certification Program Application Fee: $85 non-refundable one-time fee 

Late Registration Fee: $100 non-refundable fee

CVN Withdrawal Fee: $75, plus prorated tuition and all non-refundable fees
For example: A three-credit course would be $7,781 + transcript fee $105 (one-time) + CVN fee $395 = $7,886

*Assumes DES student enrolls in two six-credit research courses.

For Drop/Withdrawal fees and dates, refer to the Academic Calendar for the current term.

Please note: CVN no longer offers courses for audit.

Payment should be mailed to:

Attn: Shewanna House
Accounting & Business Management
Senior Student Services Rep
Payments & Deposits
210 Kent Hall, Mail Code 9205
1140 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027

Before you mail your check or money order, please take careful note of the following requirements to ensure the timely processing of your payment: https://sfs.columbia.edu/content/pay-mail.