Data Science Internship Education Requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a data science internship. Data science interns usually study computer science, kinesiology, or biology. 70% of data science interns hold a bachelor's degree, and 20% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 6,786 real data science internship resumes to see exactly what data science internship education sections show.

The most common colleges for data science interns are the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

There are also many online data science internship courses to help get the education required to be a data science internship.

There are certain data science internship certifications that you should consider. These data science internship certifications include Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and Associate - Data Science Version 2.0.

What education do you need to become a data science internship?

What degree do you need to be a data science internship?

The most common degree for data science interns is bachelor's degree, with 70% of data science interns earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 20% and master's degree degree at 5%.

Bachelor's, 70%

Master's, 20%

Associate, 5%

High School Diploma, 2%

Other Degrees, 3%

What should I major in to become a data science internship?

You should major in computer science to become a data science internship. 10% of data science interns major in computer science. Other common majors for a data science internship include kinesiology and biology.

Computer Science, 10%

Kinesiology, 8%

Biology, 8%

Mathematics, 7%

Other Majors, 67%

Most common colleges for data science interns

Data science interns often get their degrees at University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California - Davis, and New York University. Here are the most common colleges for data science interns in the US based on their resumes.

Data Science Internship Common College	Percentages
University of California, Santa Barbara	9.36%
University of California - Davis	7.88%
New York University	6.08%
University of Washington	5.75%
University of Illinois at Chicago	5.25%

Show more common data science internship colleges

Best majors for data science interns

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Computer Science	10.3%
2	Kinesiology	8.5%
3	Biology	8.4%
4	Mathematics	7.4%
5	Business	7.2%

Show more common data science internship majors

Best colleges for data science interns

The best colleges for data science interns are Columbia University in the City of New York, Carnegie Mellon University, and Northwestern University.

A data science internship with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for data science interns. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become data science interns.

1. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

2. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

5. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

6. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

7. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

8. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

9. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

10. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

20 best online courses for data science interns

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4. Marketing Analytics

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5. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R

4.7

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Harness the Power of Machine Learning in R for Data/Text Mining, & Natural Language Processing with Practical Examples...

6. The Data Science Course: Complete Data Science Bootcamp 2023

4.6

(130,823)

Complete Data Science Training: Mathematics, Statistics, Python, Advanced Statistics in Python, Machine & Deep Learning...

7. Digital Marketing (Part Time)

Build confidence and capability to apply modern marketing strategies on the job. Drive growth with multichannel campaigns powered by data and customer insight. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...

8. Intro to Data Analytics

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14. Intro to Data Analysis

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Learn to Preprocess, Wrangle and Visualise Data For Practical Data Science Applications in Python...

16. From 0 to 1: Spark for Data Science with Python

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17. Data Visualization

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18. Experimental Design & Recommendations

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19. Data Science with Python Complete Course

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Data Science 2021 : Complete Data Science...

20. Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp with R

4.7

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Learn how to use the R programming language for data science and machine learning and data visualization!...

Top 10 most affordable universities for data science interns

The most affordable schools for data science interns are California State University - Long Beach, hunter college of the city university of new york, and baruch college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for data science interns are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for data science interns.

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Cost of Attendance

18,306

2. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,182

Cost of Attendance

13,998

3. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,262

Cost of Attendance

14,046

4. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Cost of Attendance

21,034

5. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,620

Cost of Attendance

18,136

6. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,656

Cost of Attendance

21,623

7. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$4,094

Cost of Attendance

14,302

8. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,410

Cost of Attendance

20,456

9. Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,740

Cost of Attendance

17,864

10. Queens College of the City University of New York

Queens, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,338

Cost of Attendance

14,281

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for data science interns

The hardest universities for data science interns to get into are Columbia University in the City of New York, Carnegie Mellon University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for data science interns are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for data science interns based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

SAT Average

1,512

2. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

17%

SAT Average

1,507

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions Rate

SAT Average

1,508

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions Rate

11%

SAT Average

1,513

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

SAT Average

1,492

6. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions Rate

15%

SAT Average

1,506

7. University of Chicago

Chicago, IL • Private

Admissions Rate

SAT Average

1,520

8. University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN • Private

Admissions Rate

18%

SAT Average

1,502

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

SAT Average

1,497

10. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions Rate

15%

SAT Average

1,456

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for data science interns

The easiest schools for data science interns to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, university of the incarnate word, and texas a&m; university - kingsville.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a data science internship without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for data science interns.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions Rate

68%

SAT Average

964

2. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions Rate

88%

SAT Average

1,044

3. Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Kingsville, TX • Private

Admissions Rate

89%

SAT Average

1,035

4. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions Rate

86%

SAT Average

991

5. San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

72%

SAT Average

1,054

6. Linfield College

McMinnville, OR • Private

Admissions Rate

81%

SAT Average

1,117

7. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions Rate

91%

SAT Average

1,006

8. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Camden

Camden, NJ • Private

Admissions Rate

71%

SAT Average

1,086

9. Centenary University

Hackettstown, NJ • Private

Admissions Rate

67%

SAT Average

987

10. Central Washington University

Ellensburg, WA • Private

Admissions Rate

78%

SAT Average

1,062

Average data science internship salary by education level

According to our data, data science interns with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $54,295 annually. Data science interns with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $53,559.

Data Science Internship education level	Data Science Internship salary
Master's Degree	$53,559
Bachelor's Degree	$44,186
Doctorate Degree	$54,295

Data Science Internship Education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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