Universities · Rankings
Best Colleges for Data Science: Top Data Science Programs in the US
For research strength in the fields behind data science (machine learning and databases), CSRankings puts MIT, Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley first among US universities; Berkeley, UC San Diego and UW-Madison also offer a dedicated undergraduate data science degree.
Data science degrees are new and no open ranking compares them directly. This page uses two things we could check: the research strength of each university in machine learning and databases, and the undergraduate data science degrees that four universities state on their own pages. English test notes for international applicants are at the end.
Best data science universities by research strength (machine learning and databases)
CSRankings, US institutions, 2016-2026, counting only machine learning and data mining (ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS) and databases (SIGMOD, VLDB). The first figure is the adjusted publication count; the second is faculty counted.
| Rank | University | Adjusted publications | Faculty counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 92.7 | 77 |
| 2 | Carnegie Mellon University | 86.9 | 94 |
| 3 | University of California, Berkeley | 81.6 | 59 |
| 4 | Cornell University | 62.3 | 61 |
| 5 | University of California, San Diego | 58.0 | 70 |
| 6 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 55.1 | 72 |
| 7 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 53.9 | 55 |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | 49.5 | 49 |
| 9 | University of Washington | 47.4 | 45 |
| 10 | New York University | 47.1 | 63 |
| 11 | Duke University | 45.3 | 42 |
| 12 | Stanford University | 43.6 | 46 |
| 13 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 43.3 | 87 |
| 14 | University of Maryland, College Park | 39.1 | 56 |
| 15 | University of Chicago | 37.7 | 34 |
Source: CSRankings.org: US, machine learning & data mining plus databases, 2016-2026, read 5 October 2026.
Undergraduate data science degrees we verified
Degree names as stated on each university's own pages. We did not check every university, so absence from this table does not mean a school lacks a data science major.
| University | What the official page lists | Offered by |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Data Science B.A. | College of Computing, Data Science and Society |
| UC San Diego | B.S. Data Science; Business Data Science major; Data Science minor | Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | B.S. and B.A. in Data Science; at least 120 credits for the B.S. | College of Letters & Science, Department of Statistics |
| University of Washington | Statistics B.S. with a Data Science track | Department of Statistics |
Source: University pages listed under Sources, read 5 October 2026.
How to choose among colleges for data science
Data science sits between statistics and computer science, so a good fit may be a data science major, a statistics major with a data science track (as at Washington), or a computer science degree with machine learning electives. Compare the course lists: how much statistics, programming, databases and machine learning each degree requires.
Research strength matters most if you want to continue to a PhD or work with faculty on projects. If you want a career-focused degree, internships, capstone projects and advising are better signals, and none of them appear in a research table.
Some universities limit entry to popular majors. Berkeley's data science page notes that students admitted from fall 2023 declare through comprehensive review, and Wisconsin requires students to declare before reaching 86 credits and to attend a declaration event. Read the declaration rules before you apply.
Methodology and limits
- Ranking table: CSRankings.org, read 5 October 2026, region United States, years 2016-2026, with areas Machine learning & data mining and Databases selected. Rank, adjusted count and faculty count are copied from the site and not recomputed.
- This is a proxy. It measures faculty publications at top conferences in the fields behind data science. It is not a ranking of undergraduate data science programmes, and it does not cover statistics departments.
- Degree table: only degrees stated on the official pages cited under Sources, read the same day.
- We did not use paywalled or publisher rankings and do not reproduce any.
English test requirements for international students
Most US universities ask international applicants whose first language is not English to submit TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic or Duolingo English Test scores unless an exemption applies. Minimums are set by each university and sometimes by the college or programme, so check the admissions page of each school.
ETS changed the TOEFL iBT scoring scale in January 2026, so you may see older minimums out of 120 and newer ones out of 6. Our school pages below show the figures each university publishes, with sources.
Admissions and TOEFL/IELTS pages for universities we cover
- MIT
- Carnegie Mellon University
- UC Berkeley
- Cornell University
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- University of Pennsylvania
- Stanford University
- University of Michigan
Preparing for the English requirement?
Free TOEFL practice with AI feedbackRelated guides
- Best colleges for computer science →
Top US CS universities on CSRankings
- TOEFL score guide →
What the 2026 scale means
- Universities accepting TOEFL 2026 →
Which schools accept the new TOEFL
FAQ
What are the best colleges for data science?
On CSRankings research output in machine learning and databases (US, 2016-2026, read 5 October 2026), the top three are MIT, Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley. Berkeley, UC San Diego, Wisconsin-Madison and Washington also publish undergraduate data science degrees or tracks.
Does UC Berkeley offer a data science major?
Yes. Berkeley's official page lists a Data Science B.A. offered by the College of Computing, Data Science and Society.
Which universities offer a B.S. in data science?
UC San Diego lists a B.S. Data Science and UW-Madison lists a B.S. (and a B.A.) in Data Science. The University of Washington offers a Statistics B.S. with a Data Science track. We did not verify other universities.
Is this a ranking of data science degrees?
No. It is a research-strength proxy plus a verified list of degree names. No open source ranks undergraduate data science programmes directly.
What English test do international students need?
Usually TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic or Duolingo English Test, with minimums set by each university. See the linked school pages.