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UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science: A First in the Carolinas

UNC Charlotte established the School of Data Science in 2020, making it the first of its kind in the Carolinas. This innovative program offers a transdisciplinary approach that accommodates a wide range of career interests in the growing field of data science. The foundation for the School began in 2014 with the University’s Data Science Initiative (DSI), which received start-up funding from the North Carolina General Assembly and the UNC Board of Governors in 2013. Since then, the program has attracted nearly $20 million in state and industry research funding.

The School collaborates with several colleges, including the College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), Belk College of Business (BCOB), College of Health and Human Services (CHHS), College of Science (COS), College of Humanities and Earth and Social Sciences (CHESS), and William States Lee College of Engineering. This transdisciplinary model addresses the evolving demands of data science across various industries, highlighting the need for diverse skill sets among business managers, social scientists, government officials, statisticians, and healthcare leaders.

The establishment of the School directly responds to the increasing job demand in data science. In 2018, the U.S. faced a shortage of 151,000 data scientists, with projections indicating that this gap could widen to 250,000 by 2025.

Click the button below for an interactive timeline of the School of Data Science’s history.