Dive Brief:
- Six University of Wisconsin campuses and the UW-Extension have teamed up to create and offer a master’s program in data science.
- The 12-course, 36-credit program will welcome its first students in September for a universal tuition of $29,700, and it will feature 12 faculty members spread across the seven campuses.
- While the degree program is expected to be in high demand, its future will not depend on state funding, which is ever uncertain in Wisconsin, because the degree is structured as a cost-recovery program.
Dive Insight:
The University of Wisconsin system took a $250 million hit with the state’s latest biennial budget, approved by Gov. Scott Walker last weekend. The master’s in data science program has been in the works since 2013, when UW-Extension brought industry leaders together to discuss the workforce needs in Wisconsin. The university expects interest in the program to be mostly regional, but it also plans to review applications from national and international candidates.
The university system has been preparing for Walker’s proposed cuts for much of the last academic year. His original proposal was to cut $300 million and also make the university system independent of the state. That independence was expected to create significant cost-savings for the system, but it was rejected by lawmakers, who maintained the deep cuts anyway.