The pandemic has turned the tables around quite literally when it comes to teaching-learning pedagogies. It is not restricted to teaching younger grade levels, even the universities and professional institutes have turned to virtual or online mode of learning. Even if life has gotten back to normalcy post-pandemic, the virtual style of learning has stayed on and promises to stay for long. This is why quality matters when you decide to go all in for an online certification or education.
Data is exploding with every passing year. The science or the education that relates to making this astounding data more powerful and insightful, Data Science comes into play. Did you know the global marketplace needs over 5 million qualified data science professionals by this year’s end? This demand shall go up to 11.5 million by 2026 (LinkedIn Excerpts). Furthering the pressing situation, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, the average salary for a qualified data scientist sits at over USD 100,000 annually. This is why getting your hands on the top-rated online data science courses becomes a lucrative career gateway for you.
Let us begin by understanding the key points to bear in mind while picking the best data science courses from around the world:
· Accreditation and reputation of the course
· Topics covered
· Practical exercises and projects
· Instructor’s expertise in the program
· Program review by previous users
· Cost of the program
· Duration of the certification
· Mode of certification- Virtual or onsite
· Career Goal resonation proximity
However, there are a gazillion options available when you think of earning the best data science qualifications. Online/ Onsite/ Paid/ Free– You get to explore all the options on the web today. Listed below are the top 4 data science courses that are ranked highly among industry recruiters worldwide:
1. Professional Certificate in Data Science- Harvard University
Harvard University is one of the premier international universities that cater to providing world-class education in diversified fields of study. Data Science course at Harvard is revered among the top certifications for numerous reasons.
Curriculum:
· Foundational R programming skills
· Statistical tools and concepts
· Data visualization and data wrangling techniques
· R in Linear regression
· Machine learning algorithm implementation
· Fundamental data science concepts
Level: Beginner
Paid or Free: Free
Offered by: Harvard University
Mode of delivery: Online
Duration: 1 year 5 months
2. Certified Data Science Professional (CDSP™)- USDSI®
The United States Data Science Institute is a one-stop solution to all your data science career worries. Grace your portfolio with the most popular and highly rewarding online data science certification CDSP™ from USDSI®.
Curriculum:
· Importance of Data Science
· Mathematics and Statistics for Data Science
· Big Data and Hadoop
· Database and Data Science
· Performing Data Analysis
· Data Visualization and its libraries
· Tableau for Data Science
· PowerBI for Data Science
· Data and Machine learning
· Project codes
· Real-world case studies
· Self-paced courseware
Level: Beginner with No work experience requisite
Paid or Free: Paid (USD 687 all-inclusive)
Perks:
eLearning material with HD Videos and customized study material (FREE worth USD 625), Flexi Payments with Easy installments or Enrol now Pay later, Hefty SuperEd discounts,
Mentorship, Futuristic highly rewarding skillsets,
Salary raise of up to 50%, Lifetime Digital Shareable Badge (on completion) with Easy Renewal Options
Offered by: United States Data Science Institute (USDSI®)
Mode of delivery: Online
Duration: 4-25 weeks/ 8-10 hours per week
3. Data Science Specialization Certification- John Hopkins University
John Hopkins University offers a course on data science that can enable you to understand data science pipelines, create visualizations, and much more.
Curriculum:
· Usage of R for data cleaning and data analysis
· Data science pipeline navigation
· Handle large-scale data sets
· Practical Machine learning
· Create models using formal techniques and abstraction methodologies
· Perform Regression analysis
Level: Beginner
Paid or Free: Free
Offered by: John Hopkins University
Mode of delivery: Online
Duration: 10 courses spread over 3-6 months
4. MicroMasters Program in Statistics and Data Science- MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a program designed to master the foundations of data science, statistics, and machine learning.
Curriculum:
· Data science techniques
· Machine learning algorithms
· Hands-on Python projects
· Work on popular unsupervised learning methodologies
Level: Beginner
Paid or Free: Free/ USD 1350 for certificate and graded material
Offered by: Michigan Institute of Technology
Mode of delivery: Online with 4 courses
Duration: 4 courses
You must be curious to know how did we go about selecting the top-rated industry giants for you on the best data science certifications providers list. Our parameters include:
· The courses cover the entire data science process
· They are a cumulative blend of contemporary curriculum
· They use popular open-source programming tools and libraries
· Instructors cover the basic, most popular machine-learning algorithms
· The course has a good combination of theory and application
· It needs to either be on-demand or available every month or year-round
· It consists of hands-on assignments and real-world projects
· Instructors are engaging and personable
· The courses are highly rated; greater, or equal to 4.5/5
Conclusion:
No two data science courses are the same. It is highly advised to explore and understand the core of every certification to the best of your might; in order to enable a flourishing data science career. Online is the way to go, but it is advised to go for the paid courses as they allow you easy access to quality courseware, world-class credentials, and industry geniuses mentoring your way up the career ladder like none other. As they say, “There are no free lunches in the world.” Go for it and start building a golden career today!
