Brand New Major: Machine Learning
June 10, 2023
Starting Fall 2023
The Computer Science department will be offering a new B.S. degree in Machine Learning starting in Fall 2023. This degree is based on the previous emphasis in Data Science, but now has a stronger focus on machine learning.
Why Machine Learning?
Machine Learning is the fundamental technology that enables computer programs to mimic the ability of humans to learn and reason. This technology powers things like self-driving cars, facial recognition, algorithms to identify what is in a photo, fraud detection for credit card companies, systems that identify which traffic entering a network might be malicious, programs that decide whether a medical image indicates a sign of a significant disease, and chat bots. MIT has a good article explaining in depth about machine learning, how it relates to artificial intelligence, and its different fields.
The CS department is switching the data science emphasis to a machine learning degree because this will enable students to specialize in an area that is in high demand. A machine learning degree signifies to employers that you understand the math and science behind machine learning. With a degree in machine learning you should be able to contribute to any company that is building data science applications and also be on a path to help develop new algorithms.
Should I Switch My Major?
Students who are currently enrolled in the Data Science emphasis can choose to stay with the emphasis as it is currently defined or may switch to the new Machine Learning major. You should switch to Machine Learning if you want a degree that is more focused on the math and science of machine learning, and if you want to signal to employers that you have this specialized knowledge. You should stay with Data Science if you want more flexibility to explore broader areas of data science or if you are already far along in the program.
If you are currently a major in CS, majoring in one of the CS emphases, or a major in another department, you should consider taking the new CS 201R Introduction to Machine Learning class we will offer in Fall and Winter. Taking this class will give you a good idea of whether you enjoy Machine Learning.
You can see Lynnette Nelson, our undergraduate advisor, or Daniel Zappala, our faculty undergraduate advisor, for questions. Both Lynnette and the college advisors can help you change your major.
Machine Learning Requirements
You can find the official list of requirements for the new Machine Learning degree in the 2023 - 2024 course catalog.
Comparison to the Data Science Emphasis
As compared to the current Data Science Emphasis, the new Machine Learning Degree:
- Drops CS 324 Systems Programming, CS 452 Database Modeling Concepts, and MATH 113 Calculus 2 as requirements.
- Drops PHSCS 121 Introduction to Newtonian Mechanics and WRTG 316 Technical Communication as requirements. Students are still required to fill the university science and technical writing requirements that are listed in the General Education requirements.
- Adds MATH 290 Fundamentals of Mathematics and MATH 380 Mathematical Foundations of Data Science as requirements.
- Adds a requirement that students take either CS 412 Linear Programming and Convex Optimization or Math 522 Mathematical Foundations of Deep Learning.
- Adds a requirement that students take two machine learning courses from a list of four electives, shown above in Requirement 7.
- Adds a requirement that students complete either a capstone project or undergraduate research, as shown above in Requirement 8.
- The electives include only those courses that are most related to Machine Learning.