Data science is a complex interdisciplinary field that requires domain expertise, exceptional programming skills, and a strong foundation in math and statistics to extract meaningful insights from both structured and unstructured data. As a result, the demand for expert data scientists and analysts is on an all-new high in the industry, government sector, and educational domain. If you want to cash in the growing demand and make a career in this field, the choice for the best data science certification online is endless.
To help you out, TangoLearn, in consultation with 18 data science experts, brings you the ten best data science certifications that you can enroll for in 2021. These courses contain a good mix of practical and theoretical knowledge to help you acquire the essential data science skills and make you industry-ready.
Let us see what each of these data science certifications has in store for you.
10 Best Data Science Certifications and Courses
- Professional Certificate In Data Science – Harvard University [edX]
- IBM Data Science Professional Certificate [Coursera]
- MicroMasters® Program In Statistics And Data Science – MIT [edX]
- MicroMasters® Program In Data Science – UC San Diego [edX]
- Data Science Specialization By Johns Hopkins University [Coursera]
- Nanodegree Programs In Data Science [Udacity]
- Applied Data Science With Python Specialization – University Of Michigan [edX]
- Bootcamp Prep Course – Introduction To Data Science [Metis]
- Data Science Career Path [Codecademy]
- Free Courses By Microsoft [edX]
Top 10 Courses For Data Science
1. Professional Certificate In Data Science – Harvard University [edX]
This professional data science certification online by Harvard University will equip you with all the knowledge and skills to meet real-world data analysis challenges. This certification program comprises nine skill-building courses covering concepts like R basics, probability, regression, inference, machine learning, data wrangling with dplyr, data visualization with ggplot2, and reproducible document preparation.
What makes this program the best data science certification online is that all of these courses contain real-world case studies to help you understand the concepts better and answer questions through data analysis.
In addition, this course series uses R software environment throughout the program so that you also gain hands-on knowledge in R, statistical concepts, and data analysis techniques by solving specific problems.
The duration of this best data science certification online is one year and five months, provided you dedicate 2-3 hours per week to its classes. This is a completely self-paced course, so you can learn at a pace you are comfortable with. You must complete all the courses included in this program and the final capstone project to be eligible for the Harvard certification. You can also access individual courses included in this data science certification free of cost, but you will have to pay a fee for the full program experience.
Courses Included In the Program
- Data Science: R Basics
- Data Science: Visualization
- Data Science: Probability
- Data Science: Inference And Modeling
- Data Science: Productivity Tools
- Data Science: Wrangling
- Data Science: Linear Regression
- Data Science: Machine Learning
- Data Science: Capstone
2. IBM Data Science Professional Certificate [Coursera]
The next certification is being offered by IBM that will help you learn job-relevant skills for launching a career in data science. This data science certification online comprises nine courses that will cover concepts like Python, SQL, data visualization and analysis, statistical analysis, machine learning, and predictive modeling.
This course will also give you hands-on experience in using data science tools and real-world datasets in the IBM Cloud. As the final capstone project, you will learn about location data, making RESTful API calls, scraping web data, and parsing HTML code. You will also learn to use Python to manipulate data and use the Folium library.
This best data science certification online will help you build an impressive portfolio of data science projects that you can showcase to your prospective employers and improve your chances of landing your dream job. Besides earning a certificate of completion, you will also earn IBM’s digital badge recognizing your data science proficiency.
The duration of this Coursera data science certification is 11months, and you should be ready to invest four hours per week to complete the best data science courses included in this program. You can access this data science certification free of cost under a 7-days free trial, post which you can continue learning by paying a monthly fee. This certification has a rating of 4.6 and has already been enrolled by 25,626 students.
The Coursera Data Science Certification Courses Include:
- What is Data Science?
- Tools for Data Science
- Data Science Methodology
- Python for Data Science, AI & Development
- Python Project for Data Science
- Databases and SQL for Data Science with Python
- Data Analysis with Python
- Data Visualization with Python
- Machine Learning with Python
- Applied Data Science Capstone
My courses taught me to pick up new ideas quickly and apply them to real-world problems. Today, my certificates make me stand out from the crowd.
3. MicroMasters® Program In Statistics And Data Science – MIT [edX]
Offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this data science certification online will help you master the skills to solve complex data challenges and become a valuable resource for your organization.
This MicroMasters program comprises five best data science online courses and a virtually proctored final exam. This series will cover the foundational methods and tools used in data science and provide hands-on training in machine learning and data analysis. The topics covered in this certification include probability and statistics, machine learning algorithms, and a capstone project in statistics and data science.
This data science certification also applies towards a Ph.D. in Social and Engineering Systems at MIT’s Institute for Data Systems and Society (IDSS) and can also count towards a Master’s degree at other universities. Therefore, the courses included in this program are taught at the same pace and are of the same level as the on-campus MIT courses. Students enrolling in this best data science certification online must be familiar with college-level calculus and should be comfortable with mathematical reasoning and Python programming.
The duration of this best data science course series is one year and two months, that is, if you can dedicate 10-14 hours of study per week for the online classes. This is an instructor-led course, so the dates for assignments and proctored online exams are fixed. You can access individual courses included in this data science certification free of cost, but you will have to pay a fee for the full program experience.
Courses Included In the Program
- Probability – The Science Of Uncertainty & Data
- Fundamentals Of Statistics
- Machine Learning With Python: From Linear Models To Deep Learning
- Capstone Exam In Statistics And Data Science
While the above four courses are compulsory for this data science certification online, you can choose one of the following two courses to complete the program.
- Data Analysis In Social Science—Assessing Your Knowledge
- Data Analysis: Statistical Modeling & Computation In Applications
4.MicroMasters® Program In Data Science By UC San Diego [edX]
The next best data science certification is offered by The University of California, San Diego. This certification program comprises four graduate-level courses that will help you excel in one of the hottest tech fields today, which is data science. Through these four best data science courses, you will be able to develop a robust understanding of the mathematical and computational tools that are the very foundation of data science.
You will learn how to collect, clean, and analyze real-world data to gain new insights and make the right data-driven business recommendations. In addition to that, you will learn to manipulate datasets and visualize your findings in a convincing way.
These four data science online courses primarily cover two sides of data science – mathematical and applied. Under math, you will learn concepts like probability, stats, and machine learning. On the other hand, under the applied courses, you will learn about the specific toolkits and languages like Python, NumPy, Matplotlib, pandas, Jupyter notebook, and Apache Spark.
The duration of this best data science online course certification is ten months, and it will require a study effort of 9-11 hours per week. You can earn your MicroMasters certification with a one-time fee and by completing all the given courses successfully. In case you want to review the program, you can individually access the courses included in this data science certification free of cost. This MicroMasters program also counts as credit towards several Master’s degree programs.
Courses Included In the Program
- Python For Data Science
- Probability And Statistics In Data Science Using Python
- Machine Learning Fundamentals
- Big Data Analytics Using Spark
5. Data Science Specialization By Johns Hopkins University [Coursera]
This Coursera data science certification offered by John Hopkins University is one of the best data science certifications that will introduce you to this domain and can help you kick start a career in data science. This comprehensive 10-course series is designed to include anything and everything that you may come across while navigating the entire pipeline of data science, right from data acquisition, to drawing inferences, to publishing your findings.
By enrolling in the best data science courses of this program, you will learn how to use R language to clean, analyze and visualize data. In addition to that, you will also use GitHub to manage projects and perform regression analysis. And in the final capstone project, you will apply all these skills to create a data product using real-world datasets.
The duration of this Coursera data science certification is 11 months, and the instructor suggests dedicating seven hours per week to these courses to complete the certification within the stipulated timeline.
Completing all the courses will earn you a sharable certificate of completion that you can post on LinkedIn or download and print to add to your resume. You can access this data science certification free of cost under a 7-days free trial, post that you can continue your learning by paying a monthly fee. The classes included in this best online course for data science offer a flexible schedule. This course series has a rating of 4.5, and 430,040 students have already enrolled in it. Around 38% of these enrollees were able to start new careers after receiving their certification, and about 19% got a pay hike.
Courses Included In The Coursera Data Science Certification
- The Data Scientist’s Toolbox
- R Programming
- Getting And Cleaning Data
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Reproducible Research
- Statistical Inference
- Regression Models
- Practical Machine Learning
- Developing Data Products
- Data Science Capstone
While this course has been tagged as a beginner-level course, you must have basic knowledge of Python and should also be familiar with regression.
Learning from leading scientists about what’s going on in the field right now is so much different than the experience of reading a textbook.
6. Nanodegree Programs In Data Science [Udacity]
Udacity offers some of the best data science certifications as Nanodegree programs through its School for Data Science. These programs are mapped under four different career paths: Data Scientist, Data Analyst, Data Engineer, and Business Analyst. Through these career paths, you can learn essential skills related to data science like data manipulation, predictive analysis, machine learning, and data visualization.
The content of each of these best data science online courses has been co-created with industry experts. There are also real-world projects to give you hands-on learning. Besides learning through the online classes, you will also receive solid community support, technical support from mentors, and insights from experts in the domain. And not just that, with the help of the best online course for data science on Udacity, you can hope to create an impressive project portfolio to showcase your abilities to employers.
If you plan to pursue the career path of a Data Scientist, it includes three best data science courses as nanodegree programs that are suitable for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners. You can access these programs by paying a one-time fee, which includes a GitHub review, resume support, project feedback, and LinkedIn optimization.
Courses Covered Under The Data Scientist Career Path
- Beginner Level – Programming for Data Science with Python (Duration: 3 months)
- Intermediate Level – Become a Data Analyst (Duration 4 months)
- Advanced Level – Become a Data Scientist (Duration 4 months)
Udacity also provides a downloadable career guide to understand how to land an excellent job in data science.
To learn more about data visualization you can check out our suggestions for the best data visualization courses here.
7. Applied Data Science With Python Specialization – University Of Michigan [edX]
The next best data science certification on our list is offered by the University of Michigan. This five-course series will introduce you to the fundamentals of data science through the Python programming language and its toolkits like pandas, Scikit-Learn, Natural Language Toolkit, and Networkx.
By enrolling for this certification, you will be able to apply data science methods and techniques to gain new insights from your data. Through these best data science online courses, you will also acquire analyzing skills by conducting inferential statistical analysis and enhance your data analysis with applied machine learning. In addition to that, you will learn to differentiate between good and bad data visualization and analyze the connectivity of a social network.
This data science certification online will take approx. five months to complete if you can spare seven hours per week for the online classes. The courses included in this specialization are 100% online and self-paced so that you can learn at your own pace and manage your schedule.
It is recommended to take the first three courses in the same order, and you can complete the fourth and fifth courses in any order. However, you will have to complete all five courses to be eligible for the sharable certificate of completion. You can access this edX data science certification free of cost with a 7-days free trial, post which a monthly fee will be applicable.
Courses Included In the Program
- Introduction To Data Science In Python
- Applied Plotting, Charting & Data Representation In Python
- Applied Machine Learning In Python
- Applied Text Mining In Python
- Applied Social Network Analysis In Python
This specialization has courses meant for intermediate learners. Therefore, some related experience is required to understand the concepts covered in the series.
8. Bootcamp Prep Course – Introduction To Data Science [Metis]
Metis offers some of the best Bootcamps on data science, data analytics, and machine learning. So, if you are planning to enroll in one, you should first check out this Bootcamp prep course. Metis is offering the best data science course as a preparatory course that includes a subset of topics covered in most of the Data Science and Analytics Bootcamps.
This course will serve as an all-inclusive introduction to data science’s core concepts and tools, including machine learning and coding. As a part of this course, you will work on a mini-project to gain hands-on experience in data acquisition, cleaning and aggregation, data analysis and visualization, feature engineering, model creation, and validation. It will also cover basic statistical and mathematical concepts related to data science.
We call it the best online course for data science because it provides both structure and accountability to ensure that you stay on track and achieve your envisioned outcomes. You will get to learn from some of the most experienced data science practitioners, and you can also interact with them in real-time. This best data science online course is a self-paced course that is spread over six weeks and offers a completion certificate. To give a sneak-peak into what this course entails, you can also access a one-hour sample class of this course for free. What more? You can earn up to 3.3 CEU credits by completing this course, as ACCET accredits all the courses on Metis.
Concepts Covered In This Course
- Week 1 – Basics of computer science, statistics, and linear algebra
- Week 2 – Exploratory data analysis and visualization
- Week 3 – Supervised and unsupervised learning and model evaluation
- Week 4 – Feature selection, engineering, and data pipelines
- Week 5 – Advanced supervised and unsupervised learning
- Week 6 – Advanced model evaluation and data pipelines
As a prerequisite for data science, you must have some knowledge of Python and basic statistical and linear algebra concepts. You can also attend pre-work classes if you do not know the basics or need a refresher. You should also have a GitHub account to access these classes.
9. Data Science Career Path [Codecademy]
The data science career path on Codecademy is for beginners who want to become data scientists or data analysts or use data in their jobs. This course will teach you skills like SQL, Python 3, NumPy, pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-Learn, and much more. Over 35 weeks, this best data science certification online will involve you in multiple projects that will help you build an attractive portfolio and get you job-ready.
By enrolling in this best online course for data science, you will learn how to use SQL to interact with databases and manipulate tables. You will also learn to use Python language for statistical analysis and creating data visualizations. In addition to that, you will create models through machine learning and AI that can automate data processes, recognize patterns, and make predictions. You can try this data science certification online for free, but you must sign up for Codecademy Pro to receive your certificate of completion.
Concepts Covered Under This Career Path
- Introduction to data science
- Python fundamentals
- Data acquisition
- Data manipulation with pandas
- Data wrangling and tidying
- Summary statistics
- Hypothesis testing
- Data visualization
- Natural Language Processing
- Foundations of machine learning
- SQL
10. Free Courses By Microsoft [edX]
If you are on the lookout for a data science certification free online, Microsoft is offering a couple of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that will help you learn concepts like SQL, programming in Java, data analysis using Excel, and data analysis and visualization. These beginner and intermediate courses are taught by Microsoft experts, so in addition to theoretical knowledge, you get to learn from their experience. You can audit these courses for free, and if you wish to receive a verified certificate or a data science certification online, you can do so by paying a small fee.
Courses Offered By Microsoft
- Querying Data with Transact-SQL
- Learn to Program in Java
- Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel
- Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Excel
Related read: Data Vs. Information Comparison, Benefits Of Learning Data Science Courses/
Conclusion
You can only be good at data science as long as you practice the skills. Therefore, we have tried to include the best data science certifications and courses that do not only cover the essential theory but give you more practical exposure to all the tools and skills.
We genuinely hope that our extensive list will make it easier for you to select the most suitable data science certification online that will help you learn the ropes and fastrack your journey of becoming a successful data scientist or analyst.
Also, you might also want to see some of the best deep learning courses to aid you in your career growth further.
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