With so many data science certifications available in the market, it is an overwhelming task to find the best one that matches your professional goals. While there are several free certifications also offered in this field, they are often unstructured, lack credibility and support, and are not much widely recognized by employers.
This necessitates the paid data science certifications that are offered by premium institutes and organizations across the world. They are taught by industry experts and are widely recognized across industries. The top data science certification program fees can range anywhere from $200 to $20,000. But which data science certifications are worth investing in?
Let’s find out.
TOP DATA SCIENCE CERTIFICATIONS TO INVEST IN FOR 2024
- Certified Lead Data Scientist (CLDS™): USDSI®
- IBM Data Science Professional Certificate
- Google Professional Data Engineer
- Data Science MicroMasters program: University of California, San Diego
- The Data Science for Business Certificate: Columbia University
Certified Lead Data Scientist (CLDS™)
The United States Data Science Institute (USDSI®) is one of the premium data science certification institutes offering industry-recognized certification programs. Their Certified Lead Data Scientist (CLDS™) is designed for mid-level data science professionals having 2-6 years of work experience who want to advance in their data science career for more challenging roles and want to learn the skills to efficiently manage and lead various kinds of data science projects.
Some features offered by USDSI® make this certification program unique, such as:
- It is an online self-paced learning program so that professionals can learn on their own schedule without disturbing normal routines.
- It can be completed within 4-25 weeks and requires a time commitment of 8-10 hours/week
- If also offers a state-of-the-art resource center consisting of eBooks, lecture videos, and practice codes to help them prepare for certification exam
- Professionals get a digital sharable badge upon completion of this certification program
Exam Policy: The CLDS™ is a 100-minute online proctored exam consisting of 70 multiple-choice questions. Applicants need to score at least 70% marks to earn the certification successfully. In case they fail on the first attempt, they can appear for more attempts each costing $149.
Program fee: $781
IBM Data Science Professional Certificate
This data science certification program from IBM is designed for students and professionals who are just starting out in their data science career journey. By earning this certification, you can demonstrate your ability to solve real-world problems using data science techniques and models.
In this certification, you will master the fundamental concepts of data science and learn essential tools like Jupyter, Notebooks, SQL, Python, predictive modeling, NLP, data visualization, etc. Through this program, you will gain practical experience in constructing and evaluating machine learning models with the help of Scikit-learn and SciPy.
Program fee: $234
Google Professional Data Engineer
This is an excellent course to start your career as an efficient data engineer and this exam will help you validate your abilities in designing data processing systems, operationalizing machine learning models, and building and managing effective data processing systems. This certification exam has been designed specifically for data engineers who want to demonstrate their ability in designing and monitoring various kinds of data processing systems and emphasize security and compliance as well.
The Google Professional Data Engineer Certificate exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions and can be completed within a 2-hour test that is conducted online or on-site.
Program fee: $200
Data Science MicroMasters program: University of California, San Diego
It is a comprehensive program covering the essentials of data science including statistics, machine learning, and programming. The Data Science MicroMasters program from the University of California is offered through edX and consists of 5 graduate-level courses including Python for Data Science (8 weeks), probability and Statistics in Data Science using Python (8 weeks), Machine Learning Fundamentals (9 weeks), Big Data Analytics Using Spark (9 weeks), and Capstone: Integrating Data Science (10 weeks).
Program fee: $1080
Data Science for Business Certificate: Columbia University
This program offered by ColumbiaX is also available on edX and helps the students equip themselves with the necessary skills to use data-driven insights for informed business decisions. Students and professionals can validate their deep understanding of data analysis, machine learning, and business analytics through this course.
Designed for professionals without deep technical background, it helps the students apply data science in business settings. It has 4 courses each requiring 6 weeks to complete and requires a time commitment of at least 7-10 hours a week.
Program fee: Depends upon enrolment options and promotions
Conclusion
With so many certifications available providing different course curricula, focusing on different data science techniques and concepts, and designed for different levels of professionals, you need to choose the one that suits your learning preference. These are some of the best certifications in data science available online, and offline, and for different stages in your data science career. So, investing in one of these certifications will be a great decision in 2024 to start or advance in your data science career. Enroll now.
