Application Procedures

Students applying for admission to the Graduate Data Science Certificate Program must be enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program at the University of Michigan. Application deadlines are August 1st for Fall term and December 1st for Winter term.

  1. UM graduate students should complete the web-application form. Students are encouraged to discuss their proposed study program with their advisors, MIDAS Education committee members or MIDAS Faculty prior to submitting an application.
    1. UM graduate students enrolled in a Rackham graduate program (e.g. MS, PhD, MA, MFA programs) should also complete the Rackham Add a Degree/Certificate Online application. Please email thorntok@umich.edu once you have completed the online application.The Graduate Data Science Certificate Program academic program code is 02135, and the academic plan code is 2100CGR.
    2. UM graduate students enrolled in a non-Rackham graduate program (e.g. MHI, MIS programs) need to complete both of the above steps and enroll in the Rackham graduate school.
  2. Students not enrolled at the University of Michigan, may attend any of the MIDAS MOOCs. In future, an online certificate program will be available; please check back.

Overview of application process for UM graduate students in non-Rackham graduate programs: Please note that your first semester grades must be posted before applying for this certificate.

  1. UM graduate students should complete the web-application form. Students are encouraged to discuss their proposed study program with their advisors, MIDAS Education committee members or MIDAS Faculty prior to submitting an application. Of note, non-Rackham graduate students must apply to Rackham.
  2. Go to the Rackham Graduate School Application, click on the button entitled ‘Apply Now’, and login.
  3. Type “Data Science” into the search box, and select the following degree program: Data Science Graduate Certificate
  4. For the Academic Statement of Purpose, upload a document stating “Data Science Program – Academic Statement of Purpose not required.
  5. In the Recommendation section, write “Data Science Program — Waived by Dept.” in the First Name field.
  6. Pay the application fee
  7. Email the Program Chair, Ivo Dinov (dinov@umich.edu) and ece-grad-program@umich.edu, to inform the committee of your submitted application.

Non-Michigan Trainees

Trainees that are currently not enrolled as University of Michigan graduate students are not eligible for the Rackham Graduate Data Science Certificate program.

Interested trainees may either apply for (1) admission to a Michigan Graduate Degree program, or (2) for admission as a non-candidate for degree (NCFD) to earn credit for graduate-level courses, including the Data Science Graduate Certificate Program. Persons who wish to earn academic credit for a U-M graduate-level course must either be regular students admitted to a degree program or admitted to NCFD status. Applicants may either apply for NCFD status to a specific program or to the Rackham Graduate School more generally. Information about the process for applying for NCFD status is available here. For NCFD students, tuition is charged at the per-credit rates set by the Registrar. Regular online courses offered by U-M that carry academic credit are charged at the normal tuition rates. MIDAS MOOCs, by definition, are open access online courses that are available without charge, provide no academic credit, and may provide certificates of satisfactory completion, which may require a small fee.