Soaring Demand for Data Science Drives Dietrich College Momentum

As the sophisticated use of digital information transforms business and daily life, an innovative approach to data science across academic fields is fueling a popularity boom at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences , in what was once a quiet corner of the academy: Statistics. The Dietrich's College's Department of Statistics and Data Science - a global leader in applying statistics to many areas of science, technology, policy and education - is among the fastest growing statistics programs in the nation. The number of undergraduate statistics majors has nearly quadrupled since 2010 and has grown more than twenty-fold since 2005. And since 2013, Dietrich College applicants who indicated interest in studying statistics have more than doubled. "Our statisticians and data scientists exemplify the Carnegie Mellon approach to the humanities and social sciences, which infuses foundational and deep research across disciplines to take on and offer solutions for issues that are important to the world today," said Richard Scheines, dean of the Dietrich College. In many institutions, statistics is not associated with the humanities or social sciences. But at Carnegie Mellon, where it is situated in the Dietrich College and applied in unexpected fields, this innovative approach is helping drive an unusual rise in the portion of admitted students choosing the university over its competitors.