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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Degrees & Programs
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B.S. Information Sciences (BSIS) 

A total of 123 hours of course credits are required for the BSIS:

  • 21 hours of required courses
  • 30 hours of iSchool electives
    Includes a variety of topics across pathways
  • general education requirements
  • electives within or outside the school, including minor(s) and/or certificate(s)

Required Courses

  • IS 100 Introduction to the iSchool

Core

  • IS 101 Introduction to Information Sciences
  • IS 202 Social Aspects of Information Technology
  • IS 203 Analytical Foundations for Information Problems*
  • IS 204 Research Design for Information Sciences

Information technology implementation

  • IS 205 Programming for Information Problems (or another programming course)*
  • IS 206 Introduction to Database Concepts & Applications

Information sciences and culture (select one)

  • IS 308 Race, Gender and Information Technology
  • IS 309 Computers and Culture
  • IS 310 Computing in the Humanities
  • IS 311 Historical Foundations of the Information Society

iSchool Electives

30 Hours of courses taken within IS from a variety of areas (students may follow one or more pathways if desired).

At least 18 of the hours must be Advanced (300/400 level) IS courses.

*BSIS Substitutions

While we recommend that students take all of the courses in our BSIS curriculum to receive the Information Sciences perspective on these areas, there are a couple of courses where students may substitute other courses to fulfill these requirements. No other substitutions will be accepted. These do not apply to the +DS degree, please see below for the requirements and any substitutions for the +DS degree.

IS 203 Analytical Foundations for Information Problems

The following combination of 2 courses may be accepted for the IS 203 requirement in the BSIS degree. Taking these courses does not earn you IS 203 credit, but instead will substitute for the course. Credit is NOT automatically substituted. If you have completed the below substitution (both courses), please meet with an iSchool Advisor and they will confirm and email our records to make the substitution. You must have completed both courses (not in progress)- we will not make the substitution until they are successfully completed with a passing grade.

You must have at least one course for each of the two areas complete (no other courses accepted):

   1.  One Discrete Math Course: CS 173 or MATH 213
AND
   2.  One Statistics Course: STAT/IS/CS 107, STAT 200, STAT 212, STAT/CS 361, ECON 203, EPSY 280, or PSYC 301

IS 205 Programming for Information Problems

Any of these courses may be substituted for the IS 205 requirement: CS 101, CS 105, CS 124, CS 125
The course will automatically pull into your Degree Audit (DARS)

B.S. Information Sciences + Data Science (BSIS+DS) 

The BSIS+DS requires a total of 123 course credit hours:

  • General Education courses
  • Data Science (DS) Core courses
  • Information Sciences (IS) Core courses and IS electives
  • Meaningful Research or Discovery Experience courses

Required IS Courses

  • IS 100 Introduction to the iSchool

Core

  • IS 101 Introduction to Information Sciences
  • IS 202 Social Aspects of Information Technology
  • IS 204 Research Design for Information Sciences

Information technology implementation

  • IS 206 Introduction to Database Concepts & Applications

Information sciences and culture (select one)

  • IS 308 Race, Gender and Information Technology
  • IS 309 Computers and Culture
  • IS 310 Computing in the Humanities
  • IS 311 Historical Foundations of the Information Society

DS Core

The DS Core includes cross-college courses in mathematical foundations, data science fundamentals, computational fundamentals, and social impact in data science.

  • Mathematical Foundations
    • Calculus: MATH 220
      • or Calculus I: MATH 221
      • or Calculus for Business I: MATH 234
    • Linear Algebra for Data Science: MATH 227
      • or Linear Algebra with Computational Applications: MATH 257
  • Data Science Foundations
    • Data Science Discovery: STAT/IS/CS 107
    • Data Science Exploration: STAT 207
    • Modeling and Learning in Data Science: CS 307
  • Computational Fundamentals
    • Algorithms and Data Structures for Data Science: CS 277
  • Social Impact in Data Science
    • Ethics and Policy for Data Science: IS 467
    • Data Management, Curation, and Reproducibility: IS 477

iSchool Electives

24 Hours of courses taken within IS from a variety of areas (students may follow one or more pathways if desired).

At least 12 of the hours must be Advanced (300/400 level) IS courses.

Meaningful Research or Discovery Experience courses

One of the most important skills a student will gain in an IS+DS degree will be the ability to present data in meaningful ways. A research or discovery experience is as much a pillar of this degree program as both the data science core coursework.

6 Hours Required. Select from:

  • Independent Study: IS 189, IS 389, INFO 199, or INFO 299
  • Information Sciences Practicum: IS 249
  • Advanced Research Design: IS 304
  • Colloquium: IS 400
  • Study Abroad Experience with one or more courses focused on discovery (work with advisor for approval)
  • Students may complete a “Special Request Petition” to use another relevant course/independent study (work with advisor for approval)

Pathways

Pathways allow students to focus on course options within a certain area of career interest. BSIS students may take electives within a pathway or across multiple pathways. Visit the Pathways Website to read more

  • Information & Culture
  • Data & Society
  • Data Analytics/Data Science
  • Human Computer Interaction (HCI)/User Experience (UX)
  • Narrative Design and Game Studies
  • Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM)

For more information, you can access the iSchool Sharepoint page.