Thinking about earning a data science degree in Colorado? Here are some things you may want to know about earning a master’s in data science in Colorado, Colorado schools, job prospects, online alternatives, graduate scholarships and networking opportunities. If you’ve already packed your snowboard, feel free to skip ahead to the list of all the data science programs in Colorado.

Nicknamed “Silicon Mountain,” the Centennial State has a lot going for it.

Some of the growth in data science in Colorado is fueled by the state’s university system, including the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder and its OffIce of Data Analytics (ODA), specializing in data analysis, data collection and visualization. Here are some of the ways Colorado schools are investing in data science:

General information about online master’s in data science is covered elsewhere. The following information examines what makes programs in Colorado unique.

Online graduate certificates in data science in Colorado may help you to prioritize career goals. Depending on your level of knowledge, you might be interested in:

If you’re trying to develop a particular set of skills, have a look at our master list of  online graduate certificates in data science.

When it comes to online master’s in data science degrees, Colorado’s offerings can be divided into two categories: nonprofits and for profits. The nonprofit category includes schools like CSU Fort Collins and CU Denver:

The for-profit category includes Aspen University and Colorado Technical University (CTU), which offers a doctoral program.

Live in Colorado and want to pursue a career in data science or data analytics? You may want to consider attending a data science bootcamp in Denver or other state locations. Bootcamps are short-term, intensive programs dedicated to quickly help equip participants with the basics necessary to work in the field.

Some bootcamps in Colorado focus on data science, which is the study of how knowledge can be extracted from various forms of information. Other bootcamps concentrate on data analysis, a more practical approach to drawing conclusions from information. Other types of bootcamps may combine the study of both data science and data analytics.

Learn more about data science bootcamps offered online, in person or in a hybrid format, or look into data analytics bootcamps.

We chose to focus on institutional aid that would cover the school’s data science programs, but don’t take this as the end. The graduate studies office of each school can refer you to general scholarships and fellowships and other sources of financial aid.

Colorado offers several meetups devoted to specific technologies, tools (e.g., Denver R User Group), and industries (e.g. Energy Tech Hub Hub). Here are some of the bigger data science events in Denver and other areas:

Major data science conferences in Denver and the surrounding area (e.g., Strata Data Conference, Predictive Analytics World, IEEE Conferences, SIGKDD, The Machine Learning Conference.) may only stop in Colorado once in a while. Here are homegrown events worth considering:

Are you looking for data science jobs in Colorado?

The headquarters of MapQuest and Photobucket are located in Colorado. So too is the office of Oracle-owned Datalogix in Broomfield, Colorado. Over in the River North (RiNo) district, the Catalyst has some opportunities.

And then there’s Boulder. Boulder has companies like Rally Software, SolidFire, an IBM campus and the research we mentioned at CU Boulder. People often talk about the small-town feel and the excitement around new projects.

But if you’re thinking of working in Colorado, you don’t have to be limited by geography. The state’s start-up attitude—creating data science companies where once there were rocks—has spread itself beyond the major metropolitan areas. Pluralsight Flow was founded at a coworking facility in Durango.

According to data from O*NET OnLine in 2020, the annual median data scientist salary in Colorado was $92,320. This is lower than the $98,230 national annual median salary for data scientists. The highest-paid 10% of data scientists working in Colorado earned an average of $151,940 annually, while the bottom 10% earned $53,780 or less. Salaries for data scientists and related mathematical science careers in Colorado can vary depending on where you work within the state. For example, the annual median salary for data science and related careers in the Boulder area was higher than the state average for those careers.

Following is the median salary breakdown for data scientist occupations in some Colorado cities in 2020, provided by O*NET.

Last updated: February 2022

If you’re looking for information on career paths that involve STEM, see our guides below:

Data Science and Analytics Careers:

Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Information Careers:

Marketing and User Research Careers:

Compare Careers and STEM Fields:

We found 8 universities in Colorado offering Masters of Data Science programs (and/or closely related programs, like MS in Analytics / Masters in Business Analytics). The university’s website will have the most up to date information on specific programs.

If you represent a university and would like to contact us about editing any of our listings, or adding new programs, please send an email to info@mastersindatascience.org.

This page includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.