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Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration

Program at a Glance

  • Complete in as few as 9 months
  • 5 online courses
  • $3,700, or $3,145 with a 15% Fast Track Discount

Learn the Language of Choice for High-Demand Jobs in Data Science and Tech

Python is the most wanted new software skill by tech professionals, according to a 2020 StackOverflow Survey. An easy-to-use, open-source, versatile programming language, Python is widely used in data science and software engineering roles. Designed for beginning and intermediate programmers, the Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration provides a strong foundation and understanding in Python programming. Whether you're looking to enhance your career by further developing your Python skills or you're interested in a career in data science or computer programming, this online program will give you the hands-on experience and confidence you need to succeed.

Who is This Program For?

  • Professionals who work with data in their role or industry who can use Python to enhance their research and analysis skills
  • Data engineers, data scientists, business analysts or other data specialists who can use Python to improve the data infrastructure and reporting capabilities at their organization
  • Software and technology professionals who can use Python in their development work across various tech domains
  • Career explorers seeking to add Python to their skillsets to expand future career options, discover new areas of applications or potentially change careers
  • Senior tech leaders who need to understand Python to improve communication and teamwork

What You'll Learn

You'll complete this program with advanced knowledge of Python programming concepts and its application into data science, including:

  • Advanced Python language features for writing efficient programs
  • Applications for data mining and data analytics
  • Solving data-related problems and assessing and developing algorithms
  • Coding using Python scripting, syntax tools and object-oriented coding theories

What You'll Get

Our program offers:

  • UC-quality education with academic credit
  • A digital badge for your LinkedIn profile to share your professional achievement
  • Online convenience with an engaging interactive format
  • One-on-one interaction with veteran data scientists from a variety of industries
  • Python skills that are in high demand across many industries, giving you flexibility in the job market
  • Hands-on experience with practical application

Python Programming Certificate Badge

Earn a Badge

Earn a digital badge for your LinkedIn profile that demonstrates your mastery of this subject area. Learn more.


Career outlook for software developers, applications:

  • Annual Job Openings (2019): 945,469
  • Projected Growth (2019-2029): 27.2%
  • Median salary: $103,000 (Highly experienced workers can earn up to $161,000)

Source: Economic Modeling Specialist Intl.

This program requires the successful completion of five courses for a total of 10 academic units. Course content is frequently revised to ensure that the program is up to date with the latest industry standards. For this reason, you must complete all of the course requirements of your certificate with a "C" or better and within five years from the day you enroll in the first course. A certificate will not be awarded if the requirements are not completed and your application for candidacy is not received within this timeframe.

It is suggested, but not required, that you take courses in the following order: Introduction to Python Programming; Intermediate Python; Python for Data Analysis; Introduction to Machine Learning with Python; Data Structures, Data Mining with Python. Order can be flexible depending on your experience level, speak to a program representative if you have questions: cpe-ted@ucdavis.edu.

Required Courses

Introduction to Python Programming
Quarter Academic Credit
2

For several years, Python has been globally ranked as the top programming language used in industry, and is a logical stepping stone to learning more complicated programming languages like C++ and Java. As the first course in our Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration, this online course is designed for professionals looking to develop relevant software skills and is suitable for anyone looking for a structured and focused introduction to programming, especially for professionals in non-technical roles looking to switch to a more technical career. 

Through remote lectures, group discussions and hands-on activities, this beginner course will give you a foundational understanding of programming and open doors for professional development. By the end of this course, you will have enough technical knowledge and Python programming experience to further explore on your own or in more advanced courses. 

Learning Outcomes

  • Write and execute Python code in the Jupyter Notebook environment 
  • Use Python data structures and control flow structures to accomplish data-driven tasks 
  • Process text files in common formats like comma-separated values (.csv) files 
  • Document and debug Python code 

Skills You’ll Gain

  • Basic script writing
  • Utilizing core Python language features and functions 
  • Utilizing the interactive development environment Jupyter Notebooks 
Course Code
508127
Intermediate Python
Quarter Academic Credit
2

Pave the path to a technical career by strengthening your programming skills. This online course is part of our Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration and is designed for you to discover many of Python’s powerful programming features and apply them in hands-on exercises and assignments found in real world software applications.  

Intermediate Python will delve into essential data science applications of programming.  You will set up your own Python development environment like professionals do, including installing the best distributions of Python, creating your own virtual environments, installing packages, and connecting all of this to your own Integrated Development (IDE) software.  

Learning Outcomes

  • Use IDE’s to create, run, test, and debug your code efficiently.
  • Write programs using procedural and object-oriented programming techniques. 
  • Write custom functions and add command-line interface capabilities. 
  • Develop and master namescapes and scopes and understand how these impact variables and objects. 

Skills You’ll Gain

  • Data analysis in Python. 
  • Use of Panda. 
  • Application of Object-Oriented Programming. 
  • Advanced Python Programming tools including iterators, looping techniques, and generators. 
Course Code
508128
Python for Data Analysis
Quarter Academic Credit
1.5

Get a head start in your career by gaining essential data analysis skills. This online course in our Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration is designed for professionals looking to develop relevant analysis skills in general or switch to a more technical career.  

Python for Data Analysis will introduce basic data analysis applications of Python for those with little or no programming experience. Through remote lectures, group discussions and hands-on projects, you will learn how to ingest and clean data, plot basic graphs and fit regression-based models. Along with the basics of the Python language, you’ll get an introduction to various Python libraries, as well as learn how to import data and manipulate it efficiently using Pandas and NumPy, how to produce plots and data visualizations with matplotlib and how to run regression models using sci kit-learn. By the end of this course, you will be able to immediately apply your new skills to perform basic data analysis tasks in Python.  

Learning Outcomes  

  • Read and explore data frames using various libraries including Pandas  
  • Analyze and make recommendations from a dataset 
  • Gain hands on experience testing a hypothesis using data  

Skills You’ll Gain  

  • Basic data analysis in Python  
  • Experience with Pandas, NumPy and scikit-learn 
Course Code
508130
Introduction to Machine Learning with Python
Quarter Academic Credit
2

Build a stronger understanding of foundational machine learning by using Python. This online course is designed for professionals looking to upskill as well as students and job seekers interested in learning the fundamentals of machine learning applications and data mining in Python. Skills gained in the course can be used across a broad array of industry roles, including marketing, business analytics, data analytics, and web and Python programming. 

Through online lectures, interactive assignments and projects, you’ll develop practical applications such as search engines, image analysis, bioinformatics, industrial automation, speech recognition and more. Examine machine learning concepts, gain a basic understanding of supervised machine learning and Bayesian classifiers, learn concepts in unsupervised machine learning and clustering algorithms and apply neural networks to machine learning. 

Learning Outcomes 

  • Identify and formulate machine learning problems using Python 
  • Understand and implement algorithms to solve simple machine learning problems 
  • Analyze the performance of machine learning solutions on practical datasets 

Skills You’ll Gain 

  • Usage of histograms for supervised machine learning and Bayesian classifiers  
  • Design and application of classifiers like k-nearest neighbors, linear machines and decision trees  
  • Unsupervised machine learning and cluster algorithms such as expectation maximization and k-means clustering 
Course Code
508131
Data Structures, Data Mining with Python
Quarter Academic Credit
2

Unlock new career opportunities by delving deeper into the world of data science. This online course is the final part in our Python for Data Analysis Professional Concentration and is designed for professionals looking to upskill in Python programming and web development for use in programming, marketing and business analytics. 

Data Structures and Data Mining with Python will equip you with the foundational knowledge and hands on experience to build a portfolio through data engineering pipelines, data science workflows, and machine learning and deep learning operations for artificial intelligence application deployment. The course material is curated from top tech companies in the artificial intelligence sphere, allowing you to work with leading technology stacks from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Nvidia and Databricks on AWS. 

Learning Outcomes 

  • Apply Python advanced language features to write efficient programs 
  • Use advanced Python data structures for efficient handling of data 
  • Use the RAPIDS computing framework for big data analysis and analytics 
  • Use machine learning and deep learning concepts in AWS, Nvidia and Databricks on AWS 

Skills You’ll Gain 

  • Data analysis in Python 
  • Writing efficient programs 
  • Using advanced tools in Python 
Course Code
508129

Required Courses

Required Courses Units Fall Winter Spring Summer
Introduction to Python Programming 2 Online Online Online Online
Intermediate Python 2 Online Online
Python for Data Analysis 1.5 Online Online
Introduction to Machine Learning with Python 2 Online Online Online Online
Data Structures, Data Mining with Python 2 Online Online Online Online
  • At Your Own Pace: Take individual courses for a total of $3,700 (or $740 per course).
  • Fast Track: Pay $3,145 in full at the time of enrollment and save over $500 on the cost of the program. Learn more

For information about financing your education, please click here.

Ready to advance your career? Pick the option that best suits your needs and your lifestyle:

  • Register. Fill out a brief program registration form. By doing so, you declare your intent to complete the program in 5 years or less, lock in program requirements and will be contacted by a program adviser who will work with you to map out your academic path.
  • Fast Track. Enroll in our Python for Data Analysis Fast Track Program to save 15% on the cost of the program.
  • Enroll in an individual course. Check out individual courses that are currently open for enrollment. Courses will be applied to the program if you later decide to complete the professional concentration.
  • Sign up an information session. Learn more about the program by enrolling in a free info session. If an information session for this program is not currently open for enrollment, click on “notify me,” and we’ll contact you when then next one becomes available.
  • Questions? We’re here to help.

    Contact our Enrollment Coach, Katie Orton, if you would like to schedule an appointment. She can speak with you about our program, answer your questions and help ensure it’s the right fit for your goals. Schedule your 30-minute conversation with Katie.

    If you’ve got a question, email us or call (530) 757-8777.

    Access free career resources. Our students have free access to tools for career planning, resume writing, interview practice and more.