Best Certifications for Data Scientists for A Career Boost In 2025

Even though data science is revolutionizing technology, the industry itself is witnessing rapid evolution. The advent of newer technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning is transforming how the data science processes used to happen.

As the data science industry continues to evolve, it becomes mandatory for data science aspirants and experienced data scientists to upgrade their data science skills and stay competitive in this highly evolving job market.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 11.5 million data science jobs will be available by 2026. However, the competition for these vacant positions will also be huge. Therefore, it is wise to learn the latest and trending skills and validate them with credible and recognized data science certifications.

This will not only help you demonstrate your skills and expertise but also give you a competitive edge, enhance your credibility and employability, as well as negotiate higher salaries.

So, here are some of the most popular and recognized data science certifications that will take your data scientist job role to the next level.

1. Certified Lead Data Scientist (CLDS™) by USDSI®

The United States Data Science Institute (USDSI®) is quite a popular name in the field of data science certifications. This particular CLDS™ certification is designed for mid-level data science professionals such as data scientists, data science managers, and other senior professionals who want to advance in their careers as Lead Data Scientists to oversee entire data science project management within their organization.

The certification covers the following essential topics:

• Data science and data analysis
• Data analysis lifecycle and workflow
• Advancing Big data analytics
• Machine learning and PowerBI
• Containerization, RPA, IoT, and Cloud, and more.

Learning mode	Online self-paced learning program
Cost	$781
Eligibility	2-6 years of work experience and knowledge of programming language/engineering/statistics
Exam pattern	Online proctored exam of 100 minutes duration and consisting of 60 questions with a minimum passing mark of 70%
Duration	4-25 weeks with 8-10 hours of learning

USDSI® also offers flexible payment options where you can pay in full, in interest-free installments, or later using Klarna. Also, they launch various offers regularly, providing attractive discounts on their regular fee to enhance the overall learning experience. So, check out USDSI® certifications to boost your data science career now.

2. Data Science Graduate Certificate from the University of Maryland

Offered by the prestigious University of Maryland, this graduate certificate in data science offers a detailed understanding of data science technology and its working, right from data collection to data science model building.

Through this course, you can learn about extracting and cleaning data from various sources, learn to efficiently store and manage data, and master various data analysis techniques. It also covers various interdisciplinary activities that will help you create applications to answer different kinds of scientific and socio-political business questions using data science.

Learning mode	In campus instructor-led
Cost	$4,146 per course, total $16,548
Eligibility	Should have a 4-year bachelor’s degree
Exam pattern	Offline, university exam
Duration	12 credit programs

The classes are led by UMD faculty and other expert data science professionals, with classes mostly in the evening to not disturb professional commitments and routines.

3. Advanced Statistics for Data Science Specialization: Johns Hopkins University

This is an advanced data science certification course that equips data scientists with various probability and statistics and data analysis for data science. It is a 4.4* rated 4-course series where the professionals can master concepts like probability, distributions, bootstrapping, binomial proportions, etc. This course is available in Coursera.

Learning mode	Online self-paced learning in Coursera
Cost	$39 per month
Eligibility	Strong understanding of mathematical concepts, basic calculus and linear algebra
Exam	No exam needed
Duration	1 month

The course is led by Brian Caffo, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

Conclusion

So, these are some of the popular data science professional certifications that are designed to empower professionals with the latest data science skills and advanced techniques that they can use to make their data science projects more effective. Enrolling in this course, you will gain a competitive edge with industry-relevant skills to boost your existing data science career.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much can I earn after earning advanced data science certification?

Earning senior-level data science certification can open doors to several data science job opportunities like senior data scientist or lead data scientist. These data science roles earn an average salary of over $150,000 per annum.

• Do I need a data science certification to advance in my career?

Though data science certifications are not mandatory, they offer an excellent platform to showcase your latest industry-relevant data science skills, experience, and knowledge. They also demonstrate your willingness to learn new things and your commitment to the data science field, enhancing your credibility and employability, thus boosting your data science career.

• Which data science certification is best for me?

There are various kinds of data science certification, based on experience level and the skill you want to learn, you have to select the certification program. USDSI® data science certifications are considered to be among the best certification programs covering essential concepts and the latest trends in data science. They offer certifications for beginners, intermediates, and experts. So you can check them out.