With the analytics industry now an integral part of the economy, there are scores of data science programmes in India that are being added by academic institutions. However, it can become confusing for students to decide on what courses best suit their needs. Hence, Analytics India Magazine surveyed to rank the Programmes in Data Science or Analytics in India. AIM has been coming out with these rankings for the last 8 years. The ranking outcomes will result from this survey and extensive research and discussions with the participating institutes. This report enlists the top Postgraduate Programmes for Data Sciences in India for the year 2021.
This year we have released just one ranking for all post-graduate level programs, irrespective of their mode of delivery. More than 60 programs participated in the ranking out of which 44 made it through.
These courses offer value in different ways to students, who can apply to them depending on what they want to learn and their career. A good course has high and well-balanced scores across all the parameters, making it to the top of the ranking. These rankings will help students identify the right course for them.
The report is helpful for institutes offering these programmes to understand where they stand compared to other courses and identify areas of improvement. It can also be used by the policymakers in public and private organisations to get an idea of the progress the Data Science education industry has made and then help bring changes accordingly.
For previous year’s rankings, visit here.
Analytics India Magazine considered five different parameters for computing the ranking of Analytics or Data Science Programs — Certification Value, Return on Investment, Program Success, Teaching & Curriculum, and Student Engagement.
To determine this year’s Academic Rankings for Postgraduate Programmers in India, we derived an overall index. The index was calculated using the average score of five sub-indices (based on the aforementioned parameters). The sub-indices themselves were calculated based on the scores given to the answers (of the survey questions) asked by AIM using uniform evaluation criteria. These scores were normalised on a scale from 0 to 1 before the average for the sub-indices was taken. Outliers were capped. The hierarchy to calculate the overall index can be seen in the chart below.
No fee was charged for participation in the survey, and the participation was voluntary. The questions were answered by the institutes using a Google Form. We received a total of 62 responses, of which 44 with the highest overall index have been presented in this report. Others had to be left out due to answers that were incomplete or could not be scored according to the evaluation criteria.
Below we discuss the results of the analysis and present the top-ranking programmes across the different sub-indices and the overall index.
Overall Index
All of the postgraduate courses listed have value to offer for the students who enrol in them. These are some of the top courses in the country that can help you set off your career in Data Science. Different courses offer different values, while some do well across all the parameters. This gives them a high overall index and brings them to the top of the table.
A balanced score across all the parameters shows a holistic approach taken by the institutes to ensure the best learning experience and career progression for their students.
According to our analysis, the PGP in Data Science with ML and AI by Praxis Business School scores the overall highest index with 0.73. It performs well across all the sub-indices. The course is a full-time Postgraduate Program that is taught live on-campus. Praxis as an institute has made quite a name for itself as a private institution, and its programs are highly regarded by recruiters. This was also the first program exclusively in data science to be launched in India. This gives it a score of 0.93 in the Certification Value sub-index.
The PGP in Computational Data Science offered by the International School Of Engineering (INSOFE) comes in second place with an overall index score of 0.72. The program has shown a great return on investment (with a score of 0.94). This is also reflected in the Program Success, scoring the highest within the sub-index (0.98).
T A Pai Management Institute or TAPMI’s Post Graduate Certificate Program in Leadership through Analytics and Decision Sciences delivered in collaboration with Mu Sigma is well-known for its Teaching & Curriculum (0.85). Several classroom sessions taught by a wide range of in-house and visiting faculty are followed by working on live projects in Mu Sigma that makes students industry-ready.
In the fourth position, we have Executive PGP in Data Science offered by upGrad with a score of 0.69. The program has a high score in Program Success (0.90) and RoI (0.83), ranking 4th and 5th in the respective sub-indices.
The PGP in Data Science offered by Simplilearn makes it to the fifth rank this year with a score of 0.68. The program has seen a total of 14 batches that it has completed with around 1400 students enrolled for it, with a Program Success sub-index score of 0.76.
The other programs to make in the top 10 include PGP in Data Science & Business Analytics by Great Learning and the PGDM – Big Data Analytics by the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), scoring 0.67 and 0.66, respectively.
These two programs are followed by PGCP in Data Science and Machine Learning offered by Times TSW, MBA in Business Analytics offered by REVA Academy, and the dual degree course MBA in Decision Science and Analytics & MS in Business Analytics and Information Management offered by the School of Business Management at NMIMS University in association with Purdue University.
Certification Value
Formal education through well-recognised institutions is one of the most important methods of filtration when enterprises are looking to hire candidates. Here, not only does the brand of the college or the university it is affiliated will matter, but the way the program is conducted is also considered. For example, organisations tend to prefer students who have studied their course on-campus in live classrooms than students who have studied online in part-time courses. Also, different program parameters like the duration, exams, and internships differ based on the certification a student is entitled to upon completion. In this section, we will analyse how different programs fared in the Certification Value sub-index.
The dual degree program of MBA Decision Science & Analytics and MS in Business Analytics & Information Management ranks highest in the Certification Value sub-index with a score of 0.99. The course is full-time and on-campus that offers a Masters degree upon completion. In addition, the students get to study in the School of Business Management at NMIMS and the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.
The Post Graduate Program in Data Science & Business Analytics offered by Great Learning scores second-highest on Certification Value (0.98). The course is a Full-time on-campus and Masters level program. Not only is the program affiliated with the University of Texas (Austin), Great Learning has also made a significant name for itself. It is regarded highly by recruiters in India, with their students scaling up fast within the organisations.
In third place with a score of 0.93 for its Certification Value is the Post Graduate Program in Data Science with ML and AI offered by Praxis Business School. This is a full-time program that is taught live on campus. Located in Kolkata and Bangalore, Praxis Business School is regarded as one of the best private B-schools in India.
The next two courses with the highest Certification Value sub-index score of 0.88 each are MBA (Data Science and Data Analytics) and MBA (Business Analytics) offered by the Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology and Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development. Both of these courses are conducted live on-campus and are full-time Masters-level programmes. The Symbiosis International Deemed University has consistently ranked highly among the top B-schools in India.
The MSc in Data Science course offered by the Pune Campus of Christ University and the M. Tech Data Science (Business Analytics) by NMIMS University rank 6th and 7th in Certification Value with 0.86 and 0.85, respectively.
The other three courses to make it in the top 10 include Post Graduate Program in Big Data Analytics (0.83) offered by the autonomous St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore, Master of Artificial Intelligence in Business (MAIB) (0.83) offered by SP Jain School of Global Management, and M. Tech Artificial Intelligence (0.80) by NMIMS University.
Return On Investment
While Data Scientists or Analytics professionals are in great demand, Data Science education is expensive. The institutes providing these courses also need considerable investment in terms of faculty and infrastructure, and at the same time, these courses need to be affordable to provide equal opportunity for everyone. Hence, return on investment (RoI) is important to consider. Placement opportunities in top enterprises with good salary packages are one of the main ways to identify courses providing good RoI. This section highlights the courses with a high median package to course fee ratio, highest placement packages, and good placement ratios.
The MBA in Business Analytics offered by the REVA Academy for Excellence scores the highest in the RoI sub-index with 0.96. While the course costs more than five lakhs, the median salary package for graduates placed through the program get a median salary of around 30 lakhs.
INSOFE’s Post Graduate Program in Computational Data Science ranks 2nd in the RoI subindex with a score of 0.94. The course fees are 4.45 lakh when the median salary from its placements is around 12 lakhs. The course, however, has a slightly lower placement ratio, with only 80% of the eligible students from the previous batch getting placed.
WileyNXT, in association with IIM Lucknow or IIM Roorkee, runs four programs, all of which make it to the top 10 in the RoI sub-index. In the third position is their Executive Program in AI for Business with a score of 0.91. While the course costs somewhere around 1.5 lakhs, the alumni of their course have a package between 7 lakhs to 50 lakhs. The institute only provides assistance when it comes to placements and 100% of their students have jobs after completing the course. Similarly, in the fourth position is their Executive Program in Strategic HR (0.86), previously known as Executive Program in Talent Analytics and Human Resource Management. It earns graduates a salary ranging between 13 to 107 lakhs.
With a 0.83 score in the RoI, the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Data Science offered by upGrad stands at the 5th position within the sub-index. While the course costs three lakhs, leading to an average placement offer of only 7.2 lakhs per annum, some students have seen pretty high placement offers.
The upGrad course is followed by the other two WileyNXT courses with almost identical scores of 0.79. One of them is conducted in affiliation with IIT Roorkee Lucknow. This Post Graduate Certification Program in AI for BFSI leads to its graduates earning between 10 lakh and 42 lakh after paying a fee of around 1.25 lakhs. The other is an Executive Program in Data-Driven Product Management. The salary of these alumni ranges somewhere between 16 to 30 lakh for a fee of 1.9 lakhs.
Finally, the Edvancer’s Advance Certification Programme in AI & ML in association with IIT Kanpur and the MSc Data Science offered by the Pune campus of Christ University score 0.76 and 0.69, respectively.
Programme Success
A program’s success can help prospective or interested students to know whether it has worked for students before. The number of batches conducted, and the number of students who graduated as a part of it can indicate the program’s success. In this section, we will analyse how successful the programs have been since their inception.
INSOFE’s PGP in Computational Data Science ranks the highest in Program Success with a score of 0.98. The program has successfully conducted almost 100 batches for which more than 3800 students have enrolled, of which 3500 have completed the program. The program has also successfully made several collaborations with different institutions and companies that can benefit from it. Students who opt for this program have the option to transfer credits for 11 Master’s programs with top-ranked universities and gain lateral entry into 2nd sem directly.
In the second position comes Intellipaat’s course Masters in Data Science (0.95). The certification program has completed more than 435 batches. Around 17,400 students have enrolled on this program, 70% of whom have graduated.
The PGP in Data Science & Business Analytics offered by Great Learning also scores very well (0.93) in the Program Success to rank third within the sub-index. With almost 150 batches now conducted, the program has been completed by more than 7000 students. These students constitute around a third of the total enrolled, which shows a lower completion rate.
With a score of 0.90, upGrad stands 4th in the subindex for its Executive Post Graduate Programme in Data Science. The online course has completed 24 batches graduating more than 7500 students. It has collaborated with The Math Company that benefit its students.
At fifth, we have the Praxis Business School for its Post Graduate Program in Data Science with ML and AI with a score of 0.83. The course has completed 24 batches, for which more than 800 students have enrolled. The course also has a high completion rate of 83%.
Simplilearn’s Postgraduate Program in Data Science and Ivy Professional School’s Diploma in Data Science, AI, ML and Big Data come in at the sixth and seventh positions, respectively, within the sub-index with a score of 0.76 and 0.72.
This is followed by the PG Program in Data Science offered by Edvancer (0.70), Post Graduate Certificate Program in Data Science and Machine Learning offered by Times TSW (0.68), and Post Graduate Program in Data Analytics by Simplilearn (0.67).
Teaching & Curriculum
Faculty is one of the most important aspects of a course. They not only influence how the course is taught but also encourage and direct students to the right career path. At the same time, curriculums decide what the students will learn. It is important to build courses that prepare students to work in actual data science teams. While classroom sessions and exams can build their knowledge, capstone projects and internships can help them prepare for working in the industry. In this section, we will analyse the Teaching & Curriculum aspects of the programs.
The dual degree MBA in Decision Science and Analytics & MS in Business Analytics and Information Management offered by NMIMS’ School of Business Management in collaboration with Krannert School of Management, Purdue University ranks the highest in Teaching & Curriculum with a sub-index score of 0.93. The programme has a good mix of teachers coming from academic backgrounds and industry experience teaching different subjects. They have hired around 34 teachers for the program, of which 16 have a PhD and 12 with industry experience of more than five years.
In second place with a score of 0.90 comes Goa Institute of Management’s 2-year PGDM in Big Data Analytics. There is a faculty of 26 teachers for the programme, 22 of which have PhD. It also has a large visiting faculty of almost 28 professionals and academics that come to teach. The students have to go through more than 960 hours of training, appear for several exams and complete multiple Capstone projects. Internships are also a big part of the course that helps students get work experience.
The third place is the Post Graduate Certificate Program in Leadership through Analytics and Decision Sciences offered by TAPMI, scoring 0.85 within the sub-index. Around 38 teachers at the institute are involved in teaching the course, 21 of which have a PhD and 16 have work experience greater than five years. The course, however, has only one visiting faculty. The course is 11-months long, with students needing 960 hours of studying.
Fourth and fifth place in the Teaching & Curriculum both offered by Symbiosis. One is the MBA in Business Analytics (0.83) offered by Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development. The course has dedicated a faculty of 21 full-time teachers and 21 visiting faculty. Of the full-time staff, 18 of them have a PhD, and ten have work experience of more than five years. Similarly, the fifth-place course by the Symbiosis Centre of Information Technology of MBA Data Science and Data Analytics (0.79) has 19 full-time teachers (14 with a PhD and four with 5+ years work experience) and 16 visiting faculty. Both these courses run for two years and need almost 1500 learning hours to be put in by the students, along with exams, internships, and capstone projects.
Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program in Data Science ranks 6th in the Teaching & Curriculum sub-index with a score of 0.76. The course has a faculty of 16 teachers, all of whom have work experience of greater than five years. However, only four of them have a PhD. The visiting faculty includes 15 teachers from some of the best institutes and organisations across the world.
Scoring 0.73 each, Christ University’s (Pune Campus) MSc in Data Science and Welingkar Institute’s Post Graduate Diploma in Research & Business Analytics come in 7th and 8th place. Both are 2-year courses that need their students to complete around 1000 learning hours along with exams, internships, and capstone projects. However, the Welingkar course has a comparatively lower number of faculty dedicated to the course.
Finally, the Master of Artificial Intelligence in Business offered by SP Jain School of Global Management and the MBA in Business Analytics by REVA Academy for Corporate Excellence also come in the top 10, both with a score of 0.70.
Student Engagement
While the number of students enrolled in the program or the ones that completed the course is an important indicator of how successful the program is, it is also important to consider how students engage with it. Attendance is not just about the student’s willingness to learn but is also indicative of how the program is conducted to keep the student’s attention. Secondly, it is also important to see how diverse the student enrollment is. The proportion of female students is indicative of this. Finally, it is also important to consider how students are enrolled in the program. The selection criteria for these students can help understand the efforts the program makes in curating a batch. This section analyses how good the programs have been in terms of engaging the enrolled students.
Praxis Business School’s Post Graduate Program in Data Engineering scores the highest student engagement score (0.87) by a considerable margin. Students have to go through an interview process, and their scores on existing exams are also considered. They have an attendance rate of 97% in their current batch. At the same time, almost two in five (79%) students in the current batch are women, indicating a high female representation.
In the second place, we have Goa Institute of Management’s PGDM in Big Data Analytics (0.79). The course has an entrance exam that is followed by an interview. The institute also considers marks from existing exams before admitting students. The program also has a very high attendance rate at 96%, and more than two in five (42%) of the students from the current batch are female.
Coming third in the sub-index is NMIMS University’s M. Tech Artificial Intelligence with a score of 0.75. Students who want to attend the course have to go through entrance exams and interview processes. Marks from existing exams are also considered. They have a 99% attendance rate in the current batch and a 40% female representation.
M. Tech in Data Sciences offered by Alliance University and the PGCP in Leadership through Analytics and Decision Sciences by TAPMI both score 0.73 to come in at 4th and 5th in the Student Engagement sub-index. Alliance University also has an entrance exam for the program. The students are screened for cutoffs in existing exams and have to undergo an interview process for both courses. Their current batches have a high attendance rate of 95%. However, with 38% and 21% of the students female, there is a scope for improvement in terms of representation.
Welingkar’s Post Graduate Diploma in Research & Business Analytics comes in at 6th with a score of 0.71. Students have to go through entrance exams and interview processes and be screened for their marks in existing competitive exams. The program has a comparatively lower attendance rate at 80%. But it has a perfect 50-50 representation of male and female students in the course.
With a score of 0.70 each, St. Joseph’s Post Graduate Program in Big Data Analytics, Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program in Data Analytics, and NMIMS University’s M. Tech Data Science (Business Analytics) come in at 7th, 8th, and 9th position. Finally, we have Times TSW’s Post Graduate Certificate Program in Data Science and Machine Learning with a score of 0.69.
Conclusion
This report enlists the top Data Science Postgraduate Programs in India to give a holistic view of the Analytics education landscape in India. It quantifies how good these programmes are based on different parameters. This report can help students and professionals interested in a career in Data Science choose the right course for them.
Institutes across India have come up with many Data Science courses. They are trying to ensure the best quality education to help students set their journeys in this dynamic industry. Different courses offer different things, and students should opt for them depending on what is most important to them and their career stage. While for students just starting their professional careers, a program with a higher certificate value might be important. On the other hand, a mid-career professional might choose a program that offers the highest Return on Investment since that is the most important thing. All the courses listed in the report are some of the best courses offered in the country, and the decision to apply for them solely depends on what the individual aims to achieve.
You can read the entire report here.
