The Data Science program offers an accelerated BA/BS-MS program for current undergraduate students. Ordinarily, students must have a 3.000 or higher GPA and should apply for the MS program during their junior year through the Office of Graduate Admissions.

To apply for the accelerated program, a student is expected to have taken the following undergraduate courses: CS 151 /IS 352 , MA 251 , and ST 210 /ST 265 /EC 220 /PY 292 . Students are strongly encouraged to take additional mathematics courses, for example, MA 295 /CS 295  or MA 395 , MA 301 , and MA 252 . Three graduate courses may be taken that apply towards both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Students must earn a grade of B or better in each of the three courses in order for the courses to advance to the graduate program. The following courses apply towards both programs: CS703 (in place of DS 303 ); CS737 (CS 484 ); DS851 (IS 358 ); ST710 (ST 310  ); ST765 (ST 465 ); ST767 (ST 472 ). To be able to complete the degree in an additional year, two of the three courses taken as an undergraduate must be CS703 and ST710. It is recommended that most students also take DS851 as an undergraduate. If a student has previously taken one of the undergraduate versions of these courses, the course is waived from the graduate program but must be replaced with an additional graduate elective.  

Students interested in applying to the BA/BS-MS program may do so by going to the Office of Graduate Admission and completing the online application. The admission requirements also include two letters of recommendation (both of which must be from Loyola faculty members) and an essay. Official transcripts are automatically requested and the $60 application fee is waived for all current students.