A Pathway to Earning a Master’s in Five Years at a Reduced Cost
(l-r) Dr. Cindy Jebb, president of Ramapo College; Ramapo Professor of Mathematics Amanda Beecher; Thomas Ortega, data science student at Ramapo; CCM Professor of Mathematics Kelly Fitzpatrick; and Dr. Anthony J. Iacono, president of CCM, at the signing of the Data Science Transfer Agreement.
2023 kicked off with the following declaration from Tech Crunch magazine: “Data science is perhaps the most exciting area in all of enterprise technology right now, and it’s evolving at a lightning pace.” Recognizing the significance of this dynamic industry, Ramapo College of New Jersey and County College of Morris (CCM) have joined forces to create pathways for aspiring data scientists to earn a master’s in data science in as little as five years.
The presidents of CCM and Ramapo on February 1 signed a Data 
Science Transfer Agreement, the first between a community college and a four-year institution in New Jersey. Known as a 2+2+1 agreement, the partnership will allow students to begin their education at CCM to earn their associate degree in computer science and then seamlessly transfer to Ramapo to earn their bachelor’s degree and then a master’s in data science if they wish.
Thomas Ortega, of Randolph, a graduate from Morris Hills High School and CCM, is in his fourth year in the 2+2+1 program. Ortega, who also serves as the founder and President of the Ramapo College Data Science Club, shared, “My pathway between County College of Morris and Ramapo College has been a wonderful experience that has provided me with a great start to my data science career. With an engaging faculty, I always feel that I have the support I need to pursue hands-on data science projects.”
By taking a number of graduate courses as an undergraduate at Ramapo, the master’s can be completed in one year. By starting at a community college and then earning a master’s in a year, students can enjoy significant savings on their higher education. Students are not required to earn a master’s and can opt instead to earn a bachelor’s only.
“We’re pleased to be offering this opportunity for CCM students to seamlessly continue their data science higher education at Ramapo College so they can take advantage of a wide range of career opportunities,” said Dr. Anthony J. Iacono, president of CCM. “We’re proud to enhance our relationship with such a great institution that also builds upon our reputation as the best community college in the state for transfer students.”
Among the first institutions in New Jersey to offer advanced degrees in data science, Ramapo’s Master of Science in Data Science program is nationally ranked a Top 30 Master’s program by Fortune Magazine, making it the #1 graduate data science program in New Jersey. According to Fortune’s analysis, data science is one of the fastest growing fields due to the increasing volume of data generated every day, which is “creating a steep demand for workers that can harness, analyze and create value from the data available.”
Dr. Cindy Jebb, president of Ramapo, said, “Ramapo looks forward to welcoming CCM graduates to our data science programs. Our Center of Data, Mathematical & Computational Sciences, which is home to our data science programs, is at the cutting edge of preparing undergraduate and graduate students to be highly skilled and ethical problem solvers by teaching them how to apply technical and interdisciplinary concepts to real-world challenges.”
The strength of Ramapo combined with the strength of CCM, which is nationally rated the Best for Transfer Students in New Jersey by Intelligent, has created thoughtful, accessible and seamless pathways for students to pursue their studies in this high-demand growth industry. With the addition of this data science 2+2+1 agreement, CCM now has more than 170 transfer agreements to ease the process of earning an associate and then a bachelor’s degree.
To learn more about the Computer Science Program at CCM, visit https://bit.ly/CCMComputerScience. To learn about the Data Science programs at Ramapo, visit https://www.ramapo.edu/dmc/.
