The Master of Science in Urban Informatics (MSUI) degree couples comprehensive data analytics skills with an understanding of the big questions faced by cities in the 21st-century city. This cutting-edge program is built upon a unique cross-college initiative, which offers comprehensive state-of-the-art training in the core skills of data analytics—including quantitative analysis, data mining, machine learning, and data visualization. Urban informatics students supplement training in these foundational skills with a specialized sequence of courses that address how data and technology are being used to tackle key social, infrastructural, and environmental challenges.
By combining a theoretically informed perspective of cities with advanced skills in accessing, managing, analyzing, and communicating insights from large complex, datasets, graduates are a part of the next wave of urban professionals ready to lead in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Given the continuous growth in urban data and technology, these professionals are essential to shaping the future of urban areas around the globe.
This program provides a uniquely integrated urban and informatics degree with a substantial experiential education component. The focus throughout is on practical application, and students have multiple opportunities to apply what they are learning.
The master's program offers an optional cooperative education experience (co-op) to eligible students. Co-op education is central to both the Northeastern experience and to the College of Social Sciences and Humanities experiential liberal arts framework. Northeastern’s signature co-op ecosystem provides qualified master's students with six-month work experiences in businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in Boston and across the United States. Graduate students take their work from campus learning spaces, apply their knowledge outside of the classroom, and then bring knowledge and skills gained in community learning spaces back to our campus learning spaces during the cocurricular experiential integration course.
Please review the tuition and fee page as credit costs differ depending on the college in which the course resides.
Climate and Resilience Concentration
This graduate concentration is available to students in the MSUI who want to specialize in the policy challenges that arise from climate change and the methodological tools designed to respond to them, especially those that help us understand and instill resilience in communities that are vulnerable to disruption. The concentration is comprised of three courses: a methods and applications course specific to the concentration; an analysis course specific to the concentration; and the requirement to complete a capstone or practicum relevant to climate and resilience.
Communities and Economic Development Concentration
This graduate concentration is available to students in the MSUI who want to specialize in the policy challenges associated with neighborhoods and communities and the methodological tools for addressing them. This includes examining more closely how communities work and the types of interventions that can help them to thrive and prosper. The concentration is comprised of three courses: a methods and applications course specific to the concentration; an analysis course specific to the concentration; and the requirement to complete a capstone or practicum relevant to communities and economic development.
Transportation and Infrastructure Concentration
This graduate concentration is available to students in the MSUI who want to specialize in the policy challenges and methods associated with transportation and related infrastructure. This includes questions of policy and operations pertaining to traffic management and public transit and the skills for analyzing mobility decisions. The concentration is comprised of three courses: a methods and applications course specific to the concentration; an analysis course specific to the concentration; and the requirement to complete a capstone or practicum relevant to transportation or infrastructure.
CSSH Graduate Programs General Regulations
Academic Standing/Progress
Students in the program are monitored for academic progress. Those students whose grade-point average (GPA) falls below a 3.000 are notified by and meet with the director of academic programs. They are counseled that if their GPA does not rise to a 3.000 or higher, they run the risk of not graduating and are advised on strategies for improvement.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Core Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Data Science Courses | ||
DA 5020 | Collecting, Storing, and Retrieving Data | 4 |
or DA 5030 | Introduction to Data Mining/Machine Learning | |
or PPUA 7237 | Advanced Spatial Analysis of Urban Systems | |
INSH 5301 | Introduction to Computational Statistics | 4 |
INSH 5302 | Information Design and Visual Analytics | 4 |
PPUA 5263 | Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | 4 |
Methods and Applications | ||
PPUA 5262 | Big Data for Cities | 4 |
Concentrations
- No concentration
- Climate and Resilience
- Communities and Economic Development
- Transportation and Infrastructure
No Concentration
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Methods and Applications | ||
PPUA 5266 | Urban Theory and Science | 4 |
Analysis | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Agent-Based Modeling for Applied and Social Sciences | ||
Analyzing Complex Digitized Data | ||
Social Networks | ||
Participatory Modeling for Collaborative Decision Making | ||
Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Decision Making | ||
Research Toolkit for Python for Policy | ||
Research Toolkit for Effective Communications for Policy Impact | ||
Research Toolkit for Urban and Regional Policy: Project Management (2 semester hours) | ||
Research Toolkit for Urban and Regional Policy: Grant Writing (2 semester hours) | ||
Practicum or Capstone | ||
PPUA 6966 | Practicum | 4 |
or PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | |
Portfolio | ||
PPUA 6410 | Urban Informatics Portfolio | 1 |
Climate and Resilience Concentration
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Methods and Applications | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Participatory Modeling for Collaborative Decision Making | ||
Ecological Economics | ||
Energy Democracy and Climate Resilience: Technology, Policy, and Social Change | ||
International Environmental Policy | ||
Environmental Science and Policy Seminar 1 | ||
Resilient Cities | ||
Analysis | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Agent-Based Modeling for Applied and Social Sciences | ||
Qualitative Methods | ||
Social Networks | ||
Dynamic Modeling for Environmental Decision Making | ||
CIVE 7000-level Special Topics in Engineering—approved by program director | ||
Practicum or Capstone | ||
Complete topic-focused capstone or practicum approved by program director: | 4 | |
Practicum | ||
or PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | |
Portfolio | ||
PPUA 6410 | Urban Informatics Portfolio | 1 |
Communities and Economic Development Concentration
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Methods and Applications | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Crime and Community Context | ||
Special Topics in Industrial Engineering (Sharing Economy Systems) | ||
Housing Policy | ||
Participatory Community Planning Methods | ||
Participatory Modeling for Collaborative Decision Making | ||
Global Urbanization and Planning | ||
Economic Analysis for Policy and Planning | ||
The Nonprofit Sector in Civil Society and Public Affairs | ||
Analysis | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Agent-Based Modeling for Applied and Social Sciences | ||
Qualitative Methods | ||
Analyzing Complex Digitized Data | ||
Social Networks | ||
Techniques of Program Evaluation | ||
Practicum or Capstone | ||
Complete topic-focused capstone or practicum approved by program director: | 4 | |
Practicum | ||
or PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | |
Portfolio | ||
PPUA 6410 | Urban Informatics Portfolio | 1 |
Transportation and Infrastructure Concentration
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Methods and Applications | ||
Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
Special Topics in Industrial Engineering (Sharing Economy Systems) | ||
Participatory Modeling for Collaborative Decision Making | ||
Resilient Cities | ||
Analysis | ||
Complete 4 semester hours from the following: | 4 | |
Critical Infrastructure Resilience | ||
Performance Models and Simulation of Transportation Networks | ||
Transportation Demand Forecasting and Model Estimation | ||
Agent-Based Modeling for Applied and Social Sciences | ||
Bayesian and Network Statistics | ||
CIVE 7000-level Special Topics in Engineering—approved by program director | ||
Practicum or Capstone | ||
Complete topic-focused capstone or practicum approved by program director: | 4 | |
Practicum | ||
or PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | |
Portfolio | ||
PPUA 6410 | Urban Informatics Portfolio | 1 |
Optional Co-op Experience
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Requires two consecutive semesters of Co-op Work Experience and Experiential Integration: | 2 | |
Co-op Work Experience and Experiential Integration |
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
33 total semester hours required (35 with optional co-op)
Minimum 3.000 GPA required