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Information Science. Love people? Love technology? You'll fit in perfectly.
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Pencils down. Laptops up.

From day one, hands-on foundational courses give you the skills to work with information at the scale and speed of today’s technology. You'll learn to collect, analyze, interpret and use the data that shapes our world and study the ways people interact with all things digital. By the time you graduate, you’ll be able to create engaging social and technological solutions to real problems faced in industry, the public sector, and research institutions. Image credit: Kimberly Coffin, CMCI

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Inform your future.

Data analyst, user experience and interaction designer, data scientist, information analyst, and business consultant. These are just a few of the careers that await you. From journalism to music to healthcare, you will gain the tools, experience and ability to address the problems that matter to you, creating an impact on our society.

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Experience from the real world.

With our faculty’s experience and connections to some of the biggest names in industry, you’ll never have to ask if you will use this in the real world.  Our faculty share their experiences from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Twitter, Intel, and Tableau, just to name a few. And CU is an integral part of Boulder's tech market—emerging as one of the most entrepreneurial in the country.

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Information Science

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Welcome to the Department of Information Science.

Love people? Love technology? You’ll fit in perfectly. 

Information science is the study of the relationships between people, places and technology and how they are intertwined. Our data-driven, interdisciplinary approach—drawing on social science, computer science and the humanities—allows students to develop the conceptual understanding and practical skills needed to succeed in a future characterized by new ways of working, communicating and creating. A degree in information science enables students to imagine what technology makes possible, invent new ways to use technology and positively impact the world. 

Housed within CU Boulder’s College of Media, Communication and Information, our department is proud to cultivate an inclusive community of scholars who share a commitment to excellence and innovation in research and teaching. Our research program is exceptionally strong in human-computer interaction, data science and social and collaborative computing, and our faculty expertise covers a broad range of areas including information visualization, machine learning, technology ethics, health informatics education and learning and more. Students can pursue bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as minors in both information science and data science.

We welcome graduate students from a range of backgrounds, such as computer science, social science and quantitative research. Many of our graduate students participate in cutting-edge research labs and build community by joining the INFO Graduate Student Association.

Undergraduate students can take advantage of our Bachelor’s Accelerated Master’s program (BAM) to seamlessly earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. They have opportunities to work on real-world research projects with faculty and graduate students and can join our INFO Buffs club to find a friendly group of passionate peers with similar interests. 

Read about our world-class faculty experts, admissions process and research labs to learn more. 

In this section: Information Science

  • Department Home
  • INFO Faculty and Staff
  • Research Labs
  • Undergraduate Programs
  • BAM: Accelerated Master's
  • MS: Information Science
  • PhD: Information Science
  • Our Graduate Students
  • Advisory Team
  • Explore CMCI Academics

Undergraduate Opportunities

As an undergraduate student in the Department of Information Science, you will learn to collect, analyze and interpret many different information sources to understand our world. You’ll study how we interact with all things digital, including software, devices and algorithms. By the time you graduate, you’ll be able to create social and technological solutions that are truly engaging for those who use them, apply those solutions to real problems and evaluate their effectiveness.

You will also apply information science to the topics that matter to you. From journalism to music to healthcare, you will gain tools that can address many problems. By applying your new knowledge, you’ll address real problems and create an impact on our society.

    Learn more: BS Degree

    Learn more: Info Science Minor

    Learn more: Data Science Minor

    Learn more: Bachelor's-Accelerated Master's ("BAM")

    For Prospective Students

    Undergraduate Advising

    How to Apply

    Visit Us!

    Student Voices: Why CU?

    Casey Paul, BAM student

    Casey Paul, BAM student

    “The professors and faculty in INFO are unmatched. They care about each and every one of their students as well as helping them thrive in whatever topic they choose to study.”

    Priscilla Rain Hopper

    Priscilla Rain Hopper, BAM student

    “The Information Science department is the best place to obtain an education. The number one reason I decided to come to CU was for the knowledge and experiences I knew I would gain from this major. What I have achieved since freshman year has been absolutely due to the skills, connections and opportunities this phenomenal department has given me.”

    Clark Mousaw

    Clark Mousaw, BAM student

    "INFO would be a great fit for you if you're looking for a STEM major where you will learn how to solve real-world social problems with computing and better understand the interface between humans and technology that shapes the world around us."

    Janghee Cho

    Janghee Cho, PhD candidate

    “Our department has a very inclusive culture. I’m always encouraged to bring my unique perspective and experiences to our community. And my colleagues all have diverse backgrounds, which is really helpful as I am exploring research areas.”

    Graduate Programs

    Our program is designed to help students tailor their education towards their own research interests and skillsets while developing a shared body of knowledge around methods, computational techniques, theoretical frameworks, and design practices.

    Information Science is a broad discipline, and our students come from a range of backgrounds. Some have computer science degrees and come prepared to take on information science with a toolkit of computational and data science methods. Some have little to no experience in computing but have backgrounds in social science or qualitative research. Some come to us with a rich knowledge of domains (e.g., public health, education or journalism) to which information science research and techniques can be applied. Some come straight out of undergraduate programs, others have already completed graduate degrees and others have years of professional experience. Wherever your experience lies, we encourage you to explore our programs and join us!

     

    Learn more: Bachelor's-Accelerated Master's ("BAM")

    Learn more: MS

    Learn more: PhD

    For Prospective Students

    Graduate Student Help

    How to Apply

    More INFO

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    Research Labs

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    INFO Buffs Club

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    INFO Graduate Student Association

    Grad Student Awards logo

    Graduate Student Awards

    Department News

    GROUP logo.
    Information Science at GROUP 2023
    Snowy flatirons
    Announcing the Fall 2022 Dean's List
    Screenshot of the Mastodon homepage
    What is Mastodon? A social media expert explains how the ‘federated’ network works and why it won’t be a new Twitter
    Leysia Palen
    Leysia Palen named as distinguished professor
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    Information Science at CSCW 2022
    More News »

    INFO & College Events

    All CMCI Events »
    Tweets by @@cuinfoscience

    Careers in Information Science

    • Business analyst
    • Data scientist
    • Game designer
    • Information policy specialist
    • Interaction designer
    • Project manager

    • Social media strategist
    • Software developer
    • Systems analyst
    • Tech journalist
    • User experience designer
    • Visualization designer

    Contact the Department of Information Science

    Department of Information Science:

    General Inquiries 
     Email

    PhD Program Inquiries
    Email

    CMCI Department of Information Science (INFO)
    1045 18th Street, UCB 315
    Boulder, CO 80309

     303-735-7581

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