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As companies amass more data than ever, the employees best able to interpret it and apply key insights to important decision-making processes become increasingly valuable.

But while the skillset grows more desirable, the supply of workers with the correct skills isn't sufficient making data science skills among the most in-demand hard skills in 2020, according to LinkedIn's research.

Thankfully, there are plenty of online learning opportunities to help you prepare for a career in data science, whether it's a course that helps you master a specific skill or an intensive year-long program that helps you jump up the ladder in your current role. Many classes are offered by top schools such as Harvard and MIT, and many programs were designed by major companies like IBMand Google specifically for educating a useful future workforce. Some of them offer students the opportunity to join their talent network after completing a specific course level.

Below are a few of the most popular data science options online, including MicroMasters, professional certificates, and individual courses.

Professional certificates are bundles of related courses that help you master a specific skill, and they tend to be most useful for breaking into a new industry or getting you to the next level of your career. They can take anywhere from a few months to more than a year to complete. At Coursera, professional certificate programs typically have a 7-day free trial and a monthly fee afterward. So, the faster you complete it, the more money you'll save. At edX, professional certificates typically have a flat one-time fee.

MicroMasters are a bundle of graduate-level courses that are designed to help you advance your career. Students have the option of applying to the university that's offering credit for the MicroMasters program certificate and, if accepted, can pursue an accelerated and less expensive Master's Degree. You can learn more here.

If you end up taking a Coursera course, and you think you'll realistically spend more than $399 in monthly fees or on individual classes throughout the year, you may want to consider Coursera Plus if all the courses and programs you plan to take are included in the annual membership (90% of the site is). And, if your employer offers to cover educational costs that include online-learning programs, you may even be able to get reimbursed for the following courses.

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10 of the best affordable online data science courses and programs - Business Insider - Business Insider