There are two graduate programs available in data analytics, the Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics (GC-DA) and the MS in Applied Data Analytics. Both of these programs prepare graduates for employment in managing, using, and exploiting data in organizations to enhance decision-making. These programs are particularly useful for individuals who wish to shift careers or add to their repertoire of current skills. Such skills are useful in almost every area of business, including accounting, management, marketing, finance, etc. The effective management of data has become increasingly important in organizations, as companies gather more and more data and use it for strategic purposes. Using this data for better decision-making remains a primary goal of data analytics. Effectively using data requires expertise in a number of areas, including data management and cleansing, descriptive/predictive/prescriptive analytics, advanced statistics, and data mining, to name a few. While in small organizations, an analyst may need skills in many areas, in larger companies’ employees typically focus in particular areas.
The Graduate Certificate and MS in Applied Data Analytics provide a solid foundation for work in the technical field of analytics. The Masters degree provides foundational work in all the common skill areas of data analytics, while the Graduate Certificate focuses on select areas, depending on which electives are chosen. Either degree is useful for providing the skills necessary for work, though the MS degree provides more employment choices for students, given that it includes skills in many areas of analytics.
The MS in Applied Data Analytics requires 30 semester hours of graduate work, including a core of 24 hours, plus an additional 6 hours of electives.
Prerequisite Course (3 credit hours)
CISA 2330 Business Statistics
Required courses (24 hours)
- CISA 5320 Critical Thinking in Data Analytics
- CISA 5330 Prescriptive Analytics
- CISA 5380 Business Intelligence and Data Visualization
- CISA 5381 Data Mining and Applied Analytics
- CISA 6325 Predictive Analytics
- CISA 6335 Python for Data Analytics
- CISA 6364 SQL for Data Analytics
- CISA 6365 Data Management
Take two of the following (6 hours)
- MBA 6301 Information Technology for Managers
- ACCT 6320 Seminar in Accounting Information Systems
- CISA 5355 Project Management Leadership
- CISA 5379 Data Visualization
- CISA 6340 Simulation and Modeling in Data Analytics
- CISA 6355 Information Technology Project Management
- CISA 6370 Applied Data Analytics Project
- CISA 6V71 Special Topics in Data Analytics
- CISA 6V82 Internship in Data Analytics
- CISA 6383 Data Mining II