How Does a Master’s in Business Analytics Benefit Your Career in a Data-Driven World?
In an information-packed marketplace where lightning-fast changes can make or break a company, business leaders need someone who can decipher the data and make sound, strategic recommendations. A master’s degree in the growing field of business analytics can put you in that trusted seat.
What does someone with a business analytics degree do?
Succeeding in business analytics means mastering the skills, technologies and practices used to investigate past business performance to gain insight and drive future business decisions.
Business analysts identify historical business trends, determine the factors that influence them, pinpoint likely outcomes and make recommendations for business success given these factors. Today, business analysts are working in almost every industry to develop marketing strategies, increase sales, improve financial efficiency, streamline processes and increase productivity.
Career opportunities in business analytics can include:
- Analytics Manager
- Data Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Functional Analysts
Should I get a master’s in business analytics online or in person–or a little of both?
There are advantages to both ways of studying business analytics. Designed for busy professionals, Sacred Heart University’s 30-credit Master's in Business Analytics & Applied AI program can be completed 100% online, in person or in a hybrid format incorporating select Saturday classes.
Whichever way, you will learn the process of exploring and analyzing an organization’s data and gain cutting-edge training in data management with a curriculum grounded in rigorous analytics and applied techniques. And you will learn how to share your newfound knowledge and insights with your colleagues, making you a more valuable employee–even as you complete your degree.
What is the highest salary for a master’s in business analytics?
As of June 2023, the average annual pay for business analytics jobs in the United States is $98,947 a year, according to ziprecruiter.com.
What is the job outlook for someone with a master’s in business analytics?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks several positions that often require or recommend a business analytics degree. The BLS predicts 25% growth in operation research analysts by 2030 and 22% growth for market research analysts before this decade ends. Other closely related positions, budget and management analyst, are likely to grow by 5% and 14% respectively, according to the BLS.
Graduates of the business analytics program at Sacred Heart University are employed at companies across various industries, including Pepsico, Cigna, KPMG, PwC, Crum & Forster, IBM, Kyndryl, Yale University and Yale New Haven Health.
What are the key skills required for success in business analytics?
A good candidate for a career–and master’s program–in business analytics is:
- An inquisitive, critical thinker able to use logic and prediction to solve problems
- A good communicator who can present findings in a clear, concise manner
- Able to visualize complex issues and be both detailed-oriented and see the big picture
Technical skills are also necessary but may be gained in graduate programs. Top analysts are adept at SQL, and often use statistical languages, such as R and Python, as well as SPSS, SAS, Sage, Mathematica and Excel.
How does business analytics differ from data science?
You may have heard people use “data science” and “business analytics” interchangeably, but the truth is there are important differences between the two fields and their respective degrees.
On the most basic level, business analysts use data to draw meaningful conclusions and solve business problems with light use of coding. Data scientists use significantly more coding to prepare data for analysis by writing algorithms and building statistical models.
While data scientists extract and organize data and need knowledge of machine learning, statistics and math, business analysts are communicators who work with clients and lean on interpersonal and management skills.
What sets Sacred Heart University’s Master’s in Business Analytics & Applied AI program apart?
SHU’s program–online, in-person or hybrid–is based at the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, one of fewer than 5% of elite business schools worldwide accredited by AACSB International. As a student, you will have access to world-class facilities in Sacred Heart’s expansive, high-tech West Campus–the former international General Electric headquarters–including an AI Lab with program software including Python, Tableau and MySQL. You will learn from professors with years of corporate experience and gain hands-on experience interning within the industry. You will tailor your education to your goals through your choice among five concentrations:
- Business Analytics
- Business Data Science (which leads to an additional graduate certificate in Intelligent Computing)
- Financial Applications
- Healthcare Analytics
- Marketing Analytics
In addition, you will also be prepared to sit for Python certification by the end of your studies.
Think the Master's in Business Analytics & Applied AI program at Sacred Heart University might be for you?
Curious about earning your Master's in Business Analytics & Applied AI? Talk to Ed Nassr, associate director, at nassre@sacredheart.edu, 203-396-6877 or schedule a virtual appointment today!