The Naveen Jindal School of Management offers a new completely online master’s degree program in business analytics worth the consideration of anyone interested in an in-demand career in the booming big data space.
“All the prediction models tell us that the really hot growth is at the intersection of machine learning, artificial intelligence and data science,” said Dr. William (Bill) Hefley. A clinical professor in the Jindal School’s Information Systems Area, Hefley directs all MS in Business Analytics programs. “There aren’t enough qualified graduates being produced,” he said, “to fill those jobs.”
For that reason, the focus of the 36 semester-credit-hour STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) online program is on the Data Science Track, which emphasizes skills needed to analyze and manage large datasets to inform problem-solving and decision-making.
Now accepting applications, the new program will start this fall, and students, Hefley said, will have access to the same world-class faculty members who teach the highly ranked business analytics cohort and flex programs. Those are ranked No. 17 in the U.S. News & World Report 2020 rankings of Best Information Systems Programs.
Even the course sequence is the same in the online format as in the others. The only difference is the geographical independence that it allows its students.
Students do not have to be on campus, nor do they have to be in class at the same times that faculty members teach. “The online modality gives you the ability to do the degree program at your pace and from where you are,” he said.
Courses and Career Choices
Courses in the Data Science Track include:
- Business Data Warehousing (MIS 6309)
- Programming for Data Science (BUAN 6340)
- Applied Machine Learning (BUAN 6341)
- Big Data (BUAN 6346)
- Advanced Business Analytics With R (BUAN 6357), and
- Data Visualization (MIS 6380).
Program graduates seek careers as data scientists, data engineers, data analysts, business intelligence analysts, business intelligence engineers, business intelligence consultants and big data engineers.
Rewards Await the Well-Prepared
Hefley said that the placement rate for the Jindal School’s MS in Business Analytics graduates is 92% within 90 days of graduation and the average salary of those placed is just over $100,000.
Program students are so well prepared that they have made a favorable impression on employers, including Guy Yollin, a director in a predictive analytics division of Milliman, a Seattle-based actuarial and consulting firm. In 2019, Yollin’s team was hiring a graduate-level intern and had received about 120 applications from all over the U.S., including two from Jindal School students.
“Our two top candidates were both from the UTD MS in Business Analytics program,” Yollin wrote in an email to Hefley. “In fact, we were so impressed with both UTD students that we obtained approval to offer two internships.”
Although the economy has taken a hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hefley sees this is a good time for people to pivot to a new career.
“When the greater recession is over and the economy starts to pick back up, there’s going to more demand for these skills, and with a degree like this, you’ve prepared yourself very well,” he said.
