Business Analytics Major
The age of Big Data continues to inundate us with extensive amounts of information through phones, computers, televisions, store sensors, airports — just about every aspect of daily life. A major in business analytics can turn Big Data into big opportunity.
Understanding how to work with the ever-increasing amount of data available can help businesses succeed by improving everything from operational efficiency to calculation of risk. The business analytics major at Valpo provides students with the tools to predict trends, as well as synthesize and distribute intelligence in exciting new ways, harnessing skills for which there is a high and growing demand.
All College of Business majors begin with two core groups of courses:
- The General Education Core (56 credits)
- The Business Core (38 credits)
| Major Requirements for Business Analytics | ||
| IDS 115 | Business for Decision Making | 3 credit |
| BUS 315 | Spreadsheet Modeling | 3 credits |
| BUS 330 | Database Management | 3 credits |
| IDS 340 | Statistics for Decision Making | 3 credits |
| BUS 370 | Visual Effects | 3 credits |
| BUS 440 | Data Mining | 3 credits |
| BUS 470 | Business Analytics Practicum | 3 credits |
| Major Field Requirement | 6 credits | |
| Total | 25 credits | |
| Free electives | 6 credits | |
| Grand Total (all courses) | 125 credits | |
In addition to the required courses outlined below, each student in the program is required to complete one of the following:
- A Cooperative Education experience combining full-time professional, paid work experience with academic coursework, or
- An Internship
Data analytics frequently prompts the creation of new jobs. Take data translators, for example; they collaborate with a company’s management team and data scientists. McKinsey Global Institute projects that the demand for translators will reach two to four million by 2026 in the U.S. alone!
— Associate Professor Coleen Wilder