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business analytics

Types of Degrees business analytics Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing business analytics can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	49
Associate’s Degree	20
Bachelor’s Degree	1,369
Master’s Degree	7,831
Doctor’s Degree	4

What business analytics Majors Need to Know

Studies in business analytics emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that business analytics graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

This major prepares you for careers needing business analytics emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Computers and Electronics — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills emphasized by a business analytics program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to business analytics careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, business analytics graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Working with Computers	4.6 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Processing Information	4.5 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.4 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.3 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.3 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.2 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.1 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by business analytics professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Structured query language SQL	Data base user interface and query software	✓
Microsoft SQL Server	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	✓
IBM SPSS Statistics	Analytical or scientific software	✓
SAS	Analytical or scientific software	✓
Teradata Database	Data base management system software	—
Tableau	Business intelligence and data analysis software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
The MathWorks MATLAB	Analytical or scientific software	✓

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for business analytics graduates include:

• Data Analyst
• Business Development Analyst
• Reports Analyst
• Business Consultant
• Business Process Analyst
• Business Analyst
• Business Systems Analyst
• Social Media Specialist
• Marketing Specialist
• Marketing Consultant
• Technical Marketing Specialist
• Statistical Consultant
• Statistical Analyst
• Quantitative Methodologist
• Data Analytics Specialist

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to business analytics graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	56.0%
Master’s degree	28.7%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	4.4%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	3.9%
Some college courses	3.5%
Doctoral degree	2.0%
Postsecondary certificate	0.7%
Post-doctoral training	0.6%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in business analytics?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 42.8% women and 57.2% men among business analytics graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	3,973	42.8%
Men	5,300	57.2%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of business analytics graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	2,304	24.8%
Asian	661	7.1%
Hispanic or Latino	500	5.4%
Black or African American	280	3.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native	9	0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	6	0.1%
Two or More Races	131	1.4%
Race Unknown	179	1.9%
International Students	5,203	56.1%

^{See minority definition below.}

Online business analytics Programs

Distance learning are documented by IPEDS for business analytics. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	2	0
Bachelor’s	8	3
Master’s	31	19
Doctoral (Research)	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Data Analytics	30.71
Data Analytics, General	30.7101
Data Analytics, Other	30.7199
Data Visualization	30.7103
Financial Analytics	30.7104
Data Science, General	30.7001
Data Science, Other	30.7099

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.