---

financial analytics

Types of Degrees financial analytics Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing financial analytics have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	4
Bachelor’s Degree	619
Master’s Degree	1,015
Doctor’s Degree	6

What financial analytics Majors Need to Know

Coursework for financial analytics develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that financial analytics graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

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

• English Language — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Computers and Electronics — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.

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

Skills

Skills built by a financial analytics program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to financial analytics careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

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

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

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by financial analytics professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Structured query language SQL	Data base user interface and query software	✓
SAS	Analytical or scientific software	✓
IBM SPSS Statistics	Analytical or scientific software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Teradata Database	Data base management system software	—
Microsoft SQL Server	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Project	Project management software	—
R	Object or component oriented development software	✓

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

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for financial analytics graduates include:

• Data Analyst
• Reports Analyst
• Business Analyst
• Business Systems Analyst
• Business Process Analyst
• Business Consultant
• Information Analyst
• Business Data Analyst
• Market Intelligence Consultant
• Business Information Analyst
• Market Intelligence Analyst
• Business Intelligence Consultant (BI Consultant)
• Strategic Business and Technology Intelligence Consultant
• Business Intelligence Specialist (BI Specialist)
• Reporting Analyst

Education Typically Required

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

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	58.1%
Master’s degree	22.9%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	6.0%
Doctoral degree	6.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	2.8%
Some college courses	2.4%
High school diploma or equivalent	1.0%
First professional degree	0.7%
Post-master’s certificate	0.2%

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

Who Is Earning a Degree in financial analytics?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 40.5% women and 59.5% men among financial analytics graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	665	40.5%
Men	979	59.5%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	541	32.9%
Asian	269	16.4%
Hispanic or Latino	176	10.7%
Black or African American	69	4.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	4	0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	2	0.1%
Two or More Races	54	3.3%
Race Unknown	60	3.6%
International Students	469	28.5%

^{See minority definition below.}

Online financial analytics Programs

Fully online options is reported by IPEDS for financial 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	3	0
Master’s	3	3

^{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
Business Analytics	30.7102
Data Analytics, General	30.7101
Data Analytics, Other	30.7199
Data Visualization	30.7103
Accounting and Computer Science	30.1601

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.