Certificate in Business Analytics

Wrangling big data toward better decision-making

Our world is smarter and more connected than ever, and as we navigate it, we generate data — a lot of data. Our everyday actions create a trail of data that becomes more detailed by the day. If it’s deployed effectively, that data can help organizations identify their strengths and weaknesses, figure out what works and what doesn’t, and improve results while spending less. In other words, data helps businesses and governments make better decisions about how to serve their customers and constituents.

Meanwhile, researchers are using high-tech tools to gather data about everything from the galaxy to the human brain. This Big Data could lead to life-changing and life-saving discoveries: think habitable planets and cures for disease.

The Certificate in Business Analytics will give you the tools you need to organize and analyze data in the smartest ways, and then use your findings to make key decisions for the good of your organization and the world.

Through the certificate program’s three required courses, you’ll learn everything you need to get started with Big Data:

Discover how to ask the right questions, create a hypothesis and frame your queries.
Make the most of Microsoft Excel’s data-wrangling features, including tables, pivot tables and graphs.
Master the fundamentals of business statistics: descriptive statistics, modeling basics, statistical interference.
Get to know essential Big Data tools such as Statistical Analysis Software (SAS), a data management software suite, and R, a data-focused programming language.
Combine art and science to transform data into compelling and accessible visualizations.
The Certificate in Business Analytics is for current OU students.

The Certificate in Business Analytics is a great way to build your resume for a career in business, marketing, nonprofit management, public relations and more. It also provides a strong foundation for future study in data management, a lucrative career that’s in high demand.

Real-World Experience
Life After Oglethorpe
Degree Requirements & Courses

Join Data Analytics Club (yes, Oglethorpe has a Data Analytics Club!) and enjoy nerding out over numbers with your fellow data fans. Data Analytics Club will connect you with opportunities for valuable training sessions, fun case competitions and important networking opportunities. And the community you build now will help you land your dream job later.
Learn from executives at Atlanta’s global companies, who share their experience with Oglethorpe business students in talks and lectures right here on campus. For instance, the UPS leaders who delivered a presentation on real-world business operations at the logistics giant—including the company’s reliance on powerful data analytics tools, which guide their drivers from day to day and even door to door.
Benefit from your proximity to Atlanta’s dozens of multinational corporations and Fortune 1000 companies to find the best internship for you and your goals. Like business administration major Nick Evans, class of 2020, who completed a year-long internship at Morgan Stanley. Business majors have also interned at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Chi Phi Fraternity National Headquarters, Cisco Systems, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Coca-Cola, Disney, Embassy of Honduras in London, Enterprises, German American Chamber of Commerce, Grupo Terra at Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Marcus Institute, Merrill Lynch, Northwestern Mutual, Porsche Financial Services, Preparis, Rail Sciences Inc., Turner Broadcasting (TBS), Wilder Wealth Strategies, MTV’s Teen Wolf Productions and more.

Business analytics guides decision-making in most industries, from finance and government, to manufacturing and retail, to science and medicine. If you choose to pursue a career in Big Data, you’ll find high-paid positions in these fields and more. Just as importantly, an introductory understanding of how data informs decision-making can help you become a more successful professional, whatever your role.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth in data-related occupations is much higher than average. The number of jobs is projected to increase 12 percent by 2028 (that’s almost 550,000 new jobs!). Most of these roles will require additional training in business analytics; you could pursue a master’s degree, a Ph.D., or a professional training program to build the advanced skills you will need.
Careers in data analytics include business intelligence analyst, data analyst, data architect and data engineer. Salaries in these roles regularly top six figures. Many of these jobs also require skills in computer coding, so a business analytics certificate is a great addition to your computer science minor.
Oglethorpe business graduates have gone on to careers at ADP, AT&T, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Chick-Fil-A, the Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, GA Soccer, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Home Depot, IBM, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Morgan Stanley, SunTrust, TBC Integration, Wells Fargo, and more.

BUS 275 Business Analytics

This course develops the principles and techniques that are required to enable you to turn data into actionable intelligence. The course addresses how to ask a proper research question; how to formulate a hypothesis; how to gather the data needed to test your hypothesis; how to conduct a preliminary analysis of your data; how to create a predictive model; and how to communicate the results of your analysis.

BUS 325 Advanced Business Analytics

This course provides the foundations for true quantitative business analysis. We will learn to use a proper analytical workflow; get real data into an analytical program; transform and wrangle the data into usable form; exploring the data with visualization and predictive modeling; and communicate the results.

BUS 355 Data Visualization

This course focuses on how to use art and science to turn data into easily consumable information by exploring how to design and create data visualizations. This involves evaluating the effectiveness of visualizations in order to develop best practices with regard to design, organizing raw data, and creating data visualizations.