Business Analytics Graduate Certificate
In this for-credit program, you’ll learn in-demand business analytics skills including strategy, methods, tools, and applications that are widely used across business disciplines.
Applications open on January 6, 2025
Start classes next Fall.
8 - 24 Months
Minimum timeframe to complete may vary depending on course load and start date.
$4,164
Tuition and fees are subject to change.
100% online
Faculty teach live classes and offer weekly office hours.
Learn in-demand business and data analytics skills.
Hands-on practice
Through projects, exercises, and case studies, you’ll build the experience and confidence to apply what you learn in the program on the job.
Top faculty
Benefit from multiple opportunities to engage with and learn from world-class experts. Faculty teach live classes and offer weekly office hours, and teaching staff are available to provide support as needed.
Curated, stackable content
In this program, you’ll build knowledge and gain skills that are aligned with real-world demands and opportunities, based on the latest research and connections within business analytics. Additionally, the certificate stacks directly into the full Master of Business Administration (iMBA), Master of Science in Accountancy (iMSA), or Master of Science in Management (iMSM) from the University of Illinois. Upon completion of the certificate program, you can take 12 credit hours of completed work and apply that toward one of those degrees now or in the future.
Program description
Overview
The Business Analytics Graduate Certificate offers learners in-demand business analytics skills including strategy, methods, tools, and applications that are widely used across business disciplines. Learners will study and use analytic languages, build data preparation and communication knowledge, and expand their business analytic mindset through exposure to theory, strategy, and application.
This program is designed for learners who wish to have a well-rounded knowledge of business analytics that integrates the areas of data science, analytics, and business decision-making.
Benefit from live, interactive learning sessions with instructors and receive actionable feedback from teaching staff and fellow learners. Through hands-on projects, exercises, and case studies, you’ll develop experience and insight in business analytics that you can apply immediately in your career.
The certificate stacks directly into the full Master of Business Administration (iMBA), Master of Science in Accountancy (iMSA), or Master of Science in Management (iMSM) from the University of Illinois.
Required background
A bachelor's degree is required and professional experience, skills, or knowledge related to business concepts is preferred.
Skills you will gain
- Machine Learning
- Business Analytics
- Data Analysis
- R Programming
- Data Cleaning and Exploration
- PowerBI, RStudio, and Alteryx
Complete 5 required courses
Course 1 of 5
MBA 561: Introduction to Business Analytics with R
Overview
MBA 561 welcomes you to the world of business analytics by firstly exploring examples of how data analytics has improved business outcomes for large and small organizations. The course then continues by introducing you a powerful data analytic language, R, and RStudio, the integrated development environment (IDE) to code with R. You will be also introduced to notebooks, and dashboards, with which you can learn to communicate code and analytic results with other people. You will also learn some data manipulation skills to prepare your data so that they can be analyzed with visualizations and machine learning algorithms.
Course 2 of 5
MBA 562: Introduction to Business Analytics: Communicating with Data
Overview
This course introduces students to the science of business analytics while casting a keen eye toward the artful use of numbers found in the digital space. The goal is to provide businesses and managers with the foundation needed to apply data analytics to real-world challenges they confront daily in their professional lives. Students will learn to identify the ideal analytic tool for their specific needs; understand valid and reliable ways to collect, analyze, and visualize data; and utilize data in decision making for their agencies, organizations or clients.
Course 3 of 5
MBA 563: Data Toolkit: Business Data Modeling and Predictive Analytics
Overview
The emphasis of this course is placed on developing a business analytic mindset. You will then be exposed to various tools to perform tasks including extracting, transforming and loading (ETL) data to conduct exploratory data analytics (EDA). These tools are Power BI, R, and Alteryx. In addition, you will learn different machine learning algorithms but also develop the ability to evaluate and select the right algorithms for the right circumstances and use Notebooks to communicate results with others. Completion of this course requires downloading and using free versions of the PowerBI and Alteryx applications, both of which are only compatible with Windows Operation System (i.e. Windows 10). Therefore, to complete this course, you must have administrative access to a computer with Windows operating system installed. Alternatively, you may use a free virtual desktop environment that contains all the software requirements.
It is strongly recommended to complete MBA 561 or the MOOC associated with MBA 561 before beginning this course. To be successful in MBA 563, you should be comfortable with all R concepts and commands covered in MBA 561.
Course 4 of 5
MBA 564: Applying Data Analytics in Marketing
Overview
This course introduces you to marketing analytics through a wide range of analytical tools and approaches - and how to apply them in real-world situations. We will discuss causal analysis, survey analysis using regression, textual analysis (sentiment analysis), and network analysis. This course aims to provide the foundation required to make better marketing decisions by analyzing multiple types of data related to customer satisfaction.
It is strongly recommended to complete MBA 561 before beginning this course.
Course 5 of 5
MBA 564: Applying Data Analytics in Accounting
Overview
This course explores business analytic applications in accounting. Students will understand analytic issues and topics in accounting, conduct audit and control testing tasks using Alteryx and R, and examine robot process automation.
Completion of this course requires downloading and using free versions of the Alteryx applications, both of which are only compatible with Windows Operation System (i.e. Windows 10). Therefore, to complete this course, you must have administrative access to a computer with Windows operating system installed. Alternatively, you may use a free virtual desktop environment that contains all the software requirements.
It is strongly recommended to complete MBA 561 or the MOOC associated with MBA 561 before beginning this course.