This degree is shared between the IT-SCM department and the Department of Economics. The Business and Economic Analytics degree provides its graduates with the skill set necessary to turn Big Data into actionable information that supports strategic decisions. Also of note, the program is a designated STEM degree and international students who graduate from this program are eligible for extended 36 month OPT.
The Business and Economic Analytics B.S. program qualifies for Idaho LAUNCH. Idaho LAUNCH by Next Steps Idaho, is an education and training grant program that provides Idaho students a one-time scholarship for 80% of the tuition and fees for select in-demand career programs – up to a maximum amount of $8,000.
What does a Business / Economic Analyst do?
“Think analytically, rigorously and systematically about a business problem and come up with a solution that leverages the available data.” Michael O’Connell, senior director of analytics, TIBCO
“Data scientists are involved with gathering data, massaging it into a tractable form, making it tell its story and presenting that story to others.” Mike Loukides, VP, O’Reilly Media
“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.” Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company
As a Business / Economic Analyst student you will learn:
- business concepts, math and statistics that will help to identify and describe business problems and opportunities
- programming and databases to extract data needed for statistical analysis
- to present your analysis in a manner that demonstrates the business value of the results
Patrick McCuistion, a graduate of the Business and Economic Analytics program, ’20, works as a data and reporting analyst for Amazon.
“I use my college-gained knowledge on a daily basis. In Dr. Christie Fuller’s Predictive Analytics class, we learned how to work with stakeholders to finish data mining and reporting projects in a timely manner, presenting data that was useful and actionable. I use those lessons when I meet with managers and learn their frustrations. Because of my training through College of Business and Economics, I know how to design tools that remove those frustrations and barriers and help the managers see the data clearly so they can make data-driven decisions.” Read more about Patrick McCuistion.
Are there jobs? YES!
From Game changers: Five opportunities for US growth and renewal, McKinsey report: “Big-data analytics as a productivity tool: Sectors across the economy can harness the deluge of data generated by transactions, medical and legal records, videos, and social technologies—not to mention the sensors, cameras, bar codes, and transmitters embedded in the world around us. Advances in computing and analytics can transform this sea of data into insights that create operational efficiencies. By 2020, the wider adoption of big-data analytics could increase annual GDP in retailing and manufacturing by up to $325 billion and save as much as $285 billion in the cost of health care and government services.”
For more information on the Business and Economic Analytics degree, contact Dr. Teagen Nabity-Grover (teagennabitygrov@mblayst.com), Assistant Professor of ITM.
Degree Checklist
View the current requirements for a Bachelors of Science degree in Business and Economic Analytics BEA BS