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Data Analytics

Ready to seize opportunity in a growing field?

At the turn of the new millennium, Major League Baseball was transformed by creative, new ways of crunching statistics and building competitive advantage (think Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in Moneyball). Today the field known as data analytics is not only commonplace in the world of sports; it is increasingly sought after in multiple arenas by companies looking to harness big data to guide decisions and gain an edge.

Become a Data Explorer

Drake’s major in Data Analytics will equip you to work with companies and organizations to scrutinize data—often massive amounts of it—conducting statistical analysis and finding relationships between various characteristics and outcomes. The work is wide-ranging, from figuring out new links between credit card habits and driving records to forecasting whether a new virus will lead to a pandemic.

A Profession in High Demand

Individuals with these highly specialized skillsets are immensely critical in effective forecasting and decision-making, which is driving data analytics to become one of the fastest-growing, in-demand fields of the 21st century. A recent McKinsey Global Institute study called data analytics "the next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity,” and estimated that by 2018 between 290,000 and 340,000 jobs in data analytics will be created in the United States alone—with more than half of those predicted to go unfilled. Demand for professionals with this expertise is fierce. And growing.

Diverse Job Prospects

As a data analytics professional, you can carve out a career in just about any area that interests you— insurance (predictive modeling, underwriting, evaluating risk), computing (machine learning, computational modeling), mathematics (creating complex operations to examine real-world problems), sports (evaluating player performance), politics (forecasting election results), business (targeting social media advertising), health care (anticipating epidemics), education (individualizing lesson plans),and many more.

Degree Options and Requirements

Drake is unique among its peer institutions in offering an undergraduate major in Data Analytics, integrating study in mathematics, statistics, and computer science and preparing students for a broad variety of careers in multiple fields.

The program is offered jointly through the College of Arts and Sciences (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science) and the College of Business and Public Administration (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Business Administration) and requires 30 hours of core coursework, with 9-16 hours in each area of specialty.

Drake also offers a minor in Data Analytics, requiring 21-22 credits in major coursework.

Examples of Coursework:

• Core: You will gain a broad expertise in data analytics through the major core: IT Applications for Business, Introduction to Computer Science I and II, Ethics in Data Analysis, Probability/Statistics, Statistical Modeling and Data Analysis II, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing and Database Systems, Data Analysis: Generalized Linear Models and Data Mining, and Case Studies in Data Analytics and Big Data.
• Customization: You will have the relative freedom to personalize your experience in the major by selecting an area of specialty and applying core knowledge to that discipline—be it finance, ecommerce, biology, marketing, mathematics, computer science, insurance, actuarial science, or economics.
• Capstone: You will be challenged to complete a final capstone project in a chosen area of specialty.

For more specific descriptions, visit www.drake.edu/analytics

Internship Opportunities

Drake is perfectly positioned to give you maximum experience and exposure to data analytics in the workplace. Take advantage of myriad opportunities for on-the-ground learning provided by Iowa’s capital city, a hub for insurance and financial services, national politics, data centers, bioscience, publishing, advanced manufacturing, and more. We are partnering with employers throughout the Greater Des Moines area who are eager to extend internships to students in this field. These employers will also be a rich source of future jobs for program graduates.

Find Out More

We love talking about the great things happening at Drake, but nothing beats a trip to campus. Let us know you’re coming and we’ll arrange for you to meet professors, sit in on a class, or just hang out with current students.

Contact:

Daniel Alexander
College of Arts & Sciences
daniel.alexander@drake.edu
515-271-3764

Bradley Meyer
College of Business & Public Administration
bradley.meyer@drake.edu
515-271-2490

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