The Analytics Certificate meets the growing demand of graduate students and employers for expertise and experience in collecting, managing, analyzing and interpreting data.
March 31, 2020
By Elaine Cole
Last year TCU Neeley launched a new graduate Analytics Certificate to complement the MBA and MS degrees. A year later, 20 students have earned the certificate while earning their graduate degrees.
“I signed up for the certificate because data analytics is a big part of nearly every industry and will become even more ingrained in business,” said Melissa Shahbaz MBA ’20. “It is important to understand what the raw data is and how to prepare and present it so that managers can make the most informed decisions. The courses cover all of these steps.”
To earn the Analytics Certificate, TCU Neeley graduate students take 4.5 credit hours of statistical models, business analytics and data visualization, plus 3 hours of in-depth electives, to learn how to integrate data analytics across all areas, from supply chain to marketing to finance.
“The courses complemented my TCU MBA perfectly. Rather than just learning concepts and different software, the curriculum was practical and applied to real-world business cases, which forced us to think critically about the data and how it could be used to inform strategic business decisions,” said André Dubé MBA ’20.
“I not only honed my skills in software with which I was familiar, such as Microsoft Excel, I also utilized software that companies are using today to solve their analytical and visualization needs, such as Tableau and Alteryx,” Shahbaz said.
The Analytics Certificate meets the growing demand of graduate students and employers for expertise and experience in collecting, managing, analyzing and interpreting data. These skills are vital to organizational leadership in any field.
“Since reliance on big data by corporations is expected to increase, the experience and knowledge gained from obtaining the Analytics Certificate increase my value to future employers,” Dubé said.
The Analytics Certificate is compatible with any TCU Neeley graduate business degree: Full-Time MBA, Professional MBA, Health Care MBA, Energy MBA and the MS Supply Chain Management.