Business Analytics, B.A.
As a business analyst, you find and extract meaningful insights from data and use them to drive strategic initiatives. Business analytic skills are transferable across industries and sectors. Whether it’s e-commerce, healthcare, finance or manufacturing, organizations of all types can benefit from data-driven decision-making. This versatility allows you to explore diverse career paths and pivot between industries as you build your professional career.
Combined with our liberal arts foundation, you’ll develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, enabling you to approach complex business problems from a data-driven perspective. You’ll learn the right questions to ask, how to crunch the numbers and go beyond data to utilize practical knowledge that can be applied to many industries. This empowers you to identify opportunities for innovation, optimize processes and drive growth within organizations.
Program Overview
Our business analytics major was developed with input from some of the top names in data and computer science — industry leaders who have spent decades at the top of their fields. Our curriculum will position you for a successful and rewarding career in the field of business analytics.
- Learn to analyze large datasets and present your results.
- Learn the core concepts of inference, data analysis and computing by working with real economic, social and geographic data.
- Get an introduction to the applications of business analytics in the workforce with specific attention paid to the role of the data scientist or analyst and the application of Big Data.
- Explore key principles and techniques of data science and how to create informative data visualizations. Learn particular concepts of linear algebra, which are central to data science.
- Learn quantitative critical thinking and algorithms for machine-learning methods. Be introduced to how data analytics is deployed in healthcare, marketing, political science, criminal justice and other fields.
- Work on a capstone project where you work through a full data science workflow on real data drawn from sports, politics, business or public health.
- Prepare for the kind of work you will do on data science or analytics teams, how to communicate results to stakeholders and how to interview for jobs in the business analytics space.
Learning Inside & Outside the Classroom
The College of Business and Economics provides majors access to many out-of-class opportunities in business, including student organizations, study abroad, community outreach and undergraduate research within a course or independently with a faculty mentor.
Accreditation
Lenoir-Rhyne is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The B.A. in Business Analytics is not accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) due to the recent start of the program. We are in the process of collecting data for future accreditation.
Major Requirements
The Business Analytics major is designed for individuals who wish to pursue a career in data-driven decision making within the business world. The main focus of this major is the development of skills to collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate data in ways that support strategic and operational decision-making in a dynamic and rapidly evolving business environment. The major prepares students for careers as Business Analysts, Data Analysts, Operations Analysts and Business Intelligence Specialists. The program of study combines courses from all functional areas of business with quantitative methods and information systems to develop analytical thinking and practical problem-solving abilities. The Business Analytics major earns a B.A. degree.
Transfer Policy
A student may transfer in the following:
- the common Business core courses except for BUS 450Ìý - Business PolicyÌýand no more than 6 credit hours from BUS 320Ìý, BUS 340Ìý, BUS 344Ìý, BUS 360Ìý and BUS 370Ìý.
- no more than 6 credit hours from the required major courses.
Honors
Students in the College of Business & Economics may elect to pursue honors work. To be eligible for honors, students must:
- have a 3.2 cumulative GPA;
- have a 3.5 GPA in the major;Ìý
- have completed ACC 231, BUS 340, BUS 360Ìýand CSC 175 or BUS 125Ìýor have been invited to apply by the faculty of the CollegeÌýof Business & Economics;
- have successfully completed BUS 320Ìýand BUS 344Ìýas honors courses;
- have successfully completed BUS 499 which includes a specific business written analysis report and an oral presentation to the faculty of the College of Business & Economics.
Earning two or more majors in Charles M. Snipes College of Business andÌýEconomics
Students seeking two or more majors in the Charles M. Snipes College of Business & Economics must complete 15 hours of unique course work in the Major Requirements section of each major. All required course work for the major must be completed. The unique course work will come from the required courses and elective courses prescribed for the additional major. Some courses may require substitutions approved by the dean.
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General Education Requirements (37 hours)
ÌýGraduation Requirements (4 hours)
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Major Requirements (65-74 hours)
Technical Requirements (11 Hours)Foundational Core (27 Hours)
- ACC 230Ìý-ÌýAccounting for Decision Making
- BUS 320Ìý-ÌýManagement Information Systems
- BUS 340Ìý-ÌýBusiness Management
- BUS 344Ìý-ÌýBusiness Finance
- BUS 360Ìý-ÌýMarketing
- BUS 370Ìý-ÌýBusiness Law I
- BUS 450Ìý-ÌýBusiness Policy
- ECO 121Ìý-ÌýPrinciples of Economics Macroeconomics
- ECO 122Ìý-ÌýPrinciples of Economics Microeconomics
Transformative Competencies (6 hours)Choose one of the following Tracks:Applied Business Analytics Track (21 hours)- BUS 150Ìý-ÌýFoundations of Business Analytics I
- BUS 160Ìý-ÌýBusiness Analytics Programming I
- BUS 250Ìý-ÌýFoundations of Business Analytics II
- BUS 260Ìý-ÌýBusiness Analytics Programming II
- BUS 373Ìý-ÌýAdvanced Business Analytics I
- BUS 473Ìý-ÌýAdvanced Business Analytics II
- BUS 475Ìý-ÌýBusiness Analytics Practicum
Applied Data Science Track (30 hours)- BUS 150Ìý-ÌýFoundations of Business Analytics I
- BUS 160Ìý-ÌýBusiness Analytics Programming I
- BUS 250Ìý-ÌýFoundations of Business Analytics II
- BUS 260Ìý-ÌýBusiness Analytics Programming II
- BUS 476Ìý-ÌýData Science Practicum
- CSC 260Ìý-ÌýAnalysis of Algorithms
- CSC 360Ìý-ÌýAdvanced Analytics
- CSC 371Ìý-ÌýData Science I
- CSC 387Ìý-ÌýData Science II
- CSC 391Ìý-ÌýData Structures
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General Elective Credits
General Electives (5-14 hours) as needed to reach 120 hours overall.
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Total Credit Hours - Minimum 120 hours
On occasion, technical and/or program requirements may also meet specific General EducationÌýrequirements. Please confer with your program advisor to determine which courses, if any, may be counted accordingly.
All bachelor's degree programs at Lenoir-Rhyne require at least 120 credit hours. If, in combination, General Education, technical, and program requirements do not generate at least 120Ìýhours, additional credits must be completed to achieve 120Ìýhours. These classes may be general electives, or a student may complete a minor or additional major.
Admission & Financial Aidf
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Undergraduate AdmissionOur admission team is here to assist you in making the college search process as easy as possible. Our counselors are happy to provide the information and guidance you need to submit your application, apply for financial aid and scholarships, visit and tour our campus.
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Financial AidWe recognize that paying for college is a top concern for students and their families. Our financial aid staff is here to provide you with financial aid options and assistance to help you achieve your educational goals.