The University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business is adding a fully online component to its part-time Master of Science in Business Analytics Program so students can earn the in-demand degree from wherever they live.

The online component was approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, on April 7, 2022.

“This is a new path to earn a degree through our part-time Master’s in Business Analytics Program, one that provides the flexibility that students tell us they want,” said Ann Campbell, department executive officer of the award-winning Department of Business Analytics.

The degree will be offered fully online starting in Fall 2022. It will require 10 graduate level courses. All classes include a weekly live online discussion session so students can interact live with their instructors and classmates. The program will continue to offer in-person classes in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, and students also have the option of taking a mix of online and in-person classes.

Campbell said the business analytics degree is an in-demand credential because employers are eager to hire experts who know how to manage and analyze data to provide management with insight and better compete in the marketplace. Analysts anticipate employment growth in the field to be two to four times higher than for most other occupations and project the need for business analytics experts to jump by 16% in Iowa in the coming decade, and 14% nationally.

Campbell said Tippie is among a select number of top tier programs to offer the degree fully online to meet that business need. It’s also one of the most prestigious, having received the INFORMS UPS George D. Smith Prize in 2021. The award is presented each year to a business analytics program for excellence in preparing students for careers in the field.

Campbell said the program is expanding to include a fully online option because students have made it clear that’s their preferred method of taking classes. The college had offered the master’s degree and a certificate in business analytics largely through in-person classes until the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes entirely online in 2020. When in-person classes resumed in Fall 2021, Campbell said 83% of the 376 students enrolled preferred to continue online.   

MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Snee, 319-384-0010 (o); 319-541-8434 (c); tom-snee@uiowa.edu