2023-2024 Graduate and Professional Studies Catalog 
    
    Nov 22, 2024  
2023-2024 Graduate and Professional Studies Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Data Science and Analytics, MS (On Campus; Online)

Location(s): Henniker Campus, Online


(36 credits)

Program Description and Learning Outcomes  


With the growth of the digital age businesses and organizations have had access to unprecedented amounts of data.  In order to turn this data into a competitive advantage, businesses must develop effective methods to and analyze and interpret vast amounts of information.  Part business management and part data science, Data Analytics is the key to developing methods that unlock the predictive potential of data. 

Data Analytics plays an integral role in determining an organization’s overall strategic direction, and demand for this crucial set of skills is growing globally.  The McKinsey Global Institute expects that demand for business people with deep analytical skills could outstrip current projections of supply by 50% to 60%.  Graduated students can expect to play a greater role in decision making and strategy setting for their current or future organizations, adding significant value: studies show that business that understand how to interpret data outperform competitors by up to 20%.  New England College’s MS in Data Science and Analytics on campus and online program will provide students with frameworks for critically looking at data, interpreting and visualizing data, and applying that knowledge in real-world applications that will shape how 21st century business challenges are addressed. 

Learning Outcomes


  • Learn how to effectively leverage data for strategic decision making
  • Learn methods to evaluate data from acquisition, cleansing, warehousing and final analyses. 
  • Understand ways to leverage internet presence to harvest big data
  • Understand methodologies and tools for collecting data and designing databases
  • Proficiency in interpreting collected data using a variety of statistical tools
  • Execute real-time analytical methods on living datasets to quickly respond to a customer’s wants and needs

Internship


The Internship course allows students to overlay the academic and theoretical study of Data Science and Analytics with practical experience in the field. Students have the means to apply academic concepts to solve real-world business problems.  Students will have a greater insight into a wide variety of operational issues that take place in professional organizations.  Students and their chosen Internship sponsor must be approved by the Program Director prior to the start of the internship. Internship courses have variable credit and are CT 5901 through CT 5904. A maximum of 8 credits of internship may be taken. Students cannot enroll in an internship until they have completed 20 credit hours of study at NEC.

Program Pathways


Students are encouraged to use the following program pathways to guide their degree completion strategy. There are two available recommended pathways, a standard full-time pathway and an accelerated pathway for students who wish to complete their program in one academic year.