Business Analytics Part-Time Master's Program

TURN
DATA
INTO
INSIGHTS
TIPPIE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
BUSINESS ANALYTICS PART-TIME MASTER’S PROGRAM

DO SOME-
THING
AMAZING
FOR YOUR
Working with data is trendy, but
truthfully, a quant background isn’t
enough to land the most coveted, wellpaying
jobs. As analytics matures from
a buzzword to a business discipline,
employers demand deep analytics
know-how and an ability to use data to
drive decisions. The University of Iowa’s
business analytics programs meet this
need in a flexible format for working
professionals.
CAREER

11
WEEKS
Attend class one night a
week for 11 weeks — no
Fridays or weekends
4
WAYS TO LEARN
Take classes online or in
Cedar Rapids, Des Moines,
and the Quad Cities
WHAT YOU
CAN EXPECT
123
EMPLOYERS REPRESENTED
Among part-time business
analytics students
A job-friendly schedule. Four convenient ways to learn.
Stackable course credits. And a degree you can complete at a
pace that works for you. We’ve built our programs for people
who are juggling more than one thing.
WHAT YOU’LL STUDY
Your first five courses cover fundamentals in
subjects from data science to data programming
and advanced analytics. These fulfill the
certificate requirements.
After the first five courses, you have the option
to add on five more (4 electives + a capstone
course) to complete your master’s in business
analytics. Courses six through ten dive deeper
into specific applications like text analytics,
health care analytics, data visualization, and
more.
At the end of the master’s program, you’ll merge
everything you’ve learned in a capstone project
that solves a real-world business problem—from
predicting how to better target your customers to
determining the company resources needed to
create new branch territories.
CERTIFICATE AND MASTER’S CORE COURSES
Data and Decisions
Data Management & Visual Analytics
Advanced Analytics
Data Programming in R or Data Programming in Python
Data Science
MASTER’S DEGREE SAMPLE ELECTIVES (FOUR REQUIRED)
Financial Analytics
Big Data Management & Analytics
Digital Marketing Analytics
Information Visualization
Supply Chain Analytics
Healthcare Analytics
Forecasting
MASTER’S DEGREE REQUIRED EXPERIENCE PROJECT
Analytics Experience

HARD
TO
BEAT
FOR JOB GROWTH
Build marketable skills that will take your career to new
heights—or equip you to pivot in an evolving business world.
You’ll learn techniques and concepts behind next-generation
analytics tools you can apply on the job immediately.
Whether you’ve already amassed skills in data science or are
building expertise for an emerging focus in your company,
our business analytics programs will transform how you think
about and use data.

PIVOT FROM
SPREADSHEETS TO
STORYTELLER
Lacking the business acumen and advanced
analytics skills she needed to move up,
Phaedra Strohmaier felt stuck in her career.
At Wells Fargo, she was a technical writer
who advanced into an operations analyst
role. But she wanted to speak the language
of business and be able to interpret complex
data for senior leaders with limited analytics
knowledge.
Phaedra capped off her Iowa MBA with a
Business Analytics Certificate—and earned
her promotion at Wells Fargo.
Now an analytic consultant in capacity
planning, Phaedra taps into big data to
forecast work volume and personnel needs for
one of the world’s largest banks.
PIVOT FROM CURIOUS
TO INDISPENSABLE
Steadily advancing in his finance career at
ACT, Jaden Prottsman jumped lanes when he
discovered Tableau, a data visualization tool
that supercharged his abilities to tell stories,
connect, and lead. He enrolled in Iowa’s
Master of Business Analytics to collect nextgeneration
analytics skills without slowing his
career trajectory.
Nearing graduation, Prottsman is confident
that he’s more marketable than ever—he
could snag another job tomorrow. But
he doesn’t have to search. The skills he’s
acquiring are opening doors in his own
company.
“There’s an opportunity in our organization,
a need for analytics and analysis,” Prottsman
said. “I’ve learned the fundamentals of how
data flows in an organization—how we get
our hands on the right data, how we visualize
it, and get it in the hands of decision makers.”

PUT
YOURSELF
IN THE
EXPERT’S
SEAT
Throughout your coursework, you’ll use real data to solve
complex business challenges.
The master’s in business analytics culminates in a capstone
course that brings together everything you’ve learned. You’ll
complete a group consulting project for clients ranging from
Kum & Go convenience stores to the University of Iowa
Healthcare network.
WHAT BUSINESS
CHALLENGE WILL
YOU TACKLE?
How do you use data
to evaluate players and
determine game strategies
for a sports franchise?
How should you allocate
resources for a new
convenience store?
How can a major
manufacturer better
transport its earthmoving
machines to meet customer
demand?
How does a workplace
furniture giant generate net
present value fast enough to
drive capital budgeting?
How do you minimize empty
delivery trucks on the road?
What are the right advertising
touchpoints to convert
prospects into customers
more quickly?
How should public
universities set their tuition
levels for different programs
to be more financially viable?
How can VA hospitals predict
COVID patient outcomes and
identify controllable factors
that could help improve
them?

PIVOT FROM MANAGER TO
CHANGE AGENT
When Stephen Carr began a business
analytics certificate at the Tippie College
of Business, he had just earned a top spot
as a manager of marketing operations and
analytics at a giant web hosting company. Up
next: grow his hard data skills.
At Tippie, he’s collaborated with classmates
on big data projects that transformed his
value at work, gaining knowledge to do things
in his job that no one had done before.
Two promotions later, as a business
intelligence manager with online tax prep
company TaxAct, he’s embedded machine
learning languages in his team’s work so that
they can pinpoint quickly where customers
get frustrated in the tax interview process
and drop off.

HARD
TO
BEAT
FOR PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY
You don’t need to interrupt your career or miss important life
events to earn a top-ranked business analytics credential. We
help you have it all.
Our programs are designed for busy working professionals
like you who are juggling courses, careers, and family. You can
define a study plan that fits your life, whether you’re entering
peak tax season or welcoming a new child into the world.
Earn a certificate in as little as one year, or pursue the master’s
and graduate in less than three. You can start your business
analytics credential in any semester, and take courses online
or in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, and the Quad Cities.

PIVOT FROM BUSY
PROFESSIONAL TO GRAD
STUDENT
Having amassed more than 20 years in
computer programming and auditing, Teresa
Volcheck wanted a master’s in business
analytics to sharpen her competitive edge and
support her career growth.
Before deciding to pursue a master’s, she’d
taken on a new role as an audit manager
with a greater focus in data analytics and IT
internal auditing at Principal Financial Group.
“It’s been 24 years since I’ve been in school,”
Teresa said. “But in graduate school, people
are very invested. You’re there because you
truly want to be there. Also having a personal
relationship with my professors has helped
me stay engaged and push myself forward.”
With a Master of Science in Business Analytics
under her belt, she’s building the credibility to
succeed in a continuously evolving field.

HARD
TO
BEAT
FOR EXPERT PROFESSORS
Learn from the best. Whether it’s developing algorithms to
predict criminal behavior in major metros or modeling effective
logistics in the wake of a catastrophe, Tippie’s business analytics
faculty are on the cutting edge of descriptive, predictive, and
prescriptive analytics.
START INFLUENCING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Our teaching philosophy and course
sequence help you work your way
up the data ladder—from descriptive
analytics (explaining what happened)
to predictive (forecasting what will
happen) to prescriptive (influencing
what will happen).
DESCRIPTIVE
Remember your first use
of data? You probably
used it to explain
something that had
already happened.
PREDICTIVE
Things get interesting—
and more complex—
when you predict future
events using current or
a historical set of facts.
PRESCRIPTIVE
Using data to control
outcomes is where Tippie
shines. The proof: Applied
Optimization, a specialized
course that few business
schools offer.

When companies from TransAmerica
to Collins Aerospace to Principal Global
Investors told us they needed employees who
could use analytics to make decisions and
predictions, we listened.
But rather than simply grouping existing
courses from our other top-notch graduate
programs, our experts designed new courses
specifically to meet that demand.
Professor Sam Burer develops and teaches
next-generation analytics tools that help
students solve complex problems. He’ll show
you how to clean, process, and visualize data
faster. You’ll unlock new ways of interpreting
the universe of data at your fingertips.
From maximizing crop yield for global
agribusiness to optimizing logistics for
earthmoving machines, Tippie’s business
analytics students collaborate with worldrenowned
faculty and gain a lifelong network
in an industry still unfolding.

APPLY & LEARN MORE
admissions.uiowa.edu/part-time-msba
CONTACT US
319-335-1239
tippie-analytics@uiowa.edu
The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment,
educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, creed, color,
religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, genetic
information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military,
sexual orientation, gender identity, associational preferences, or any
other classification that deprives the person of consideration as an
individual. The university also affirms its commitment to providing
equal opportunities and equal access to university facilities. For
additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the
Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the University of
Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242-1316, 319-335-0705
(voice), 319-335-0697 (TDD), diversity@uiowa.edu. 05-2021
“I’m a crazy person—I just naturally add a
million things to my plate,” says Nicole
McCormick. Crazy—or crazy smart? While
working as a marketing coordinator at an IT
solutions provider, Nicole volunteered to take
on data analytics. She soon realized the
limitations of Excel—and looked to power
through them via Iowa’s part-time master’s in
business analytics. There, she learned to use
sophisticated data tools to boost her company’s
results, and gained the expertise and
confidence to boost her career. Now the
manager of a five-person marketing ops team,
Nicole’s on track to a director position.