Big Data Analytics Master's Degrees: 20 Top Programs

Doug Henschen January 08, 2013 09:06 AM These one-

year and two-year graduate programs are just what's 

needed to close the big-data talent gap. Read on to find 

a school that fits your ambitions and background.

Big Data Masters Degrees: Big Differences

It's well documented that there's a big data talent gap, 

but what's being done about it? What's needed is 

knowledge and experience. On the first front, hundreds 

of colleges and universities worldwide are gearing up 

business analytics, machine learning and other 

programs aimed at analysis of data in a business 

context.

Data growth is headed in one direction, so it's clear that 

the skills gap is a long-term problem. But many 

businesses just can't wait the three to five years it might 

take today's undergrads to become business-savvy 

professionals. With that 

and InformationWeek's readership in mind, there's a 

great opportunity for experienced information 

management professionals and even data-savvy IT 

generalists to fill the talent void. Thus, here's our short 

list of one- and two-year business analytics and big-

data-oriented masters programs in North America.

All of these programs are geared to candidates who 

already have undergraduate degrees, and most favor 

professionals with three or more years of work 

experience. In many cases part-time options are 

available, so students can continue to work as they 

learn more about big data analytics.

This is not a ranking. It's an alphabetical listing of well-

known and emerging masters programs specifically 

targeting the big data analytics talent gap. We've 

included several of the masters programs at elite 

schools of engineering where grad-school-supported 

research programs have sprung up around big data. 

Columbia, for example, has its Institute for Data 

Sciences, Harvard has its Institute for Applied 

Computational Science and the University of California, 

Berkeley has its AMPLab (which explores the role of 

algorithms, machines and people in big data analytics).

Getting into a masters program at an elite school is no 

guarantee you'll be tapped for an interesting big data 

research project working alongside a well-known 

professor. Nevertheless, graduates of these schools 

tend to have their pick of future employers.

More than half of these schools are offering fairly new 

masters programs in business analytics. These tend to 

be interdisciplinary degrees sponsored by schools of 

business. In some cases it's an MBA degree with a 

specialization in analytics and information management 

(see New York University and Rutgers). In other cases 

it's a focused, business-meets-analytics program that 

can be completed in one year or less (see North Carolina 

State University, Drexel, Louisiana State University and 

Canada's York University). In still other cases, 

departments of statistics and operations research have 

dialed up their applied learning to create more business- 

and big-data-oriented programs (see University of 

Cincinnati and University of Tennessee).

Those specifically interested in big data analytics as 

applied to marketing should investigate Bentley 

University and DePaul. Insurance and financial services 

get special attention at the University of Illinois at 

Urbana-Champaign, where State Farm has a research 

center that offers tuition assistance and internship 

opportunities.

Given the number of universities developing business 

analytics and big-data related programs, a list of 20 

schools can't be comprehensive. Thus, our last slide 

offers links to 10 more masters programs for big data 

analytics, including new programs at Arizona State, 

Fordham University and The University of Maryland.

We encourage schools not listed here to add 

appropriate masters programs using the comment tool 

at the bottom of the page (note: all comments that 

include URLs must be reviewed before posting to 

eliminate spam, so either omit links or count on a delay). 

It will take some time to fill the big data talent gap, so 

we'll be updating and expanding this career-

development compendium as a service to our readers.