undergradly.
Major · Multi-Interdisciplinary

Applying data science to real business decisions

Business Analytics (CIP 30.7102) prepares you to apply data science to business challenges — machine learning, optimization, probability and stochastic models, consumer behavior, marketing, and visual analytics. About 1,032 students complete it across 102 institutions, and the field is new enough that five-year national earnings data isn’t yet available — but the named SOC list runs from $77,000 to $113,000 with strong growth.

Schools offering
102
Annual completions
1,032
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
—

About this major

Business Analytics (CIP 30.7102) prepares you to apply data science to solve business challenges. The CIP definition covers machine learning, optimization methods, computer algorithms, probability and stochastic models, information economics, logistics, strategy, consumer behavior, marketing, and visual analytics. The interdisciplinary positioning is the major’s defining feature: the program lives between the business school and the statistics or computer-science department, pairing technical toolset (statistics, SQL, Python or R, machine-learning fundamentals, visualization) with business context (marketing, finance, operations, strategy, consumer behavior). Most programs anchor a four-year sequence on those two pillars and finish with an applied capstone or practicum tied to real business data.

The major fits students drawn to the analytical and quantitative side of business, comfortable with both code and stakeholder conversations. It rewards facility with statistical reasoning, willingness to write production-quality code (SQL, Python, R, sometimes notebook-driven workflows), and the discipline to translate ambiguous business questions into testable analyses. Strong students often pair the major with internships in marketing analytics, financial analytics, consulting, or operations — where the work happens in the field — and many continue to specialized master’s programs in analytics, statistics, or data science.

One grounded observation about scale and earnings context: 1,032 students complete this CIP across 102 institutions, with a producer list led by Drexel University (111 completions), University of North Texas (72), and Fordham University (67) — mid-tier private and large public business schools dominate. The CIP is recent enough that five-year national median earnings haven’t yet aged into the federal data, so we lean on named SOC wages instead: market research analysts ($76,950, +6.7% growth), management analysts ($101,190, +8.8%), data scientists ($112,590, +33.5% projected growth — one of the strongest in the BLS catalog), and statisticians ($103,300, master’s typical entry). The closely related parent worth-it page on data-analytics is the right reference for outcome comparison across the broader analytics family.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Management analysts $101k +8.8% Bachelor's degree
Market research analysts and marketing specialists $77k +6.7% Bachelor's degree
Data scientists $113k +33.5% Bachelor's degree
Statisticians $103k +8.5% Master's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Earnings data is not yet available at this major's level of granularity. See the concentration hub for family-level figures.

Who this major is for

Good signs this major fits: you’re drawn to both the analytical-quantitative side and the business-context side, and you don’t want to choose; you’re comfortable with code (SQL, Python, R) and willing to push proficiency to production-quality during the program; you’re drawn to specific industry analytics functions — marketing analytics, financial analytics, operations analytics, healthcare analytics — where business context matters as much as the model; you want bachelor’s-level entry into management-analyst, market-research-analyst, or business-analyst roles with the option to ladder into a master’s in statistics or data science later; and you’ve confirmed the program teaches enough technical depth (real coding, real machine learning) rather than only Excel-and-PowerBI dashboards.

Reasons to pause: the CIP is recent and program quality varies widely between schools — some programs are quantitatively rigorous, others are essentially business-school analytics-overlay tracks with limited coding depth; verify the curriculum carefully. The named data-scientist SOC pays well and projects 33.5% growth, but in practice many top employers prefer master’s degrees for strong data-scientist positions, even though BLS lists bachelor’s entry. If you want pure technical depth, Statistics, General (CIP 27.0501, 3,379 completions) and Data Science, General (CIP 30.7001, 2,068) are more rigorous on the math-and-programming side. If you want a business-school-anchored quantitative track with stronger finance and operations content, Management Science (CIP 52.1301, 7,495 completions) is the larger and better-recognized sibling. If you want pure marketing-research depth, marketing-research-focused tracks under Marketing CIPs may fit better.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Business Analytics

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 0 111 111
University of North Texas Denton, TX 0 72 72
Fordham University Bronx, NY 0 67 67
Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH 0 49 49
Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID 0 41 41
University of Delaware Newark, DE 0 34 34
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 0 34 34
Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY 0 31 31
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 0 26 26
Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 0 26 26
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Mathematics, General

18,758 completions/yr

Econometrics and Quantitative Economics

15,101 completions/yr

Management Science

7,495 completions/yr

Statistics, General

3,379 completions/yr

Applied Mathematics, General

2,591 completions/yr

Data Science, General

2,068 completions/yr

Business Statistics

843 completions/yr

Financial Analytics

557 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Business Analytics field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Business Analytics worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Business Analytics majors actually study?
Coursework spans the business-school side (consumer behavior, marketing, finance, strategy, information economics) and the data-science side (machine learning, optimization methods, computer algorithms, probability and stochastic models, visual analytics). Most programs anchor on a sequence of statistics, data manipulation (SQL, Python or R, sometimes Excel/Power BI), regression and machine-learning models, and an applied capstone or practicum tied to real business data. The interdisciplinary positioning is the differentiator — the major lives between the business school and the statistics or computer-science department.
How does this compare to Data Science (CIP 30.7001) or Statistics?
Data Science, General (CIP 30.7001, 2,068 completions) and Statistics, General (CIP 27.0501, 3,379) tilt more technical — heavier mathematics and programming, lighter business-school content. Business Analytics (30.7102, 1,032) lives explicitly inside or adjacent to the business school, with an applied management lens on the same toolset. If you want pure technical depth, data science or statistics signals stronger. If you want analytics work in marketing, finance, operations, or consulting roles where business context matters as much as the model, Business Analytics fits the target.
What jobs are realistic from this major?
The named SOC list runs from market research analysts ($76,950 median, +6.7% growth) and management analysts ($101,190, +8.8%) at the entry-tier-with-bachelor’s end up to data scientists ($112,590, +33.5% projected growth!) and statisticians ($103,300, master’s typical entry). Off-list destinations are heavy in industry-specific analytics — marketing analytics, financial analytics, operations analytics, supply-chain analytics, healthcare analytics, and sales-operations analytics. The data-scientist projection is among the highest growth rates in the BLS catalog.
Do I need a master’s for the higher-paying analytics roles?
For data scientist (15-2051), bachelor’s is named typical entry, but in practice many employers — especially at large tech, finance, and consulting firms — prefer or require master’s degrees in statistics, computer science, or analytics for strong data-scientist positions. Statistician (15-2041) explicitly lists master’s as typical entry. Management analyst (13-1111) and market research analyst (13-1161) are both bachelor’s-typical-entry and reachable directly from this major. The bachelor’s-only path lands well in market research, business analyst, and entry-level data-analyst roles, with the master’s as an optional accelerator.
Why is there no five-year median earnings figure?
The CIP code 30.7102 is recent — added relatively late to IPEDS classifications — and many of the bachelor’s graduates haven’t yet been in the labor market long enough to populate five-year earnings statistics through the federal earnings linkage that powers the published figure. The associate-vs-bachelor split is also missing nationally for the same reason. As more cohorts age into the five-year window, the figure will start to appear. The named SOC wages and program-by-program early-career-wage data from College Scorecard remain the best near-term guide.
What programs produce the most Business Analytics graduates?
Drexel University leads with 111 completions, followed by University of North Texas (72), Fordham University (67), Ohio University–Main Campus (49), Brigham Young University–Idaho (41), University of Delaware (34), Syracuse (34), Western Kentucky (31), Western Michigan (26), and Lehigh (26). The producer list is dominated by mid-tier private and large public business schools — a different pattern from data science, which clusters at large research universities. Most programs are bachelor’s-only at this CIP code; master’s-level Business Analytics programs are tracked under different CIPs.