MS, Decision Analytics
at Western Illinois University

The Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics is a multidisciplinary graduate degree program with a unique focus. The M.S. degree in Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics is a 30-semester hour (sh) curriculum designed to provide students with a firm foundation of statistical analysis and modeling commonly used in many fields, including education, science, technology, health care, government, business or social science research. Students in this program will be trained on industry-standard software packages and gain modern analytical skills. The need for skilled data professionals is growing. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the United States could face a shortage of as many as 190,000 workers with “deep analytical skills” by 2018. This program seeks to combine the course work of statistical decision making and analytic tools to meet the demand for skilled workers in the U.S. and Illinois job markets. With three Fortune 100 companies in the region—John Deere, Caterpillar, and State Farm— the degree program is designed to address strong regional needs and/ or a shortage of graduates in the fields of applied statistics and decision analytics.