Data analytics is the science of analyzing raw data to find trends and draw conclusions. It’s a growing career field, and Augustana is one of only a few liberal arts colleges to offer a major and minor.
The field touches many areas — which is why a liberal arts education is an excellent background for data analytics. Your education will not stop at teaching technical skills; your broader perspective will help you to identify the questions that need to be solved.
The major includes courses in computer science, mathematics, ethics and statistics, along with specific data analytics courses. Complementary coursework ranges from business to geography to philosophy.
In the data analytics major, you will choose one of two tracks: business analytics or data science. In business analytics, you will use statistics to gather insights from business data. If you choose the data science track, you will focus on systems, algorithm building and data inference to gain insights from data.
Many data analytics students double major, and any major is a suitable partner for data analytics.
Quantitative literacy
Interpret, represent and summarize information. Use math and statistics to solve problems.
Disciplinary knowledge
Gain a deep understanding of your subject and how it connects to other subjects.
Critical thinking and information literacy
Judge and construct arguments, raise questions and define problems. Make a conclusion based on evidence.
Creative thinking
Combine ideas to create something new. Use imaginative ways of solving problems.
Communication competence
Read and listen carefully. Express ideas (writing or speaking) suited to the audience.
• Augustana’s data analytics major and minor include practical experience and an analytics project — with an outside business or organization — that can impact job opportunities after graduation. These finished projects for actual firms can become the highlight of each student’s portfolio, to use for employment or graduate school applications.
• Students will learn to use industry standard tools: the Python programming language, Tableau business intelligence software, R algorithm development, Microsoft's Access or SQL, the Alteryx data analytics platform, and statistical tools SASS or SPSS.
• Augustana’s location in the Quad Cities (pop. 470,000) provides many opportunities for internships, employment and community outreach. Area employers seek Augustana students for their broad knowledge and quick thinking, and Augustana faculty are well connected to opportunities in the area.
Zach Gooding '23 is pursuing an MBA in business analytics at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Trang Hoang '22 is a software engineer at Microsoft in Bellevue, Wash.
Damon Hulick '22 is a supply site integrator at John Deere in Moline, Ill.
Joshua Lawrence '22 is technical sales and field service engineer at CaptiveAire Systems in Tampa, Fla.
Amartya Rajbhandary '22 is an audit and assurance assistance with Deloitte in Minneapolis.
Amy Neway '22 is a project analyst with SCB Management Consulting, based in Baltimore.
John Hayes '21 is an asset management program leader at Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Ore.
Omidullah Barikzay '21 is a software engineer with John Deere in Moline, Ill.
Son Nguyen '20 is a data engineer at Squarespace in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore area.
Minh Ta '20 is a front end engineer at Amazon in Boston, Mass.
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Five student-athletes — from hometowns in Illinois, Hawai'i, Texas and Tennessee — are the college's most recent Academic All-Americans. Now with 183 Academic All-Americans, Augustana ranks 14th among the NCAA’s 1,100 schools in DI, DII and DIII across the country.
All-American Max Sellers helped lead the Augustana Viking men's volleyball team to an 18-7 record, the best in program history.
Pitcher Josh Wintroub ’22 did not play his last year of high school and thought his playing days were over. But Augustana Coach Greg Wallace '88 saw Wintroub’s potential and recruited the right-hander to join the Vikings.
