Business Analytics Major

Business Analysts with Industry Focused Expertise

Adding a unique dimension to our program, all students pursuing a business analytics major will select a focus industry, allowing them to tailor their education through elective courses directly related to sectors such as healthcare, marketing, finance, sport management, biology and economics. 

This specialized approach ensures that graduates not only have a strong foundation in business analytics but are also adept at applying their skills to specific industries, significantly enhancing their employability and ability to drive innovation across a diverse range of fields.

Combining Business Intelligence and Strong Character

As they move along the career path to becoming a business analyst, students in this Meehan School program gain not only the technical acumen required to excel in business analytics but also the ability to make ethical contributions to organizations and communities. The program fosters a global and diverse mindset, enhances communication skills (both technical and interpersonal), and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration. This comprehensive approach prepares our graduates not just for success in their careers, but to be leaders who drive positive change, bridging the gap between data-driven decision-making and the ethical considerations essential in today’s global business environment.

Applying an Ethical Lens to Business Analytics

The business analytics program’s curriculum teaches students how to handle data ethically, including respecting privacy, ensuring data security, and avoiding bias in their analyses.

This foundation ensures that data-driven decisions are made with integrity and do not harm individuals or communities. With the rampant misuse of data to disenfranchise underrepresented populations, we are called to act as a Catholic institution to teach our students how to use data for good.

Courses such as Data Privacy and Equity will provide students with an ethical data-driven mindset. Furthermore, our elite partnership with the SAS Institute will align us with its Data for Good campaign.

Embracing a Global and Diverse Perspective in Business Analytics

In the realm of business analytics, data is a universal language. Stonehill’s business analytics major immerses students in a curriculum enriched with diverse data sources from various industries and corners of the globe. Our faculty integrates data from an array of regions and demographics, underscoring the crucial skill of understanding the target population behind the data. This approach not only sharpens students' ability to assess the validity of their analytical outputs but also cultivates the critical thinking necessary to navigate and address complex, global and multicultural business challenges. Graduates emerge well-prepared to make informed, culturally sensitive decisions, leveraging analytics to impact global business practices positively.

Developing Strong Communication Skills as a Business Analyst

Being a good businessperson requires having strong written and verbal communication skills. Being a good analyst adds another dimension to this skill.

Our business analytics students learn to communicate complex insights to stakeholders, including executives, clients and other populations that often have no background in analytics. This is accomplished in three ways:

Real Data, Real Impact: Experiential Learning in Business Analytics

Our program incorporates business analytics courses and electives from various disciplines and departments on campus including other business disciplines, sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Beyond traditional classroom education, Stonehill’s business analytics major offers students unparalleled opportunities to engage with real-world data through experiential learning projects. These initiatives are designed to forge a direct path between academic learning and tangible change in various industries. Integral to our application-based curriculum is the hands-on experience students will get with cutting-edge software tools that they will use in their careers. Most recently, the importance of AI tools and large-language models such as OpenAI and Microsoft Copilot has grown in modern business decision-making and analytics. Students will have the opportunity to harness the power of these technologies through real-world projects.

Students will also have the opportunity to sharpen their skills outside the classroom. Among these opportunities, students participate in events such as the American Statistical Association’s DataFest competition. Here, they not only compete against peers from diverse backgrounds and institutions but also tackle genuine data analytics challenges presented by real companies. This hands-on experience not only hones their technical and analytical skills but also empowers them to create meaningful impact through data-driven solutions. By working on projects with actual stakes, students understand the weight of their analyses and the real-world implications of their decisions, preparing them for a future of making informed, impactful contributions in the field of business analytics.

How Business Analysts Can Impact Societal Change

Offering an undergraduate degree in business analytics has major implications for the world students will enter. There are complex problems and thousands of opportunities to find solutions to international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian dilemmas.

The aim of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to transform the world we live in. Data alone cannot solve all the world’s problems, but Stonehill Business Analytics degree can align with several of the SDGs, particularly those related to economic growth, industry innovation, reduced inequalities, and responsible consumption and production.