Note: This story originally aired on KTVE/KARD on Sept. 5, 2024. 
By Sammy Petrocco

Louisiana Tech University is offering a new thing for anybody to apply for in their data analytics program. They have introduced both undergraduate and graduate data analytics certificates for students to take to build their knowledge and propel their success into the workforce.

Data analytics is the process of analyzing any type of raw data, cleaning it, looking for trends, and then answering questions on what it might do in the future. They are offering an 18-hour undergraduate and a 12-hour graduate certificate that both help build or expand the knowledge of their students.

“So we have an undergraduate certificate of 6 classes that introduce students to the whole work flow, the concept, what is data analytics, how could it be used. The graduate certificate is 4 classes for those who are a little bit more advanced in business concept,” said Dr. William McCumber, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research.

These certificates are also not only for students at Louisiana Tech, but can be done within the degree. Anybody can apply to be apart of these classes, as a standalone program, to learn new skills in data analysis. This certificate can be done online or in person.

“Actually for either certificate you do not need to be an in person student in the College of Business, you don’t even need to be enrolled in a full-time program in the College of Business. This is for all Louisianans and frankly for anybody around the country who wants to join the online program, you can start the undergraduate level, regardless of your background, and we will build those skills.”

These certificates were introduced to give students some experience and expand their skills to a new level. Students could then apply these skills to multiple different jobs in business including computer information systems, accounting, finance, marketing, management, and economics.

Some of the skills that can be extrapolated from this program can include descriptive analytics, predictive analysis, and visualization of data. This can all be used in the decision-making and big data seen in the business world.

“Well for both the undergraduate and graduate certificates, they are meant to build a skill set that is very much in demand by the industry, allows people to learn how to gather data, clean it, analyze it, visualize it, and make better decisions for their business.”

If you are a student or are apart of the business side of data analytics, you can apply for these certificates at business.latech.edu/certificate-programs/ and then click apply and fill out the application.