Business Data Analytics, Bachelor of Science (504)
- Undergraduate
- Bachelor of Science
- Business
- Analytics & Information Systems
Overview
Why complete a degree in Business Data Analytics?
As businesses generate more data than ever, the demand for graduates who can turn that data into insight keeps growing. The Business Data Analytics major gives students a solid business foundation combined with focused training in data acquisition, management, analysis, and visualization — preparing them to serve as the bridge between an organization’s technology and its decision-makers, in fields ranging from corporate analytics to healthcare to government.
What is your path to a degree in Business Data Analytics at WKU?
The Business Data Analytics program requires 66 hours of professional and elective coursework, within the 120 hours required for a baccalaureate degree. Rather than a course-by-course list, the path is intentionally structured so each stage builds the skills students need for both certification and career.
Business Core (27 hours)
Before diving into specialized major coursework, students build fluency across the core functions of business — accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, statistics, and analytics. This shared foundation, completed by every Gordon Ford College of Business major, ensures graduates don’t just understand their discipline in isolation; they understand how that work connects to strategy, operations, and decision-making across an organization. A culminating strategy course ties these functions together, asking students to think like leaders rather than specialists.
Career Preparation Curriculum (6 hours)
Technical skill alone doesn’t land a job or carry a career — employers consistently rank communication and professionalism alongside technical knowledge. This curriculum is designed to ensure students enter the workforce ready on day one: developing polished written and verbal communication, building a professional identity early in their academic career, and culminating in a senior-level assessment that confirms readiness for the profession.
Core Business Data Analytics Coursework (24 hours)
This sequence is deliberately layered, moving students from basic data modeling and management into increasingly sophisticated predictive modeling and visualization — mirroring the way analytics responsibilities deepen over the course of a real career in the field.
Electives (9 hours)
Because data analytics skills apply across virtually every industry, this flexible elective block lets students aim their training toward a specific sector — healthcare, criminal justice, geographic information systems, or another field — turning a general analytics degree into a specialized one.
Program Concentrations
The Business Data Analytics major does not offer formal concentrations. Instead, its 9 hours of open electives let students customize the degree toward a specific industry or technical interest.
Program Requirements (66 hours)
A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 120 unduplicated semester hours. More information can be found at www.wku.edu/registrar/degree_certification.php.
Students who began WKU in the Fall 2014 and thereafter should review the Colonnade requirements located at: https://www.wku.edu/colonnade/colonnaderequirements.php.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Business Foundations | ||
| MATH 123 | Mathematical Applications for Business 1 | 3 |
| ACCT 110 | Accounting for Decision Makers | 3 |
| BDAN 250 | Introduction to Analytics | 3 |
| ECON 202 | Principles of Economics (Micro) | 3 |
| ECON 206 | Statistics | 3 |
| FIN 330 | Principles of Finance | 3 |
| MKT 220 | Basic Marketing Concepts | 3 |
| MGT 210 | Organization and Management | 3 |
| MGT 498 | Strategy and Policy | 3 |
| or ENT 496 | Hilltopper Student Consulting Experience | |
| Career Preparation | ||
| BA 170 | Business Student Basics 2 | 1 |
| or BA 175 | University Experience-Business | |
| or BA 220 | Special Topics in Business Administration (Lower Division) | |
| MGT 261 | Business Communication Fundamentals | 3 |
| BDAN 399 | Career Readiness in Business Data Analytics | 1 |
| BDAN 499 | Senior Assessment in Business Data Analytics | 1 |
| Required for All Business Data Analytics Majors | ||
| MGT 200 | Legal Environment of Business | 3 |
| BDAN 305 | Data Modeling and Analysis | 3 |
| BDAN 310 | Business Data Analytics | 3 |
| BDAN 330 | Structured Data Analysis | 3 |
| BDAN 350 | Data Management | 3 |
| BDAN 410 | DSS Analysis and Design | 3 |
| BDAN 420 | Predictive Modeling | 3 |
| BDAN 430 | Data Visualization | 3 |
| Select 9 hours from the following: | 9 | |
CIS 141 | Analytics and Technology 3 | |
ACCT 3@ | ||
ACCT 4@ | ||
BDAN 3@ | ||
BDAN 4@ | ||
ECON 3@ | ||
ECON 4@ | ||
ENT 3@ | ||
ENT 4@ | ||
FIN 3@ | ||
FIN 4@ | ||
MGT 3@ | ||
MGT 4@ | ||
MKT 3@ | ||
MKT 4@ | ||
COMM 345 | Advanced Presentational Speaking | |
COMM 346 | Persuasion | |
COMM 349 | Small Group Communication | |
COMM 362 | Organizational Communication | |
CRIM 232 | Introduction to Law Enforcement | |
CRIM 330 | Criminology | |
CRIM 332 | Juvenile Delinquency | |
ENG 301 | Argument and Analysis in Written Discourse | |
ENG 306 | Business Writing | |
ENG 307 | Technical Writing | |
ENG 401 | Advanced Composition | |
ENG 415 | Writing and Technology | |
GISC 316 | Geographic Information Systems I | |
GISC 317 | Geographic Information Systems II | |
GISC 417 | GIS Analysis & Modeling | |
GISC 419 | GIS Programming | |
HCA 340 | Health Care Organization and Management | |
HCA 342 | Human Resources Management for Healthcare Managers | |
HCA 343 | Quality Management for Healthcare | |
HCA 344 | Health Systems Management | |
HCA 346 | Ambulatory Care Administration | |
HCA 442 | Principles and Methods of Health Planning | |
HCA 445 | Health Care Finance | |
HCA 446 | Health Care Informatics | |
MIL 301 | Army Training Management and Warfighting Functions | |
MIL 302 | Applied Tactical Army Leadership | |
MIL 401 | Professional Leadership Skills | |
| Total Hours | 66 | |
- 1
Or any calculus class, or math ACT score of at least 26, or math SAT score of at least 610
- 2
BA175 is only for Business LLC students. BA220 is only for transfer students and students who choose a business major as a sophomore or later.
- 3
CIS 141 is highly recommended for Business Data Analytics majors, especially those without training on Microsoft Office
Finish in Four Plans
Finish in Four Plan
Business Data Analytics
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| Colonnade: Natural & Physical Sciences | 3 | Colonnade: Arts & Humanities | 3 |
| ECON 202 | 3 | COMM 145 | 3 |
| ENG 100 | 3 | HIST 101 or HIST 102 | 3 |
| MATH 123 | 3 | ACCT 110 | 3 |
| BDAN 250 | 3 | ECON 206 | 3 |
| BA 170, BA 175, or BA 220 | 1 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENG 200 | 3 | BDAN 310 | 3 |
| Colonnade: Natural & Physical Sciences with lab | 3-4 | BDAN Elective | 3 |
| MGT 200 | 3 | MGT 261 | 3 |
| MGT 210 | 3 | MKT 220 | 3 |
| BDAN 305 | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| 15-16 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| CIS 205 (Colonnade: Connections (Local to Global)) | 3 | Colonnade: Connections (Social & Cultural) | 3 |
| ENG 300 | 3 | BDAN 350 | 3 |
| BDAN 330 | 3 | BDAN 410 | 3 |
| BDAN Elective | 3 | BDAN Elective | 3 |
| FIN 330 | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| BDAN 399 | 1 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| Colonnade: Connections (Systems) | 3 | MGT 498 or ENT 496 | 3 |
| BDAN 420 | 3 | BDAN 430 | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | BDAN 499 | 1 |
| 15 | 13 | ||
| Total Hours 120-121 | |||
