Clark University’s Graduate School of Management (GSOM) is offering a new, one-year Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program to prepare graduates for the growing fields of data analysis and big data.

Business analytics play a key role in developing business strategies and solving challenges in every sector – public, private, or non-profit, and in nearly every industry. GSOM’s program will integrate statistical and modeling skills, hands-on applications of state-of-the-art computation technologies, business knowledge, and real world projects and cases to help students synthesize data into powerful information to inform decision making. Graduates will know how to turn data into something meaningful, and communicate to business leaders in terms of what it means, why they should care, and what they should do about it.

“The creation of the MSBA program was driven by industry and market demands,” said GSOM Dean Catherine Usoff. “The curriculum is designed to provide students specialized skills in data analysis, while also building the soft skills that all employers value, including critical thinking, collaboration skills and effective communication capabilities.”

According to McKinsey Global Institute, there will be a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytics skills in the U.S. by 2018. Graduates of the MSBA will help fill that void. Full-time students can complete the degree in just one year, taking classes as part of a cohort of dedicated MSBA students. Courses will be offered beginning in summer 2017 and applications are currently being accepted.

In addition to the new MSBA, Clark’s Graduate School of Management offers a full-time master’s degree in Finance, as well as full- and part-time master’s degree programs in Accounting, Business Administration, and Management, and a number of dual-degrees.