Launching in fall 2027, a new College of Education master’s program will provide the skills and expertise to analyze critical data and develop strategies and solutions across a variety of fields.
The fully online master’s program in Applied Data Analytics, housed in the Department of Educational Psychology, builds on the department’s longstanding strengths in quantitative methods while incorporating modern data science tools and techniques. Students will learn to analyze complex datasets, apply research methods and evaluate outcomes to answer questions and inform decision-making.
Tiffany Whittaker, educational psychology professor and department chair, says students have expressed growing interest in gaining data analytics skills. These capabilities can be applied across a range of professional settings, including higher education, health care, government agencies, nonprofits and the private sector.
Organizations are collecting more data than ever before,
she says, but having access to data isn’t the same as making sense of it and knowing how to use it.
Specifically designed for recent graduates and working professionals, the 30-credit-hour program offers flexibility for those seeking to develop expertise in applied data analytics. Courses are offered in six-week modules, allowing students to follow a structured curriculum while balancing work and other commitments.
Organizations across education, health care and other sectors are dealing with massive amounts of data,
Whittaker says. In this program, students learn how to collect data for specific purposes and use it more effectively and ethically.
While the department’s existing specialization in quantitative methods emphasizes statistical methodology and research, the Applied Data Analytics program places more emphasis on the practical application of data science and tools across professional settings. Its online format also makes the program accessible for students and working professionals who may not be able to pursue a traditional, campus-based graduate program.
Graduates will be equipped to evaluate the effectiveness of programs, policies and interventions across different environments. Organizations increasingly rely on data to identify needs, address disparities related to access and use data-driven insights to improve outcomes.
The curriculum covers data management and wrangling (the process of transforming raw data from multiple sources into a structured, usable format), programming, data visualization and applied analytical techniques. Students will also learn to use R and Python—two open-source programming languages widely used in data science—to work with large, complex datasets, interpret findings and communicate results effectively.
The master’s program will give students the tools to tell the story behind the data,
Whittaker says, and use those insights to create meaningful change.
Students enrolled in the Applied Data Analytics master’s program will learn to:
- Manage, organize and analyze large and complex datasets using modern data science tools.
- Apply programming and analytic techniques to address practical questions across professional settings.
- Develop meaningful data visualizations and communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of programs, policies and interventions.
- Apply ethical, secure and responsible data practices in collecting, managing and analyzing data.
- Use data to identify patterns, assess needs and support evidence-informed decisions in education, health care, government, nonprofit organizations and other sectors.
The Applied Data Analytics master’s program is currently accepting applications through Jan. 10, 2027.
