Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Decision Analytics is designed to equip the STEM professional or current graduate student in a STEM discipline with the necessary skills to transform vast amounts of data into actionable information and robust decisions. To earn the Certificate, students need to complete the following three courses (9 credits) that will expose them to the full spectrum of data analytics concepts and methodologies:

M&I-Eng 621 Descriptive Analytics - What happened? How can we best analyze, understand, and display the existing data?
M&I-Eng 622 Predictive Analytics - What will happen? Can we characterize how our variables of interest depend on explanatory variables so that we can project into the future?
M&I-Eng 623 Prescriptive Analytics - What levers do we have to improve performance? How should they be modified to optimize the system?

Descriptive Analytics is the foundational course in the sequence, a pre-requisite for the others unless students demonstrate previous knowledge in the topics covered. The other two courses can be taken in any sequence

Admission and Eligibility Requirements

Current and non-matriculating (non-degree) students with STEM undergraduate degrees may apply for the Certificate. Non-matriculating students should have a sufficient technical background, as determined by the MSEM Program Director, to join the Certificate program. The Certificate is transitional. All 9 credits received as part of the Certificate can be counted towards the completion of the MS in Engineering Management or the MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research degrees.

To enroll, students must be registered at UMass Amherst as a graduate student in a STEM discipline or as a non-degree graduate student. Please note that completion of the Certificate does not automatically qualify the student for the MS programs it can transition to, and completion of the Certificate by a non-degree graduate student does not imply admission to the University in a specific academic program.

All courses associated with the Certificate will be taught at least once a year, both on campus and online, allowing students to complete the Certificate in a timely fashion.