Master of Science in
Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics
Higher Values in Higher Education
AcademicExcellence•EducationalOpportunity
PersonalGrowth•SocialResponsibility
Learning Objectives
Building on the recommendations of the American Statistical Association (ASA)’s professional
panel of experts, graduates of the M.S. in Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics program will
be able to:
1. Apply advanced statistical methodologies; derive and understand basic theory underlying
these methodologies; and formulate and model practical problems for solutions using these
methodologies
2. Produce relevant computer output using necessary and sufficient programming skills
and standard statistical software (e.g., SAS, R, STATA, etc.) and interpret the results
appropriately
3. Communicate statistical concepts and analytical results clearly and appropriately to others
4. Identify areas where ethical issues may arise in statistics
Program Location: Macomb
Program Description
The Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied Statistics and Decision
Analytics is a multidisciplinary graduate degree program with a unique
focus. The M.S. degree in Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics is a
36-semester hour (sh) curriculum designed to provide students with
a firm foundation of statistical analysis and modeling commonly used
in many fields, including education, science, technology, health care,
government, business or social science research. Students in this program
will be trained on industry-standard software packages and gain modern
analytical skills. The need for skilled data professionals is growing.
According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the United
States could face a shortage of as many as 190,000 workers with “deep
analytical skills” by 2018. This program seeks to combine the course work
of statistical decision making and analytic tools to meet the demand for
skilled workers in the U.S. and Illinois job markets. With three Fortune
100 companies in the region—John Deere, Caterpillar, and State Farm—
the degree program is designed to address strong regional needs and/
or a shortage of graduates in the fields of applied statistics and decision
analytics.
Career Opportunities
Due to the shortage of skilled data and business analysts, the market
demand is strong for graduates in this field. Companies hiring include
Caterpillar, John Deere, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Northrop
Grumman, Boeing, the American Medical Association, the Chicago Board
of Trade, U.S. Treasury, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the Tennessee
Department of Commerce, Principal Financial Group, Bank of America,
Merrill Lynch, Exxon, Illinois Power, Newsweek, and Walmart.
Why WIU?
• Large enough to offer a wide variety of courses, yet small enough to
provide individual attention
• Faculty members who are genuinely interested in students’
intellectual development
• Advising tailored to students’ personal needs and educational goals
• Opportunities for interacting with students from other cultures and
countries
• Academiccreditforinternshipsandassistanceprovidedinlocating
internships
• Careerdevelopmentandemploymentinformationprovidedregularly
• SuccessinpreparingstudentsforadmissiontoPhDprograms
• Opportunitiestolearntechnicalandquantitativeskillsthatarehighly
sought after in the job market
Admission Requirements
Applicantsmustholdabachelor’sdegreefromaninstitutionthatis
accreditedbytheappropriateU.S.DepartmentofEducation’sregional
accrediting agency. Application for admission to the WIU School
of Graduate Studies must be made online at wiu.edu/grad/apply.
Applicants for admission to the School of Graduate Studies must have
either a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.75 (based on all
hours attempted at all institutions attended) for undergraduate work,
or a 3.0 or higher grade point average for the last two years (60 sh)
of undergraduate work. While the GRE is not required, applicants are
encouraged to take the GRE and submit the results to strengthen their
respective applications for admission to the program.
Admission to any graduate degree program at WIU is contingent upon
successful completion of undergraduate coursework specified as a
prerequisite. If an applicant is deficient in any or all of the minimum
requirements for admission into the program, the applicant may be
provisionally admitted into the program subject to the completion of
all deficiencies before taking any required courses within the program.
The applicants will be notified what deficiency courses they need to take
at Western before they will be allowed to enroll in any of the required
courses in the program. The set of deficiency courses the applicants may
be asked to complete, immediately upon being provisionally admitted
into the program and depending on what the applicant may be deficient
in, will be Calculus with Analytical Geometry I and II (Math 133 and
Math 134) or equivalents; Linear Algebra (Math 311) or equivalent; and
Introduction to Probability & Statistics/Business Statistics for Managerial
Decision Making (Stat 276/DS 503) or equivalent. Students deficient
in the minimum course requirements will be required to take one or
more courses to remove these deficiencies prior to enrolling in the
WIU.EDU/EDS
III. Capstone
There are three options for completing the remaining 15 sh: (1) Thesis,
(2) Internship, and (3) Coursework options. The thesis option consists
of 9 sh of elective* courses plus 6 sh of Thesis. The Internship option
consists of 3-9 sh of Internship and 6-12 sh of elective* courses. The
coursework option consists of 15 sh of elective* courses.
*Upon approval from the program graduate advisor, students may select
elective courses listed above under I and II (excluding those courses that
are otherwise used to fulfill the requirements under I and II) or from
additional program-specific and related electives.
Faculty Expertise
The faculty members in the WIU Department of Economics and Decision
Sciencestakeanactiveandsincereinterestinstudentsuccess.Ourfaculty
are also active in research, so students learn state-of-the-art skills and
techniques. All faculty teaching graduate courses have PhDs in economics
or statistics.
courses that are part of the program core requirements. Applicants for
graduate assistantships are also required to provide at least three letters
of reference from individuals who can provide meaningful comments on
astudent’sprofessionaland/oracademicbackgroundandastatementof
interest (not to exceed two pages in length).
Degree Requirements
I. Core Courses
Fifteen semester hours (15 sh) of core courses will be chosen from
the following: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics I (STAT 471G),
Analysis of Variance (STAT 478G), Applied Statistical Methods (STAT
533), Applied Data Mining for Business Decision Making (DS 435G),
and Statistical Software for Data Management and Decision Making
(DS 490G).
II. Directed Electives
Six semester hours (6 sh), one three-hour course from each category A
and B:
A. Modeling and Prediction (Choose one of the following): Applied
Business Forecasting and Planning (DS 533), Business Analytics and
Forecasting(DS580),EconometricsI(ECON506),Regressionand
Correlation Analysis (STAT 474G), or Structural Equation Modeling
for the Behavioral Sciences (PSY 551).
B. Sampling and Experimental Design (Choose one of the following):
Biometrics(BIOL501),EconometricsII(ECON507),Statistical
Methods(SOC530),LinearModelsandExperimentalDesign(STAT
574), or Advanced Psychological Statistics (PSY 501).
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program
The WIU Department of Economics and Decision Sciences also offers
an 18 sh post-baccalaureate certificate (PBC) in Business Analytics. The
Business Analytics PBC offers the technical skills of data mining, statistical
modeling, and forecasting for data-driven decision-making and for solving
the analytical problems of the contemporary business world.
Campus Visits
The department welcomes visitors. To arrange a visit, call the WIU
Department of Economics and Decision Sciences chair at (309) 2981153 or send an e-mail to economics@wiu.edu. Learn more about the
department by visiting wiu.edu/eds.
Contact Information
For admissions process and general program information, contact the
School of Graduate Studies, Western Illinois University, 1 University
Circle,Macomb,IL61455,(309)298-1806,Grad-Office@wiu.edu,
wiu.edu/grad.
For specific program questions, contact Farideh Dehkordi-Vakil,
graduate advisor for the M.S. in Applied Statistics and Decision Analytics,
Department of Economics and Decision Sciences, Western Illinois
University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, (309) 298-1153,
F-Dehkordi@wiu.edu, or contact Tej Kaul, department chair, at
T-Kaul@wiu.edu.