College Choice recently honored the Harbert College of Business in its assessment of the nation’s “best Big Data programs.”

The online publication recently ranked the nation’s 50 best online “Big Data” programs on the basis of academic reputation, student satisfaction, affordability, and average annual salaries of graduates. The Harbert College ranked 27^th on the strength of its online Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS).

College Choice highlighted the program’s ability to prepare graduates for careers in such areas as business analytics and business intelligence, database analysis, systems architecture, information security, administration, and computer and software engineering. The website identified coursework in predictive modeling, advanced database administration, data communication, and quantitative methods as program strengths.

College Choice compiled the rankings, in part, because of industry emphasis on business analytics and data mining. A McKinsey Global Institute report projected a 21 percent rise in business analytics jobs in the next eight years.

The online MSIS represents one facet of the Harbert College’s commitment to equipping students for careers in the “Big Data” sector. The college built an undergraduate business analytics program from scratch in 2013.