Moravian College announced on Wednesday, Jan. 30 its new graduate program in predictive analytics at an event called Celebrate Innovation.

The event featured light hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and soft jazz music. While a large portion of the event was meant for networking, a few representatives of Moravian spoke about the new program and its importance.

Predictive analytics is a form of analytics that uses both current and past data to predict future activity, behavior, and trends. There is a need for data analytics professionals in the region, and this MSPA program will help meet those needs, said Scott Dams, Moravian’s dean of graduate & adult enrollment.

Among those needs are using data to detect fraud, better understand consumer behavior, lower companies’ potential risks, and create stronger marketing campaigns.

The program will be offered entirely online and is set to start this coming September, according to a press release from the College. The MSPA program is the second online graduate program that Moravian  has launched in the past two years. The other is a doctoral program in athletic training (DAT).

“Today, we add online as another way to meet our commitment to educate our society,” said Moravian’s president, Bryon Grigsby.

To create the program, Moravian partnered with ExtensionEngine, a company that specializes in online learning. The program has been in the works since May, said Scott Moore, a principal learning strategist at the company. Three members of Moore’s team, along with faculty and staff from Moravian, began creating courses for the program on Wednesday.  

“Our partnership with ExtensionEngine helps strengthen the College’s commitment towards innovation and the liberal arts tradition,” said Dams.