Master of Science in Computer Science with Specialization in Business Data Applications

at Concordia University Wisconsin USA

You’ll be taking 25 credits of required coursework to give you a firm basis in drawing, color, design, art history, and aesthetics (the stuff that everyone who is serious about art needs to be aware of). But after that, you get to choose what aspects of art to focus on. We’ve got plenty of options to pick from and you’ve got 15 credits worth of courses to fill with whatever 2D or 3D electives inspire you!

By the time you finish this program you’ll have refined your artistic skills creating original designs, manipulating imagery, and applying design principles to visual communication. As you develop your unique artistic style, you will have a clearer understanding of how your artistic talents make a difference in the world. You will have an opportunity to showcase your work with an exhibit in the CUW Art Gallery and to assemble a professional portfolio highlighting the best of your work.

Our public relations program will prepare you in this language of persuasion so that you can bring incredible value to your employer – whether you’re working in sports, entertainment, or media, or for a corporation, a non-profit organization, a lobbying group, or political campaign. Public relations has become trickier and trickier in our modern age with the rise of social media, which makes it an incredibly diverse and exciting field of study.

At the center of all public relations lies the skill of communications. Our public relations major focuses on building your communication, interpersonal and problem-solving skills so you can always count on your fundamentals in this field. You’ve heard, “there’s no such thing as bad press,” haven’t you? Well, that’s only because public relations exists. And we prepare you to create crises response plans for product recalls and negative press so you can always be sure to stay out in front of potential catastrophe. What’s special about our program is that it combines skills and strategy with Christian ethics. It’s an exciting major that teaches you how to create and maintain a positive public image!
As we mentioned, social media has made this field incredibly dynamic, which is why we’ll help you master social media – especially when it comes to targeting audiences to engage in both corporate and personal branding. You’ll take a close look at certain major public relations cases that include political campaign strategy, how companies respond to negative events (such as the BP oil spill), and how to strategize new product launches (like the Nintendo Switch). You’ll also study non-profit and issue organizations like the World Wide Life Fund and Lutheran World Relief to get a glimpse into how public relations affects their world.

Throughout this program, you’ll create public relations plans that include journalism, social media, marketing, public speaking, radio, and promotion. The final capstone places you with organizations in need of a public relations plan, project, or strategy to provide experiential, real-world experience – because there’s no better way to learn than to actually step into the public relations role and perform. Our graduates have been hired by Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Boeing, Abbott Labs, and Kraft to help communicate company goals and new product launches.

As a working adult, you know that we are living in a data-age, and you see this area as a growth opportunity in your career. Now is the time because the demand for professionals with business analytics skills is growing. Most companies are generating, collecting, and storing information that is used to drive up the value of their business. This fast-growing career path has applications in every industry and companies of all sizes.

Program Outcomes

• Summarize principles of Christian ethics related to business intelligence.
• Apply the principles and techniques of database design, administration, and implementation to enhance data collection capabilities and decision-support systems.
• Describe models for effective decision making to achieve business objectives.
• Compare different organizational behaviors and adapt change management strategies.
• Articulate assumptions, analyses, and interpretations of data in a written and oral format.

This is an intense field, and it takes a lot of work and dedication to prepare you for your Society of Actuaries Exams. That’s why it’s an incredible benefit to you that our program consists of small class sizes to maximize the personal attention you get from your professors. It really makes all the difference, and will get you where you need to go quicker.

The program itself encompasses a three-part curriculum that includes a liberal arts core, a business common body of knowledge, and a specialization in actuarial science. So in addition to classes like Econometrics, International Business, and Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, you’ll round out your education with classes in literature, history, and theology.

Yes, it’s demanding. But it’s incredibly rewarding as well. High school students are encouraged to get as many AP credits as you can before you begin the actuarial science program. Once you’re in the program, we strongly encourage you to take (and pass, obviously) your SOA Exams P and FM while you’re still in college. It’s especially important for you to pass your Exam P before or during your junior year, because it’s the only way you’ll be able to secure an actuarial science internship.

Possibly the only thing greater than unlocking your own creativity through music, is helping someone else unlock theirs. That’s precisely what you’ll do with a focus in music education: help your students learn to express their unique individuality, while providing them with a strong sense of how the shared experience of music brings us all together.
As a music education student, you’ll study music theory, composition, conducting, music history, and forms of the medieval, baroque, pre-classical, romantic, and 20th century periods from around the globe. With such a thorough background, you’ll gain the skills and to share this knowledge with your own students.

Learn the ins and outs of all the instruments in an ensemble by becoming a teacher for K-12 band or orchestra. The K-12 Choral Education curriculum teaches many levels of music theory and music history, conducting, and techniques for teaching brass, woodwinds, percussion, and strings. In addition to learning in the classroom, stay active in your instrumental skills by participating in an ensemble of your choice each semester.

You’ll learn Hebrew, Greek, and either Latin or German in order to read the Bible and major theological works in their original languages. Reading these texts creates a closer connection to God’s Word, and offers a deeper understanding of the early Christian world and subsequent Church history. Concordia’s curriculum and faculty will help you attain a  high level of competency for reading and translating these original languages. Plus, this program is excellent preparation for seminary requirements and other graduate work in theology. This major can be combined easily with the applied theology major, the Christian thought major, or others.

Yes, you are going to be challenged. You’ll be learning two new alphabets that likely you’ve never encountered before. However, your future faculty, classmates, and tutors are eager to give you the support and resources needed to succeed. You’ll learn and practice self-discipline (which is necessary for language acquisition). In terms of benefits, you’ll experience the Bible and theological literature in a depth not possible with English translations. You’ll be preparing to spend a lifetime digging into Scripture and writings by Church Fathers with more clarity than before. Plus, through the study of other languages, your mastery of English will also improve. Alongside your languages courses, you’ll also get to take classes with our committed theology faculty.

Welcome to the world of technology, advancement, and innovation. You are going to be creating the future. Don’t believe us? Computer scientists are instrumental to anything and everything that involves computers. And let’s be honest, pretty much everything today involves computers. Robotics, virtual reality, and videogames are often cited as future job areas, but you could also be a part of many other fields—animation, music, automobiles, analytics…the list goes on.

What comes to mind when you think of computer science? In our modern world, there are decreasingly fewer things that don't rely on computers and technology in some shape or form, making computer science one of the most practical and versatile fields of study out there. At Concordia, we define computer science as solving problems using technology. If you can learn to create and manage technology solutions, you can apply your skills to just about any career path.

With five different concentrations available and substantial flexibility in electives, you have the power to customize this degree and make it your own. In this program, you'll receive a well-rounded education through the Concordia Core, as well as a firm foundation of computer science knowledge through our Technology Core. You'll learn the ins and outs of hardware, software, operating systems, databases, coding, and user interfaces. From there, you can branch out into one or more concentrations of computer science, specializing in the areas that are of most interest to you. You can use your electives to earn multiple concentrations, or to explore coursework in any other field at Concordia, broadening your knowledge base.

During your time at CUW, you’ll have the opportunity to study ecology, explore the outdoors, and learn how humans affect the natural world. The environmental studies program combines coursework in biological, physical, and earth sciences as well with environmental law and ethics. A variety of elective courses such as ornithology, astronomy, meteorology, and environmental policy is available. Many courses in this major will be taken at the Concordia Center for Environmental Stewardship, which is a state-of-the-art learning and research facility on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan committed to the practice of Christian environmental stewardship. Plus, you’ll have the benefit of professors who approach this discipline from a Christian perspective and who understand the responsibility we all have balance our care for humankind with our care for the environment and the rest of creation.

As an environmental studies major, you’ll develop a strong scientific foundation by studying a variety of topics in natural science including biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. You’ll also develop a strong foundation in the liberal arts by taking courses related to your major such as environmental law, environmental ethics, or environmental policy. One of the most exciting opportunities awaiting you is to study tropical ecology and then travel to the Caribbean to see these amazing ecosystems firsthand. In addition to your major, you will be required to complete the CUW liberal arts core and a minor, and you can choose from a variety of elective courses and complementary minors. Completing a minor in fields such as art, business, justice and public policy, or chemistry can allow you to specialize in the area that best fits your personal career goals.

Our bachelors in accounting is focused on well-rounded preparation, gearing students for success in all realms of accounting practice and providing them with the knowledge base required for key certifications including the CPA, CMA, and CIA. And in the process, you’ll be made ready for a career in private industry or public accounting, with courses covering a lot of ground — from Intermediate and Cost Accounting to Individual and Corporate Income Tax.

You will learn to understand and represent the myriad complexities of business transactions, processes, and strategies through an accounting based framework founded on GAAP and IFRS. Specifically, you will develop competence across a wide range of accounting knowledge and practices:

• Gathering and recording financial information, with its compilation and communication
• Applying best practices in budgeting, planning, and forecasting
• Supporting and integrating business operations through cost accounting and advanced analytics
• Establishing internal controls to support ethical business operations and reporting
• Developing and providing effective financial audits
• Reporting for non-profits, state governments, and partnerships
• Accounting for advanced business transactions related to mergers & acquisitions, foreign currencies, and financial derivatives

This program nurtures the ability to engage in systematic thinking and provides you with the critical distance to call culture’s dominant assumptions into question and form your own responses. You’ll be immersed in the great conversation of history’s deepest thinkers, trained in logic and ethics, and able to defend faith and human dignity. At this point in time, philosophy has never been so vital – or applicable – to everyday life.
This is a program intended for lovers of wisdom. You’ll develop a trained mind that thinks clearly, precisely, and rigorously. This program will introduce you to the central texts of the world’s greatest ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary thinkers. You’ll learn the methods of careful definition, logical analysis, and argumentation. In addition to core foundations of a robust philosophy program, our program has special emphases on apologetics, moral philosophy, bioethics, human rights, and human dignity. It all boils down to this: the CUW Philosophy program will prepare you to be a thinker. And since you’ll be able to specialize in any area of philosophy that interests you most, you’ll experience the true thrill of charting your own intellectual course in life.

You will leave a different person than when you arrived. Your mind will be an interesting place, full of curiosity, wonder and intellectual fulfillment.  Upon completion you should feel equipped for either additional graduate-level study  or entrance into the professional world. Not everyone immediately sees the connection between a degree in philosophy and success in the business world, but even a quick glance at some of the top CEOs and entrepreneurs in America shows one thing in common - a philosophy degree. It should come as no surprise that critical thinkers, who think analytically and deeply about problems, would quickly rise to the top. Perhaps most importantly, you will learn how to engage with society’s dominant discourses and trends from a whole different angle than the majority of your peers.