Find Your Data Analytics Certification

Earning a data analytics certification is a strategic move for career growth and staying abreast of the latest trends in the ever-evolving analytics industry.

But finding the right data analytics certification program can be challenging. The biggest reason is that there are more data analytics-related degrees, courses, and certifications today. The main reason these programs are increasing is that there is a huge emergence of data-related jobs. 

The existence of so many data analytics programs makes the decision-making process of what kind of program to attend more complex. This guide provides information specific to data analytics certifications.

Here are several major factors when making a decision: 

• Time Commitment for Data Analytics Certification Programs
  • A master’s in analytics can take at least 30 credits or a year to graduate. You might need to attend the course full-time or in person. This option, if suitable, would provide you an in-depth knowledge and skills related to analysis. However, it might not be workable for someone who has other full-time commitments. With most certifications, you can complete them at your own pace and then register for an examination when your preparation is complete. Since most of the certification completion timeline is between 6-24 weeks, it is a fast-track course to achieve the skills necessary to work in the industry.

• Program Cost for Data Analytics Certifications
  • A master’s degree is expensive as you need to pay per credit. Again, each credit can cost you anywhere from $300-$1,000. This makes the course lengthy in terms of time and expensive for someone who might have other financial responsibilities. Depending on the type and place, a certification would still cost you money. However, for most of them, the cost of the certificate would be much less than the amount spent on a master’s degree.

• Data Analytics Certifications and Career Advancement
  • There are times when a company is keen on launching a project where a lot of data analysis is needed to be done using a specific analytical skillset. Such demands and opportunities to learn analytical skills are at times funded by the organizations for its employees to train on these skills quickly and apply them. This option suits employers instead of sending their employees for an advanced degree. One example of this would be a company that wants to implement analytical dashboards on Amazon Web Service. This is a perfect example of where certifications fit in.

So, getting a certification or an advanced degree is specific to each circumstance.

The best data analytics courses allow you to learn key programming languages, such as Python, R, and SQL, among others, and gain hands-on experience with:

1. Data collecting
2. Data analysis
3. Data visualization
4. Statistical analysis
5. Predictive analytics

Data Analytics Certification Online

Different certification programs offer different formats. These formats may fall in one of the following common categories:

• Video Lectures, Assignments, Capstone Project, and Exams
  • When this format is used for training, the certification course is likely to take place on an online platform such as Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) or the course provider’s website platform. The format is simple, where a participant must devote some time every week to watch and understand video lectures. Assignments and hand-on need to be completed, and they are graded. Most of the exams or quizzes follow a question-answers system with multiple choices format. It may also involve a capstone project to get you experience to tackle a real-world problem. Each section has a weighting that is necessary to complete a certification.

• Self-Paced Preparation and Exam
  • The other common format involves preparing for the certification at your own pace. Resources and materials for preparation may or may not be provided by the certification exam organization. Once a student feels confident about the preparation, they can then register for the exam after scheduling to give it online or in-person for a fee. 

Data Analytics Certification Programs 

The category into which certifications fall is broad. Although some commonalities exist, there are differences in duration, cost, quality of content, and difficulty levels. Based on your prior understanding, they can be categorized into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Some certifications also have a prerequisite for understanding mathematics and programming languages.

Certain certifications have a shorter duration than others, targeting audiences already in the industry who want to brush up on their skills.

At the same time, others help you understand the foundation of analysis and will take longer to complete.

These certifications need to be scrutinized before investing to see if they fulfill your needs and desired outcomes. Completing a certification helps you build a portfolio to showcase for jobs but does not automatically guarantee a job. Most analyst jobs still need you to have a bachelor’s degree to understand the industry you are stepping into.

Example Data Analytics Certifications

Certifications from Academic Programs

There are many data analytics certifications available from leading academic institutions. These academic certs are often designed for working professionals looking to develop or refine a particular skill within the field. They usually take several months to complete and require several hours of weekly commitment to complete.

Here are a few examples of what a certification from an academic institution looks like.

Cornell University Data Analytics Certificate

• Duration: 3 months/3 to 5 hours per week
• Cost: $3,600
• Level: Intermediate
• Offered by: eCornell
• Format: Online
• Who should get this certification: analysts, functional managers, executives, consultants, any professional that uses data to make business decisions
• Course description: This certificate is designed for people who have a background in fundamental statistics, have used Excel spreadsheets, or have some experience with the analytical industry. It provides knowledge about statistical methods using video instruction lectures and hands-on exercises by Cornell University expert Chris Anderson. The brochure for the course claims that students of this course will prepare you to make sound, evidence-based decisions that drive business performance in any function by the end of the course.

Certificate in Data Analytics – Penn LPS

• Duration: 8 weeks
• Cost: $2,482 per credit
• Level: Beginner
• Who should get this certification: This is an entry-level program designed for people looking to transition into data analytics from related fields or with a relevant educational or professional background.
• Offered by: Penn LPS Online at the University of Pennsylvania
• Format: Online
• Course description: The online certificate in Data Analytics is a 4-course sequence for students with no prior background in analytics. This certification course offered by Penn LPS has no prerequisites other than an understanding of basic math and operating a computer. The Penn faculty team and experts teach the course. This program is flexible to accommodate work schedules for enrollees who work full-time. The curriculum for this certification course includes interpretation and implementation of regression models, A/B testing, data analysis in R, and an understanding of predictive modeling and machine learning.

MIT Sloan Applied Business Analytics

• Duration: 6 weeks, 4 to 6 hours per week
• Cost: $2,950
• Level: Intermediate
• Who should get this certification: Senior executives, functional managers, and business heads, data and business analysts, consultants
• Offered by: MIT Management Executive Education
• Format: Online
• Course description: 
• The course curriculum for the certification is provided through business case studies and discussions. Optional technical assignments are provided using R and Python. Prior experience or knowledge in the field of business management might be helpful. In May 2019, MIT Sloan, in conjunction with Universidad de Chile, launched a Data Analytics Certificate. This is a seven-month course offered between May and November. This course certification is taught in person in Chile. Enrollees also get an opportunity to visit MIT Sloan for two weeks for learning purposes.

University of California, San Diego Big Data Analytics using Spark

• Duration: 10 weeks, 9-12 hours per week
• Cost: Free, Verified certificate for $350
• Level: Advanced
• Who should get this course: Data professional who would like to learn analytics using Spark. Some restrictions regarding participant locations apply.
• Offered by: the University of California, San Diego (UCSanDiegoX)
• Format: Online
• Course description: 
• When your data is large, it may not be possible to use regular tools available for analysis. Spark is open-source and provides a platform to analyze data using parallelization techniques. This certification course is designed to allow you to work with big data using Spark. It assumes you have experience using statistical and analytical skills. It gives you hands-on experience to work with parallel computing using Python and Spark. You will learn how to perform supervised and unsupervised machine learning on massive datasets.

Industry Data Analytics Certifications

Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate

• Duration: 6 months, 10 hours per week
• Cost: $39 per month
• Level: Beginner
• Who should get this course: Anyone who wants to start a career as a data analyst.
• Offered by: Google
• Format: Online
• Course description: 
• The data analytics certification offered on Coursera contains over 180 hours of video training material and hundreds of practice assignments. This certification is for professionals and students looking for an entry into the data industry as analysts with no prior background. This course introduces you to analytic tools and platforms needed for an entry-level job. 
• Google also provides an analytical platform that various organizations use. Google Academy offers Google Analytics certification. Their analytical academy helps you learn about their measurement tools on Google Analytics. There is no fee for learning the course or getting a certification. However, this certification is valid for one year, and you need to be recertified every year.

AWS Certified Data Analytics: 

• Duration: Depends on individual’s timeline for preparation
• Cost: $300
• Level: Advanced
• Who should get this course: Software developers and data professionals who want to learn about data analytics on the AWS platform.
• Offered by: Amazon Web Service
• Format: Online or In-person exam
• Course description:  According to estimates from Synergy Research Group, Amazon’s market share in the worldwide cloud infrastructure market amounted to 32 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. As more and more organizations are setting up their tech infrastructure on AWS, Amazon can also add analytical components to AWS to serve their customers. Even better, they have designed a course certification to teach you the new services and tools you can use in AWS to build data analytics applications. The course gives deep insight into primary tools, topics, and services needed to build a successful data analytics pipeline and gain the hands-on experience required to complete the exam required for the certification.

IBM Data Analyst

• Duration: 11 months
• Cost: $39 USD per month
• Level: Beginner
• Who should get this course? Current professional looking to advance their career, functional manager, professional looking for a career transition, full-time student
• Offered by: IBM
• Format: Online
• Course description: This certificate is suitable for beginners with high school math and computer literacy knowledge. Industry professionals who need to brush up on their knowledge can also take this certification. The course consists of 9 courses, including two specializations: Introduction to Data Science and Applied Data Science. Once you have completed these nine courses, you get both the specialization and the Professional Certificate. A free IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is provided for practical assignments. Upon completing the certification, you will have analyzed real-world datasets and created interactive dashboards.

CCA Data Analyst

• Duration: 120 mins for exam, 8–12 performance-based (hands-on) tasks on a Cloudera Enterprise cluster. See below for the full cluster configuration. 
• Cost: $295 for exam
• Level: Advanced
• Who should get this course
• Offered by: Cloudera
• Format: Online
• Course description:
• CCA Data Analyst (CCA159) certification exam is for those who wish to pursue a career in Big Data. The exam is a hands-on practical exam using Cloudera Technologies, and the certification is only valid for two years. This certification opens the door to provide upward mobility in the career trajectories of  SQL developers, data analysts, business intelligence specialists, developers, system architects, and database administrators. Clodera’s Data Analyst training course helps you prepare for the certification.

Frequently Asked Questions