The Best Bachelor's in Business Analytics in Pennsylvania for 2026
We built this ranking of the best bachelor's in business analytics in Pennsylvania by scoring every accredited business analytics program in the state against U.S. Department of Education IPEDS data on graduation rates, admission selectivity, and cost, then layering in national Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for outcomes context. Six business analytics programs in Pennsylvania made the cut, and the price gap between them is enormous: in-state tuition ranges from $7,716 a year at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, a public school and the cheapest strong-value option in this group, up to $67,446 a year at Bucknell University. That's not a typo, and it's not a typical median tuition either. This ranked set mixes one low-cost public program with several expensive private universities, so the honest way to read the range is by the extremes, not an average sticker price.
Graduation rates across these programs average 79%, high for undergraduate business majors generally, and it reflects the fact that Pennsylvania's business analytics offerings sit inside selective four-year universities rather than open-enrollment schools. What follows is a data-first breakdown of what the programs here actually cost school by school, whether you need a license or certification to work in the field, which accreditation actually matters, how a bachelor's stacks up against a certificate or a master's, which programs offer an online path, and what the national job market looks like once you graduate.
Key Takeaways on the Best Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania
- Six business analytics programs in Pennsylvania made this ranking, with Hakia Scores from 75.4 to 97.1.
- In-state tuition spans $7,716 a year at West Chester University of Pennsylvania to $67,446 at Bucknell University, a nearly $60,000-a-year gap.
- Average graduation rate across the six ranked programs is 79%, led by Lehigh University at 88%.
- Only one of the six ranked programs, Drexel University, offers its bachelor's in business analytics online.
- The national median salary for the analyst-track occupations tied to this degree is $103,755 a year, per BLS wage data.
- Admit rates range from 26% at top-ranked Lehigh University to 84% at Duquesne University, the widest selectivity spread in the group.
Hakia Score for the best bachelor's in business analytics in Pennsylvania weighs each program's graduation rate, admission selectivity, in-state cost, and outcomes data pulled from the U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database, alongside national BLS wage data for the occupations the degree feeds into. No program pays for placement and no reputation survey enters the score.
The 6 Best Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania, Ranked for 2026
| # | Program | Type | In-state tuition | Grad rate | Admit rate | Hakia Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lehigh UniversityBethlehem, PA | Nonprofit | $63,930 | 88% | 26% | 97.1 |
| 2 | Bucknell UniversityLewisburg, PA | Nonprofit | $67,446 | 86% | 29% | 95.0 |
| 3 | Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia, PA · online option | Nonprofit | $60,042 | 78% | 79% | 86.5 |
| 4 | Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh, PA | Nonprofit | $48,986 | 77% | 84% | 79.0 |
| 5 | West Chester University of PennsylvaniaWest Chester, PA | Public | $7,716 | 71% | 78% | 75.6 |
| 6 | Saint Francis UniversityLoretto, PA | Nonprofit | $25,288 | 74% | 77% | 75.4 |
The Top Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania at a Glance
Each program scores 0 to 100 on the Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. Longer bars rank higher.
Inside the Top Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA · Nonprofit
- Grad rate
- 88%
- Admit rate
- 26%
- In-state
- $63,930
- Out-of-state
- $63,930
Lehigh's Business Analytics major leads Pennsylvania with a 97.1 Hakia Score, an 88% graduation rate, and just a 26% admit rate.
- Hakia Score 97.1
- 88% graduation rate
- 26% admit rate
- 5 elective analytics tracks (AI, supply chain, finance, marketing, econometrics)
Lehigh's Business Analytics major sits inside the Decision and Technology Analytics (DATA) department at the College of Business, and it does not settle for one track. After the shared core, starting with BIS 111: Management Information Systems, majors take four required courses, including BUAN 346: Python Applications for Business and BUAN 352: Business Analytics and Modelling, then choose two electives from five stated areas: artificial intelligence, supply chain analytics, financial analytics, marketing analytics, and econometrics. That elective structure lets a student aim a general analytics degree at a specific industry before graduation, and the program points graduates toward roles like business analyst, data analyst, research analyst, and risk analyst.
Lehigh earns the #1 spot in this ranking with a Hakia Score of 97.1, the highest of any Pennsylvania business analytics program measured here. The numbers back it up: an 88% graduation rate and just a 26% admit rate, the most selective of the six programs here. Tuition runs $63,930 flat, since Lehigh is private and charges the same rate regardless of residency. This program fits a student who can clear a competitive admissions bar and wants elective flexibility to specialize in AI, supply chain, finance, or marketing analytics without transferring colleges.
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA · Nonprofit
- Grad rate
- 86%
- Admit rate
- 29%
- In-state
- $67,446
- Out-of-state
- $67,446
Bucknell backs its 95 Hakia Score with an 86% graduation rate and a 29% admit rate, inside a management degree where students launch a real company as freshmen or sophomores.
- Hakia Score 95
- 86% graduation rate
- 29% admit rate
- Dominguez Center for Data Science (launched 2024)
Bucknell folds its business analytics major into the Analytics & Operations Management program at the Freeman College of Management, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration built around applied work from day one. First or second year students take Management 101, an experiential course where they form real companies and run them for the benefit of local charities, making decisions on leadership, product, and sales along the way. The university also points to its Dominguez Center for Data Science, launched in 2024, which pulls faculty and curriculum from all three of Bucknell's colleges into hands-on data projects. Bucknell's Center for Career Advancement lists internship placements with firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch.
The program carries a Hakia Score of 95, second in Pennsylvania, on an 86% graduation rate and a 29% admit rate. Tuition is $67,446, the highest sticker price of the six programs here, again flat across residency since Bucknell is private. It suits a student choosing a small, highly selective university where the analytics major is wrapped inside a broader management degree rather than run as a standalone technical track.
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA · Nonprofit · online option
- Grad rate
- 78%
- Admit rate
- 79%
- In-state
- $60,042
- Out-of-state
- $60,042
Drexel's LeBow Business Analytics BSBA admits 79% of applicants and lets students choose up to three paid co-ops over five years, all for $60,042 in tuition.
- Hakia Score 86.5
- 79% admit rate
- 78% graduation rate
- Up to 3 co-ops over 5 years, online format available
Drexel's Business Analytics BSBA runs out of the LeBow College of Business on a quarter calendar and requires a minimum of 180 credits, more than a typical semester-based degree. The distinguishing structure is co-op: students choose between three co-ops over five years, one co-op over four years, or no co-op at all, so the length of the degree bends around how much paid work experience a student wants first. Every student completes a senior project, BSAN 460, working in small teams on business analytics problems built from real-world data, and the program points toward roles like BI and performance management consultants and advanced analytics and optimization consultants.
Drexel's Hakia Score of 86.5 ranks third in the state, with a 78% graduation rate and a 79% admit rate, the second-most accessible admit rate of the six programs here, trailing only Duquesne's 84%. Tuition is $60,042 flat. Drexel also offers this program online, unlike the other five schools in this ranking. It is the pick for a student who wants co-op work experience built into the degree and a lower admissions bar than Lehigh or Bucknell.
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA · Nonprofit
- Grad rate
- 77%
- Admit rate
- 84%
- In-state
- $48,986
- Out-of-state
- $48,986
Duquesne's Business Analytics co-major costs $48,986, up to $73,840 less over four years than Lehigh, Bucknell, and Drexel, while still placing grads at Amazon, PwC, and PNC.
- Hakia Score 79
- $48,986 tuition (cheaper than Lehigh, Bucknell, and Drexel)
- 84% admit rate
- STEM-designated co-major
Duquesne runs its analytics track as a Business Analytics Co-Major, a STEM-designated add-on to a primary major at the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, in-person over 8 semesters and a minimum of 120 credit hours. The school describes the co-major as a natural complement to non-STEM majors like marketing or management, built around cornerstone and capstone courses where students consult for real corporate partners. Duquesne names specific employers hiring its analytics grads, including Amazon, PNC, PwC, KPMG, and UPMC, and cites Bureau of Labor Statistics projections showing business analyst roles growing 15% to 25% faster than average through 2030.
The program's Hakia Score of 79 ranks fourth among the six Pennsylvania programs here, alongside a 77% graduation rate and an 84% admit rate, the easiest of the six to get into. Its real edge is cost: tuition runs $48,986, between $11,056 (versus Drexel) and $18,460 (versus Bucknell) less per year than Lehigh, Bucknell, and Drexel, the three costlier programs ranked above it. Over four years, that gap alone is $44,224 to $73,840 in tuition saved. It fits a student who wants a STEM-labeled analytics credential stacked onto another business major without paying Lehigh or Bucknell prices.
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester, PA · Public
- Grad rate
- 71%
- Admit rate
- 78%
- In-state
- $7,716
- Out-of-state
- $19,290
West Chester teaches its 121-credit Business Analytics degree with Python, Tableau, SQL, and ArcGIS, and Pennsylvania residents pay just $7,716 a year for it.
- 71% graduation rate
- $7,716 in-state tuition vs. $19,290 out-of-state
- Hakia Score 75.6
- GIS built into the analytics curriculum
West Chester's B.S. in Business Analytics runs through the Business and Public Management college as a 121-credit program built to layer onto a double major. The curriculum leans hard into tools: Python, Tableau, SQL, and ArcGIS all show up by name on the program page, and a required database management course (MKT 368) teaches SQL-based data storage and quality control while a data manipulation course (FIN 336) works entirely in Python. West Chester also folds GIS into the major, a geospatial layer most business analytics programs skip, and lets students pick 15 electives across 7 specialized tracks to point the degree toward marketing, finance, or another business function.
The Hakia Score of 75.6 puts West Chester at #5 among Pennsylvania's bachelor's business analytics programs. It graduates 71% of students and admits 78% of applicants, so it is not a hard school to get into, but it does finish the majority of who enrolls. The real number for Pennsylvania residents is tuition: $7,716 in-state against $19,290 out-of-state, an $11,574 annual gap that adds up to roughly $46,300 saved over four years by staying in-state. With 17,171 students on campus, this fits someone who wants a large public university, a low in-state price, and a business degree with an actual geospatial and coding component rather than a general analytics survey.
Saint Francis University
Loretto, PA · Nonprofit
- Grad rate
- 74%
- Admit rate
- 77%
- In-state
- $25,288
- Out-of-state
- $25,288
Saint Francis charges one flat $25,288 tuition for every student in its Business Analytics program, in state or out, and still admits 77% of applicants.
- 74% graduation rate
- $25,288 flat tuition for every state
- Hakia Score 75.4
- Small class sizes at the Shields School of Business
Saint Francis University offers its B.S. in Business Analytics through the Shields School of Business, on-campus only, with no online track listed on the program page. The curriculum centers on four areas the page names directly: programming, statistics, data management, and data transformation and visualization. The school points to small class sizes and faculty who will know you by name, and describes its instructors as having years of professional experience rather than a purely academic background.
Saint Francis earns a Hakia Score of 75.4, good for #6 in Pennsylvania, just a tenth of a point behind West Chester at #5. Its graduation rate is 74%, three points higher than West Chester's, and it admits 77% of applicants, nearly identical selectivity. The tuition structure is the real differentiator: Saint Francis charges a flat $25,288 whether you live in Pennsylvania or out of state, more than triple West Chester's in-state rate but with no out-of-state penalty at all. At 2,963 total students, the school is a fraction of West Chester's size, so this fits someone who wants a small private campus and faculty access over a lower price tag or a large public-school setting.
What Bachelor's in Business Analytics Programs Cost in Pennsylvania
Business analytics programs in Pennsylvania cost wildly different amounts depending on whether you pick a public or private school. West Chester University of Pennsylvania, a public university, charges $7,716 a year in-state, the least expensive of the six programs ranked here. At the other end, Bucknell University's business analytics program runs $67,446 a year, and Lehigh University, the top-ranked program in this list with a Hakia Score of 97.1, charges $63,930. That's roughly a $3,500-a-year gap between the two most expensive private options and nearly a $60,000-a-year gap between the cheapest public program and the priciest private one.
Run the math over four years and the gap compounds. Four years at West Chester costs about $30,864 in tuition alone. Four years at Bucknell costs about $269,784. That's nearly $240,000 more for an undergraduate credential in the same subject, in the same state. BLS wage data puts the national median salary at $103,755 a year for the analyst-track occupations linked to this degree, a field figure that applies equally no matter which Pennsylvania school you attend, so a Bucknell graduate needs roughly 2.6 years of that median salary just to cover tuition, while a West Chester graduate covers the same tuition bill in about 3.6 months. That doesn't make Bucknell a bad program: its 86% graduation rate is real. But the ROI case for the expensive private option has to rest on something other than the starting salary alone, since the salary is identical either way.
Do You Need a License to Work in Business Analytics?
No state licenses a business analyst, a data analyst, or a management analyst the way a state licenses a CPA or an attorney. A bachelor's from any of these programs gets you into the field on its own. That's different from accounting or nursing, and it's worth saying plainly, because a lot of prospective students assume every business credential ends in a board exam.
What exists instead is voluntary certification, and employers do notice it. INFORMS offers an analytics-focused credential, and the Institute of Management Consultants offers the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation that some management analysts pursue later in their careers, alongside vendor certifications in tools like SAS, Tableau, or Power BI that show up constantly in entry-level job postings. None of them are required to practice. BLS notes that management analysts typically need only a bachelor's degree to start, and that certification, while not mandatory, can help a candidate stand out. For most graduates of the programs here in Pennsylvania, the degree itself, plus a portfolio of real projects, does more hiring work than any single exam.
Why AACSB Accreditation Matters for a Business Analytics Bachelor's Degree
Business analytics is a business discipline before it's a computer science one, and the accreditation standard that matters most is the same one that matters for any business degree: AACSB. AACSB is the specialty accreditor business schools pursue voluntarily, on top of the regional accreditation every degree-granting college already carries, and it reviews curriculum, faculty qualifications, and student outcomes on a recurring cycle rather than a one-time check. There's no separate specialty accreditor built specifically for business analytics the way there is for nursing or engineering; the discipline sits inside the business school, which is exactly why business analytics programs get accredited through the business school's AACSB status rather than a standalone body.
When you're comparing programs in Pennsylvania, or in any state, checking the business school's AACSB status on the accreditor's own directory is a five-minute step worth taking before you compare cost or graduation rate. It's a stronger signal than a school's own marketing claims about its analytics curriculum, and it applies whether you're weighing a $7,716-a-year public program or a $67,446-a-year private one.
Bachelor's vs. Other Business Analytics Credentials
These rankings focus on the bachelor's because that's where the volume is: business analytics as a standalone undergraduate major is a relatively new addition to business school catalogs, and a four-year degree is how most people enter these programs in the first place. A handful of schools, some outside this Pennsylvania ranking, also offer business analytics as a graduate credential, either a standalone master's or a concentration inside an MBA, aimed at people who already hold a bachelor's in something else, business, engineering, economics, and want to add data analytics skills before a career move.
Certificates exist too, usually four to six courses stacked inside a business school, and they're a faster, cheaper way to add analytics coursework to an existing degree. They don't replace a bachelor's for someone starting from scratch, and none of the business analytics programs in this Pennsylvania ranking are certificate-only; all six award a full bachelor's degree, award level 5 in federal IPEDS classification. If you already hold a bachelor's in a different field and just want the analytics skill set, price out a certificate or a master's separately. If you're choosing your first four-year degree, the bachelor's is the direct path, and it's the credential this ranking is built to compare.
Online Bachelor's in Business Analytics Programs in Pennsylvania
Only one of the six ranked business analytics programs in Pennsylvania, Drexel University, offers its bachelor's in business analytics through an online path, alongside its on-campus option. Drexel also posts one of the most flexible admissions rates in the group, trailing only Duquesne's 84% admit rate, with a 79% admit rate well above Lehigh's 26% and Bucknell's 29%, and its $60,042 in-state tuition sits in the middle of the pack, cheaper than Bucknell and Lehigh, more than double West Chester's. That combination, an online option plus a much easier admissions bar, makes Drexel the practical pick for a working adult or a transfer student who wants a BSBA analytics degree without relocating to Philadelphia or competing against a sub-30% admit rate.
The other five programs in this ranking, Lehigh, Bucknell, Duquesne, West Chester, and Saint Francis, are built around an on-campus, four-year cohort model. That's typical for these programs generally: the major leans on group project work, case competitions, and in-person recruiting pipelines with regional employers, so most schools haven't built a parallel online track the way they have for an online MBA. If an online format is a hard requirement, it narrows the Pennsylvania field to one accredited option.
Business Analytics Salary and Job Outlook
Every program in this Pennsylvania ranking feeds into the same national labor market, and the wage data doesn't change by school. BLS wage data puts the median salary for the analyst-track occupations tied to this degree at $103,755 a year nationally. That figure is a field median, not a Lehigh number or a West Chester number; where you go to school affects your odds of landing a given job, your starting network, and your debt load, not the national wage figure itself.
Graduates of business analytics programs typically land in roles the BLS tracks separately: management analysts, market research analysts, statisticians, and data scientists, the same four career paths listed against every program in this Pennsylvania ranking. Management analyst and data scientist roles both draw heavily on the coursework a BSBA analytics curriculum covers: statistics, database work, and business strategy applied to a real dataset rather than a lab environment.
The practical takeaway for cost planning: a graduate from the least expensive program in this ranking, West Chester at $7,716 a year in-state, and a graduate from the most expensive, Bucknell at $67,446 a year, compete for the same jobs, at the same national median salary. The degree opens the door; the school you pick changes what you pay to get there, not the ceiling on what the field pays once you're in.
Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania: Your Questions, Answered
How long does it take to finish a bachelor's in business analytics in Pennsylvania?
Is an online business analytics bachelor's degree respected by employers?
How much do bachelor's in business analytics programs cost in Pennsylvania?
Do you need to pass an exam to work in business analytics?
What admit rate should I expect from these programs in Pennsylvania?
Is AACSB accreditation important for a business analytics bachelor's degree?
What jobs can you get with a bachelor's in business analytics?
What's the difference between a BSBA in business analytics and a data science degree?
How the Business Analytics Bachelor's Programs in Pennsylvania Are Scored
Every program earns a Hakia Score from 0 to 100, built only from federal data (IPEDS, the U.S. Department of Education, and BLS) and scored against its true peers: programs in the same field at the same degree level. No reputation surveys, no pay-to-play. Here is how the score is weighted:
- Outcomes44%
Graduation rate (26%) and real per-school graduate earnings (18%). Does the program get students to the finish line, and where do they land?
- Selectivity & academics38%
Admissions selectivity (24%) and the academic profile of admitted students (14%).
- Scale & value18%
Enrollment (7%), cost-to-earnings value (6%), and the number of graduates a program produces (5%).
Weights renormalize over the data each program actually reports, so a school missing a metric (many open-access colleges do not publish entrance scores or earnings) is never penalized for it. Scores are percentiles within the peer group, curved to a 0-to-100 scale. What the score does not measure: individual instructor quality, specific course content, or campus culture. Verify those directly with the program.