LIM College, which is located in New York City and focused exclusively on the study of business and fashion, has received approval from the New York State Board of Regents to offer a Master of Science (MS) degree in Consumer Analytics.

This will be the first and only master's degree program in the U.S. to focus specifically on data analytics in the fashion industry.

LIM College's master's degree program in Consumer Analytics will launch in the fall of 2019. The program will equip students with the skills and knowledge essential for using customer data to drive business decisions.

Says Dr. Susan Baxter, LIM College's Dean of Graduate Studies, "The field of consumer analytics offers a broad array of career opportunities. Graduates will be prepared to fill positions as data analysts, trend forecasters, business development specialists, market researchers, and customer relationship managers on the retail, wholesale and brand sides of the global fashion business. And as design and aesthetics, competition, and globalization increasingly impact all kinds of businesses, the skills acquired in LIM College's master's degree program in Consumer Analytics can also be applied far beyond fashion."

According to a 2017 joint report by PwC and the Business-Higher Education Forum titled, "Investing in America's Data Science Talent: The Case for Action," by 2021, 67% of executives expect to choose job candidates with data skills over ones without. The report also notes that as businesses become increasingly digital, there's a great demand for professionals who possess "deep knowledge in a particular domain with strong ability in the use of data, analytics, and visualization tools."