Open to all undergraduate majors at the university, the programme consists of three newly developed three-credit-hour courses and one statistics prerequisite. The courses - introduction to data structures and cleaning; programming concepts and techniques; and data to information - will provide students with the SAS skills that they need to turn large volumes of data into information that can be used to make decisions.
 
"In every industry around the world, there is a dire need for more employees with SAS expertise," says Mark David Milliron, vice-president of the SAS education and medical practice, and a lifelong educator. "We are ecstatic that the University of Memphis not only recognises this need, but that it is pioneering this effort to provide the global marketplace with a steady stream of graduates who know SAS."
 
"Employers increasingly are seeking employees who know how to transform data into information," says Julie Heath, Professor in the department of economics at the University of Memphis. "This programme will give our graduates the competitive edge they need to succeed in today's turbulent job market. More than 25 companies in Memphis alone use SAS to handle their analysis needs."