Curriculum designed to advance your career
The Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) has a robust and customizable curriculum, giving students exposure to faculty across all disciplines of Gies College of Business. The MSBA program is designed to be a 2-semester residential program with the option to extend the program by one semester.
The curriculum consists of three required core courses, a business practicum, as well as approved analytics electives in your desired area of expertise. Students need to complete a minimum of 36 graduate level credits, with at least 20 hours of which need to be analytics electives and 12 hours of core courses.
| Core Courses*: | 12 hours |
| Business Practicum* (action learning): | 4 hours |
| Analytics Electives: | 16 - 20 hours |
| General Electives: | 0 - 4 hours |
| ESL Courses (if required): | 0 hours |
| Total: | 36 hours |
*Required core courses must be completed in first semester. Students will take 2 hours of the business practicum in the first semester and 2 hours in the second semester (4 hours total). The Business Practicum (4 hours) will count towards the 20-hour analytics elective requirement.
Core Business Analytics Courses
The MSBA program is focused on providing a flexible set of classes for students to tailor to their own specific career aims. There are only three required core courses in the program along with the Business Practicum:
- BADM 554 - Enterprise Database Management (4 credit hours) helps students to identify what data they need to answer a question. It introduces issues in pulling and cleaning data so that students can generate meaningful queries and form helpful data models.
- FIN 550 - Big Data Analytics (4 credit hours) teaches students to answer questions about causal inferences and predictions. Learn to use scalable tools and methods for a wide range of analysis. •
- BDI 513 - Data Storytelling (4 credit hours) shows students how to convey compelling answers to questions and to use tools to generate compelling visualizations and narratives, with an understanding of the choices they are making regarding data presentation.
- BADM 550 - Business Practicum (4 credit hours) Provides a unique opportunity to apply student’s classroom knowledge, their skills, and experiences in a real-world setting. Each team of students will work in a collaborative relationship with real businesses and organizations to solve real problems by developing implementable solutions. The class is designed to last throughout the entire program. Students will take 2 credit hours in the 1st semester and 2 credit hours in 2nd semester.
Business Analytics Specializations
Students will choose 16-20 hours of approved analytics electives to meet MSBA degree requirements. The following specializations are intended to illustrate analytics electives that complement each other within specific disciplines (Marketing Analytics, Algorithms in Analytics, Finance Analytics, and Accounting Analytics). Students are not limited to take courses within one specialization, rather students can mix and match analytics elective courses to customize curriculum. Specializations will not appear on your transcript or diploma. Elective courses are subject to change. Each one may not be available every semester.
Marketing Analytics Specialization
- Marketing Analytics
- Consumer Analytics
- Social Media Strategy
Algorithms in Analytics Specialization
- Data Science and Analytics
- Predictive Data Analytics
- Business Intelligence
Financial Analytics Specialization
- Applied Financial Econometrics
- Machine Learning in Finance
- Financial Innovation
- Financial Data Management
- Quantamental Investments
Accounting Analytics Specialization
- Data Analytics for Management Accounting
- Statistical Analyses for Accountancy
- Data Analytics Applications in Accountancy
Concentration
Students may choose to pursue an optional concentration. This concentration is built into the 36 credit hours needed to complete the degree and do not require an additional semester of study. Students must take a minimum of 12 credits of the required courses in order to earn a concentration. This concentration will appear on your transcript.
- Data Analytics in Finance - Gain a foundation in the principles and practices of finance that will introduce students to emerging concepts, practices, and technologies in today’s finance industry. To enroll in the concentration, students will be required to take three approved courses.
Business Analytics Electives
Here is a list of the analytics electives that have been offered in the MSBA program in previous semesters. Elective courses are subject to change and each one may not be available every semester. Please visit the Course Explorer to view course descriptions.
- BADM 557 - Business Intelligence
- BADM 562 - Social Media Strategy
- BADM 575 - Supply Chain Analytics
- BADM 576 - Data Science and Analytics
- BADM 577 - Predictive Data Analytics
- BADM 590 (BDI) - Big Data Infrastructure
- BADM 590 (CA) - Consumer Analytics
- BADM 590 (MA) - Marketing Analytics
- FIN 552 - Applied Financial Econometrics
- FIN 553 - Machine Learning in Finance
- FIN 555 - Financial Innovation
- FIN 567 - Financial Risk Management
- FIN 580 - Financial Data Management
- FIN 580 - Data Science and Python for FIN
- FIN 580 - Advanced Data Science and Python for FIN
- FIN 580 - Quantamental Investments
- ACCY 512 - Data Analytics for Management ACCY
- ACCY 571 - Statistical Analyses for ACCY
- ACCY 575 - Data Analytics Applications in ACCY
