Business Analytics Master of science degree
Business Analytics
Master of science degree
Overview
With the incredible amount of data being collected by today's businesses, professionals are needed to analyze and interpret this information to inform and guide sound business decisions.
Today's businesses collect an incredible amount of data from nearly every customer touch point, from point-of-sale transactions, customer service interactions, social media feedback, search engine entries, market research activities, sales data, demographic information, and more. As of now, only a tiny portion of this data is analyzed. By getting a business analytics master’s degree, you will become skilled in using big data to create powerful solutions to help companies increase sales, reach new customers, develop new products, enhance customer experiences, and more. You will acquire a broad and in-depth training in multiple disciplines related to business analytics, including management information systems (MIS), marketing, accounting, finance, management, and engineering. The program prepares you to enter one of today’s top business careers.
The business analytics program is career-focused. It was developed in conjunction with top employers, such as Intuit, Excellus, and PriceWaterhouse, with a curriculum designed to help students understand and connect contemporary analytics technologies with today's business practices. Students are prepared for positions in such areas as marketing research, analytics, and consulting; digital analytics; web intelligence and analytics; accounting and financial analytics and risk management; supply chain analytics; customer analytics; and consulting.
International Students: F-1 OPT STEM 17-Month Work Extension
International students receiving the MS in business analytics degree qualify to apply for a 24-month work extension to their OPT (Optional Practical Training) period. This extension means that students could be eligible for up to two and a half years of work in the United States.
The extension is exclusive to qualifying STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) focused programs. The MS in business analytics program qualifies for an F-1 OPT STEM Extension, under the CIP Code 27.0103-Analysis and Functional Analysis in the 2012 STEM-Designated Degree Program List published by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. For more information, please visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) webpages: Understanding F-1 OPT Requirements and Questions and Answers: Extension of Optional Practical Training Program for Qualified Students.
Industries
Curriculum
Business Analytics, MS degree, typical course sequence
| Course | Sem. Cr. Hrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| BANA-680 |
Data Management for Business Analytics
This course introduces students to data management and analytics in a business setting. Students learn how to formulate hypotheses, collect and manage relevant data, and use standard tools such as Python and R in their analyses. The course exposes students to structured data as well as semi-structured and unstructured data. There are no pre or co-requisites; however, instructor permission is required for students not belonging to the MS-Business Analytics or other quantitative programs such as the MS-Computational Finance which have program-level pre-requisites in the areas of calculus, linear algebra, and programming.
|
3 |
| BANA-780 |
Advanced Business Analytics
This course provides foundational, advanced knowledge in the realm of business analytics. Advanced topics such as machine learning, analysis of structured data, text mining, and network analysis are covered. Industry standard tools such as R and Python are extensively used in completing student projects.
|
3 |
| BANA-785 |
Business Analytics Experience*
Students apply their mathematical, data analytic, and integrative business analytics skills in a complex project involving real or simulated data. Under the supervision of an advisor, students work in teams to perform a stipulated task/project and write a comprehensive report at the end of the experience. Subject to approval by the program director, an individual student internship/coop followed by an in-depth report may obtain equivalent credit.
|
3 |
| FINC-780 |
Financial Analytics
This course provides a survey of financial analytics applications in contexts such as investment analysis, portfolio construction, risk management, and security valuation. Students are introduced to financial models used in these applications and their implementation using popular languages such as R, Matlab, and Python, and packages such as Quantlib. A variety of data sources are used: financial websites such as www.finance.yahoo.com, government sites such as www.sec.gov, finance research databases such as WRDS, and especially Bloomberg terminals. Students will complete projects using real-world data and make effective use of visualization methods in reporting results. There are no pre or co-requisites; however, instructor permission is required – student aptitude for quantitative work will be assessed; waived for students enrolled in quantitative programs such as the MS-Computational Finance which have pre-requisites in the areas of calculus, linear algebra, and programming.
|
3 |
| MGIS-650 |
Introduction to Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
This course serves as an introduction to data analysis including both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Contemporary data analytics and business intelligence tools will be explored through realistic problem assignments.
|
3 |
| MKTG-768 |
Marketing Analytics
This course provides an overview of marketing analytics in the context of marketing research, product portfolios, social media monitoring, sentiment analysis, customer retention, clustering techniques, and customer lifetime value calculation. Students will be introduced to, mathematical and statistical models used in these applications and their implementation using statistical tools and programming languages such as SAS, SPSS, Python and R. Multiple data sources will be used ranging from structured data from company databases, scanner data, social media data, text data in the form of customer reviews, and research databases. Students will complete guided projects using real time data and make effective use of visualization to add impact to their reports. There are no listed pre or co-requisites; however, instructor permission is required – student aptitude for quantitative work will be assessed; waived for students enrolled in quantitative programs such as the MS-Computational Finance which have pre-requisites in the areas of calculus, linear algebra, and programming.
|
3 |
Analytics Elective* |
6 | |
Free Elective* |
6 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 30 |
|
* The Business Analytics Experience (BANA-785), one analytics elective, and one free elective are completed during the summer.
Analytics Electives
| Course | |
|---|---|
| ACCT-645 |
Accounting Information and Analytics
The objective for this course is helping students develop a data mindset which prepare them to interact with data scientists from an accountant perspective. This course enables students to develop analytics skills to conduct descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analysis for accounting information. This course focuses on such topics as data modeling, relational databases, blockchain, visualization, unstructured data, web scraping, and data extraction.
|
| MGIS-720 |
Information Systems Design
This course provides students with fundamental knowledge and skills required for successful analysis of problems and opportunities related to the flow of information within organizations and the design and implementation of information systems to address identified factors. Students are provided with knowledge and experience that will be useful in determining systems requirements and developing a logical design.
|
| MGIS-725 |
Data Management and Analytics
This course discusses issues associated with data capture, organization, storage, extraction, and modeling for planned and ad hoc reporting. Enables student to model data by developing conceptual and semantic data models. Techniques taught for managing the design and development of large database systems including logical data models, concurrent processing, data distributions, database administration, data warehousing, data cleansing, and data mining.
|
| MGIS-735 |
Design and Information Systems
Students who complete this course will understand the principles and practices employed to analyze information needs and design appropriate IT-based solutions to address business challenges and opportunities. They will learn how to conduct requirements analysis, approach the design or redesign of business processes, communicate designs decisions to various levels of management, and work in a project-based environment.
|
| STAT-641 |
Applied Linear Models - Regression
A course that studies how a response variable is related to a set of predictor variables. Regression techniques provide a foundation for the analysis of observational data and provide insight into the analysis of data from designed experiments. Topics include happenstance data versus designed experiments, simple linear regression, the matrix approach to simple and multiple linear regression, analysis of residuals, transformations, weighted least squares, polynomial models, influence diagnostics, dummy variables, selection of best linear models, nonlinear estimation, and model building.
|
| STAT-745 |
Predictive Analytics
This course is designed to provide the student with solid practical skills in implementing basic statistical and machine learning techniques for the purpose of predictive analytics. Throughout the course, many real world case studies are used to motivate and explain the strengths and appropriateness of each method of interest. In those case studies, students will learn how to apply data cleaning, visualization, and other exploratory data analysis tools to a variety of real world complex data. Students will gain experience with reproducibility and documentation of computational projects and with developing basic data products for predictive analytics. The following techniques will be implemented and then tested with cross-validation: regularization in linear models, regression and smoothing splines, k-nearest neighbor, and tree-based methods, including random forest.
|
| STAT-747 |
Principles of Statistical Data Mining
This course covers topics such as clustering, classification and regression trees, multiple linear regression under various conditions, logistic regression, PCA and kernel PCA, model-based clustering via mixture of gaussians, spectral clustering, text mining, neural networks, support vector machines, multidimensional scaling, variable selection, model selection, k-means clustering, k-nearest neighbors classifiers, statistical tools for modern machine learning and data mining, naïve Bayes classifiers, variance reduction methods (bagging) and ensemble methods for predictive optimality.
|
| STAT-773 |
Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
This course is designed to provide the student with a solid practical hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of time series analysis and forecasting. Topics include stationarity, filtering, differencing, time series decomposition, time series regression, exponential smoothing, and Box-Jenkins techniques. Within each of these we will discuss seasonal and nonseasonal models.
|
| STAT-784 |
Categorical Data Analysis
The course develops statistical methods for modeling and analysis of data for which the response variable is categorical. Topics include: contingency tables, matched pair analysis, Fisher's exact test, logistic regression, analysis of odds ratios, log linear models, multi-categorical logit models, ordinal and paired response analysis.
|
Admission Requirements
To be considered for admission to the MS program in business analytics, candidates must fulfill the following requirements:
- Complete a graduate application.
- Hold a baccalaureate degree (or equivalent) from an accredited university or college.
- Submit official transcripts (in English) of all previously completed undergraduate and graduate course work.
- Submit a personal statement of educational objectives.
- Submit a current resume or curriculum vitae.
- Submit scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Exam (GRE) (GMAT preferred).
- International applicants whose native language is not English must submit scores from the TOEFL or IELTS exams. A minimum score of 88 on the TOEFL or 6.5 on the IELTS exams is required (requirements on sub-scores on each component of the TOEFL or IELTS may also apply). The English language test score requirement is waived for native speakers of English or for those submitting transcripts from degrees earned at American institutions.
For further information about tips on personal statements and additional guidance on how to submit a successful application, please visit Saunders College of Business Admissions Requirements.
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