MSBA ACADEMICS
Introduction to Academics
Our MSBA Online program is designed to equip early-career professionals with the skills needed to excel in today’s high-demand job market. The two-year online program is ideal for working professionals who want to earn a degree without interrupting their career. Graduates benefit from strong job landing rates, high salaries, and access to UC Irvine’s extensive global network of industry leaders, positioning you for success in a rapidly evolving, data-driven marketplace.


My favorite class was Machine Learning because I felt that it provided me with the fundamental knowledge to understand many of the predictive models used in the industry today. The program faculty is well versed with the leading analytics technologies and are also engaged in their own cutting-edge research, often citing examples of their work in classroom lectures.
Shrey Chawla MSBA '23
Business Analyst
Edwards Lifesciences
FEATURED PATHWAY
Capstone Project
The program integrates class learning with real-world experience through a 6-month capstone project. Students collaborate in teams with Fortune 500 companies across various industries—such as social media, sports, consulting, finance, and entertainment—to solve real data science challenges. Guided by faculty, students manage projects from start to finish, gaining hands-on experience while enhancing their business analytics and communication skills.
Work on Real-World Problems
Learn from professionals at top firms
Fortune 500
Work with global companies in leading industries
Invaluable Mentorship
Guidance from world-class faculty and industry partners
Program Structure
Students must complete at least 52 units of coursework over the program’s 7 quarters. The number of units in the table is shown in parentheses.
Work at a more flexible pace from your home or office, deepen your learning, build a strong network and gain additional hands-on experience while balancing professional and personal commitments.
Year 1
Summer
- BANA 200. Foundations of Business Analytics (2)
- BANA 201A. Statistics for Data Science (4)
Fall
- BANA 212. Data and Programming for Analytics (4)
- BANA 273. Machine Learning for Analytics (4)
Winter
- BANA 277. Customer and Social Analytics (4)
- BANA 201B. Management Science for Analytics (4)
Spring
- Elective (4)
- Elective (4)
Year 2
Fall
- BANA 205. Foundations of Marketing (4)
- BANA 211. MSBA ProSeminar (0)
- Elective (4)
Winter
- BANA 298A. Business Analytics Capstone Prep (2)
- BANA 211. MSBA ProSeminar (0)
- Elective (4)
Spring
- BANA 298B. Business Analytics Capstone Project (4)
- BANA 211. MSBA ProSeminar (0)
- Elective (4)
Three Flexible Tracks
This program incorporates flexible curricular tracks aligned with career paths in three business analytics contexts:
Data Analytics
- Actuaries
- Database administrators
- Financial analysts
- Information security analysts
- Management analysts
- Survey researchers
Marketing Analytics
- Market research analysts
- Marketing specialists
- Marketing managers
- Sales managers
- Survey researchers
Operations Analytics
- Analytics specialist
- Financial analysts
- Management analysts
- Operations research analysts
- Statisticians
- Transportation, storage and distribution managers
Required Courses
The required courses provide you with a comprehensive foundation for successful careers in the evolving field of business analytics.
BANA 200. Foundations of Business Analytics
Provides overview of the field of business analytics, and the theory and practice underpinnings of the three MSBA curricular tracks: Data Analytics, Marketing Analytics, and Operations Analytics. Provides students with a working knowledge of the R programming language.
BANA 201A. Statistics for Data Science
Methods of statistical inference, emphasizing applications to administrative and management decision problems. Topics include classical estimation and hypothesis testing, regression, correlation, analysis of variance, decision analysis, and forecasting.
BANA 201B. Management Science for Analytics
An introduction to computer-based models for decision making. Topics include optimization (linear programming, integer programming, network flow models) and computer simulation. Uses spreadsheets extensively, including Excel built-in and add-in packages.
BANA 205. Foundations of Marketing
Introduction to the field of marketing. Objectives include developing familiarity with fundamental concepts, theories, and techniques in marketing, and acquainting students with the type of decisions made by marketing managers, including customer targeting, product, pricing, distribution, promotion, and research.
BANA 211. MSBA ProSeminar
Provides students in the Merage School Master of Science in Business Analytics program with information and practical skills for success in the MSBA program and for business career planning.
BANA 212. Data and Programming for Analytics
Challenges and teaches students how to handle data, from initial data acquisition to final data analysis. Provides students with a working knowledge of the Python programming language.
BANA 273. Machine Learning for Analytics
Introduces methods to mine data repositories for business intelligence to facilitate analytical decision-making. Topics include clustering for market segmentation, association rules to discover relationships between different purchase decisions, and Naive-Bayes classification techniques for decision making using decision-trees.
BANA 277. Customer and Social Analytics
Examines how business managers can leverage Web 2.0 and social media analytics to create value for their organizations and customers. Topics include digital and social strategies; Web and search analytics; display and mobile advertising; social networks and influence; social media.
BANA 298A. Business Analytics Capstone Prep
Prep course for the required capstone project. Students apply the knowledge and methods acquired through the program’s coursework to an applied business analytics problem. Requirements include project selection, submission of project plan, and data collection/analysis.
BANA 298B. Business Analytics Capstone Project
Continuation of the capstone project. Students apply the knowledge and methods acquired through the coursework in the program to an applied business analytics problem. Work includes data analysis, completed research paper, and final presentation.
Elective courses allow students to tailor their education to specific interests and career goals, offering advanced topics such as big data and cloud computing, advanced machine learning, supply chain analytics, technologies and analytics consulting, marketing analytics, natural language processing and applications, and the art and science of applied forecast modeling. These courses provide an opportunity for deeper specialization and practical experience.
BANA 271
Marketing Analytics
BANA 273
Machine Learning for Analytics
BANA 275
Natural Language Processing and Applications
BANA 279
Business Data Management
BANA 285
Supply Chain Analytics
BANA 287
Art & Science of Applied Forecast Modeling
BANA 288
Predictive Analytics
BANA 290
Special Topics in Analytics
BANA 290 (Special Topic)
Technologies & Analytics Consulting
BANA 295
Big Data Management Systems
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