Academics

Master Business Analytics with Our Expert-Led Curriculum

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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.

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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

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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

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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

Customize your path with specialized electives.

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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Need more information? Our dedicated advisors are ready to guide you every step of the way. Reach out today and learn how the program can be the key to unlocking your business analytics career.