Master of Science in Business Analytics

The Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program offers a robust educational experience that teaches advanced analytics methodologies and equips students with the business skills and practical experience to prepare for data science and analytics careers.

Created by the world-renowned faculty of the Leavey School of Business—and expertly curated by an advisory board of industry leaders—our dynamic MSBA curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of data-driven decision-making and the advanced tools to make sense of a vast amount of data, which delivers the essential principles, practices, and analytical tools to solve modern business challenges and prepares students to be professionals in the fast-paced world of big data and artificial intelligence.

Program requirements are completed with classes that will also include students from the MBA and other M.S. programs. The same faculty teach the MS program as the MBA program and has the same Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) accreditation. The online version of the program would maintain identical program learning objectives and content as the on-campus program.

Admissions

For admission requirements, please refer to Chapter 2. Admission correspondence also may be sent via email to msadmissions@scu.edu.

• On-campus Admissions intake once a year (Fall Quarter; September start)
• Online Admissions intake twice a year (Fall and Spring Quarter; September or March start)

Applicants also must have completed the following areas before enrollment:

• One (1) course in college-level calculus
• One (1) course in college-level statistics

Evening MSBA Schedules

During the fall, winter, spring, and summer quarters, 4-unit classes generally meet twice per week for ten weeks for 95 minutes per session. The 2-unit courses generally meet twice per week for five weeks covering the first or second half of a quarter. Some elective courses are scheduled for weekend sessions throughout the term. In all quarters, the final exam periods are two hours.

Online MSBA Schedule

The Online MSBA Program will be largely asynchronous in learning materials such as readings, lecture videos, individual assignments, discussions, quizzes, and exams. However, courses may also involve a variety of group projects, group discussions, or office hours, requiring students to schedule some synchronous conversations with their groupmates and/or professors. A few elective courses require students to attend live, synchronous learning session. Students are notified at registration if the course requires synchronous sessions.

Residency

The Online MSBA program requires a 3-day on-campus residency at the start, which includes an MSIS 2402 and IDIS 3802 Bootcamp. See Chapter 6 for more information regarding online programs.

Analytics Showdown

In the Online MSBA program, students will participate in a two-week competition where, using actual data from companies within Silicon Valley, they will work with their group members to devise and present solutions to real-world business challenges.

The Analytics Showdown embodies an essential truth: today's business analysts and data scientists must use basic and sophisticated tools, techniques, and methods to solve business challenges collaboratively. Of course, mastering these tools is essential, but the key to innovation is refining critical thinking skills to determine the appropriate approach for each situation and business challenge.

The competition will allow students to hone in on the technical knowledge and programming skills learned throughout the program, such as R and Python. Their groups will present their competition entries to a panel of judges composed of faculty, board members, company executives, and/or alums. Elements of this curriculum theme will be implemented in each course throughout the program and culminate in competition.

Program Outline

The MSBA curriculum consists of 42 units across seven core courses (26 units), one experiential learning course (6 units), and 10 additional units of electives.  

Students should refer to Chapter 5 regarding additional academic information policies. For course descriptions and prerequisites for core and electives, please refer to Chapter 8.

Curriculum Clusters

1. Core Courses (7 courses)

It gives students an understanding of the context in which information systems operate. Students acquire a basic knowledge of business and organizational requirements, enabling them to understand how information systems are designed and implemented. Students must complete all of the following courses:

• MSIS 2502 - Math for Business and Analytics w/ R (4 units)
• MSIS 2503/2403 - Database Management Systems - Fundamentals of SQL (2 units)
• MKTG 2505 - Marketing Analytics (4 units)
• MSIS 2507/IDIS 3802 - Data Analytics - Python (4 units)
• MSIS 2508 - Machine Learning with Python (4 units)
• ECON 2509 - Econometrics w/ R (4 units)
• MSIS 2510 - Prescriptive Analytics (4 units)

2. Experiential Learning (choose one of the following projects) 

There are two ways that MSBA students may fulfill the experiential learning program requirement for the program: Practicum or Capstone. Both experiential learning projects are worth six units in total and are completed in two quarters. Both will require students to use real data and to apply their classroom learnings to real problems. In addition, it offers a unique opportunity to connect directly to leading companies and potential employers. Standout organizations serve as practicum partners for the program, including Google, Amazon, Adobe, VMware, Cisco, Intuit, Credit Suisse, Oracle, Nuveen, Franklin Templeton Investments, and many more. See Chapter 5  for more information.

On-Campus MSBA

• MSIS 2540 - Industry Practicum I (2)
• MSIS 2542 - Industry Practicum II (4 units)
• MSIS 2545 - Capstone I (2 units)
• MSIS 2546 - Capstone II (4 units)

Online MSBA

• IDIS 3598-P - Practicum I (2 units)
• IDIS 3598-PP - Practicum II (4 units)
• IDIS 3598-C - Capstone I (2 units)
• IDIS 3598-CC- Capstone II (4 units)

3. Specialization/Electives (choice of 10 units)

Offers a variety of electives to help students develop capabilities in a specific area. Students must complete a total of 10 units from the following courses:

• MSIS 2513 - Database Management Systems - Design, Development & Administration (2 units)
• FNCE 2523 - FinTech (4 units)
• FNCE 2524 - Introduction to Time-Series Analysis (2 units)
• FNCE 2525 - Analytics of Finance (2 units)^[a]
• MSIS 2527 - Big Data Modeling and Analytics (4 units)
• MSIS 2528 - Applied Cloud Computing (2 units)
• MSIS 2529 - Dashboards with Tableau (2 units)
• MSIS 2523 - Natural Language Processing (2 units)
• MSIS 2533 - Blockchain (2 units)
• MSIS 2536 - Deep Learning (2 units)
• MSIS 2537 - Reinforcement Learning (2 units)
• MSIS 2538 - Cloud Computing Architectures (4 units) 
• MSIS 2539 - Data Visualization (2 units)

Below are additional analytics courses available from other programs. Online students should be aware that the courses stated are synchronous and will require students to attend class on campus.

• MSIS 2630 - Web Programming (2 units)
• FNCE 2589 - Mathematical Finance (4 units) ^[b]

International students must enroll in an internship course if they would like to participate in a CPT. See Chapter 5 for more information and requirements.

• IDIS 3797 - Internship (1 unit)
• IDIS 3798 - Internship II (1 unit)
• IDIS 3798 - Internship III (1 unit)

GBP Anywhere Program

The GBP Anywhere Program allows MBA and MS students to take on-campus or online electives from other Graduate Business Programs. The GBP Anywhere Program will offer greater flexibility and course availability for all Online and Evening students.  Online MS Business Analytics students may take up to 16 units of elective credit in the Evening MBA program and vice versa as long as the student has met the prerequisites. Tuition fees are based on the student’s original program.

Evening students taking courses in any Online programs must complete an online student success seminar before they begin their first online course.  Students will have access to the online student success seminar approximately 4 - 6 weeks before the course begins.  Online courses are asynchronous, structured with weekly modules, and students log in at their convenience each week to complete their coursework.  Some groupwork may require synchronous conversations. For all courses, Module 0 provides an overview of each course (including the syllabus) and opens the Friday before the first day of instruction. Students may access the entire course beginning on the first day of class.  Online courses must be accessed through the Online Camino tile on the My SCU single-sign-on portal.  If you encounter technical difficulties, call 833-822-2276 or email msprograms@scu.edu.

Online students taking in-person courses must access all course materials through the Camino tile (not Online Camino) on the My SCU single-sign-on portal. If you encounter technical difficulties, email camino@scu.edu and onlinegradbusiness@scu.edu.

International students can take one online course as long as they  are enrolled in a minimum 8 units of on-campus classes. Additionally please note that international students may not be solely enrolled in an online course in their graduating term. They must be enrolled in at least one on campus course as well. In Summer quarter however they may take only an online course. Please contact ISS if there are any updates, questions or concerns regarding online courses and visa repercussions.

In addition, all MSBA students are allotted to take one graduate-level course outside of their program, provided that they have met the prerequisites, given that space is available and the Faculty Director of the Program has approved it. Graduate-level courses must be selected only from within the Leavey School of Business, and this opportunity is allowed only once during the student's academic program. Enrollment is not guaranteed.