M.S. in Business Analytics
The path to your next promotion could begin by mastering a new set of analytic skills. Connect with Nebraska’s Big Ten faculty in accessible and relevant online classes while elevating your career through a leading career center.
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January Start | Apply by November 1
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Admission Requirements
Admission Requirements
Prospective students will be evaluated on the basis of work experience (including military service), undergraduate degree and performance (recommended minimum 3.0 GPA), prior graduate study, and standardized test scores (GMAT or GRE). These do not guarantee admission; they ensure that the application will be reviewed for admission. Students who are denied admission will need to submit a separate application and application fee if they choose to reapply in future semesters.
Deadlines
You may apply for admission for the fall, spring or summer semesters. Students admitted before the semester starts may take classes in either or both of the eight-week terms (term A or term B) offered that semester. If you miss the semester deadline, you will be considered for admission in the following semester. Application deadlines are July 1 for the fall semester, November 1 for the spring semester, and April 1 for the summer semester.
Prerequisites
You are expected to have developed proficiency in using Microsoft Excel before beginning the program.
Application Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree, 3.0 GPA Recommended
Official transcripts are required for admission. Transcript instructions for both domestic and international students can be found in the “Review Admission Process” tab above.
Students with less than a 3.0 GPA, but who possess relevant professional experience, will still be considered for the program. - GMAT or GRE Score Optional
GMAT or GRE score is not required. However, for students with less than a 3.0 GPA and minimal work experience, test scores may help improve the application.
If you choose to take the GMAT or GMAT Focus Edition, please have your results forwarded to Nebraska (school code S40-HW-48). Once you take the exam, enter your unofficial scores into the graduate application. Please visit the official GMAT website for more information and to register for the test.
If you choose to take the GRE, please have your results forwarded to Nebraska (school code 6877). Once you take the exam, enter your unofficial scores into the graduate application. Please visit the official GRE website for more information and to register for the test. - Professional Résumé or CV
Your résumé should include relevant work experience, education, skills, professional and community involvement, and other professional credentials. - Three Reference Names and Contact Information
All three references must be former or current supervisors or professors. No recommendation letters are needed. Nebraska will contact your references only if the committee deems it necessary.
TOEFL Exam (only for international students)
International students must include a TOEFL score. You will need a minimum score of 550 written, 213 computer-based, 80 iBT. Alternatively, you may submit IELTS scores. A minimum score of 6.5 IELTS is required.
Requirements During the Program
Once you are admitted, you will be required to maintain a cumulative college GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, along with grades of C or better in each of the courses.
Admission Process
Admissions Process
Apply
Apply online and submit the $50 application fee.
Upload Supporting Documents
All Supporting Documents including unofficial transcripts and test scores are uploaded directly via the graduate application.
You are required to submit an unofficial transcript from each post-secondary institution you have attended during the application review process.
Submit Official Transcripts
If you are admitted, you will be required to submit an official transcript sent directly from each institution you have attended to The Office of Graduate Studies. We recommend that you complete this task before your admitted term begins. A hold will be placed on your account if they do not receive your official transcripts by October 1 for the fall term, February 1 for the spring term and July 1 for the summer term. Students will have until that day to submit official transcripts or your admission will be rescinded.
Transcripts can be sent electronically to graduate@unl.edu or by mail to
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Graduate Admissions
1100 Seaton Hall
Lincoln, NE 68588-0619
International Student Transcript Submission
If you are an international student, please refer to the Nebraska Office of Graduate Studies for transcript and document information.
International Transcript Information
Additional information on Application Requirements can be found at Graduate Studies website.
"I started with Nebraska's business analytics graduate certificate because the upfront commitment of hours was not as extensive and I could still roll all of the courses into the full master's if I continued. I was able to immediately apply and try out models, processes and concepts learned in class at work. I have been promoted several times throughout my time pursuing the certificate and master's in business analytics. I credit the program for equipping me on how to generate new analytical concepts and processes at work."
- Casey Christensen, '21, Data Architecture and Business Intelligence Lead
Info Sessions
Join us to learn more about the M.S. in Business Analytics program by attending a virtual info session. There is no cost for the webinar. Please register to receive the Zoom information and your online passcode.
| June 19 | 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (central) | Register Now |
| September 18 | 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (central) | Register Now |
Master the Fundamentals through Core Coursework
Business analysts are paving the way for innovation in productivity and competition. Core courses for the M.S. in Business Analytics program will provide you with comprehensive skills directly applicable to this emerging discipline.
Coursework
Financial Accounting
This course builds an understanding how financial transactions, company investments, and operating activities are recorded into financial statements. You will gain insights on economic events and accounting from a user’s perspective.
Managerial Marketing
Following a four-stage learning approach, this course introduces marketing management theory and practice. This course emphasizes decision-making in product distribution, personal selling, advertising, pricing, and the development of integrated marketing programs, with the goal of better analyzing market forces.
Supply Chain Management
Effective supply chain management can help a company develop and sustain a competitive advantage. This course considers how supply chain management can be used to support corporate-level strategies. Students will learn how supply chain management can create value for customers, and will develop an understanding of the relationship between operations, supply chain management and other parts of the organization.
Business Analytics
Business analytics is the process of transforming data into information and insights that can be used by organizations to make better decisions. The course introduces the technical procedures that are used to describe data, to make predictions based on data, and to use those predictions to support decision-making.
Predictive Analytics
As one of the three main categories of analytic tools, predictive analytics involves applying knowledge management to analyze large quantities of data. This course will introduce students to analytic methods and statistical programming languages, such as R, that are commonly used for predictive analytics in business.
Data Management and Organization
The growth of information technology and statistical analysis in all sectors of the economy creates a need for individuals with advanced training in database technology. This course challenges you to study databases from the perspective of their logical organization and physical design, as well as from the perspective of managers and applications programmers. SQL, the database querying language, will be introduced in this course.
Business Data Mining and Descriptive Analytics
Data mining uses quantitative analysis to identify actionable information from large quantities of data in support of business decision-making. This course focuses on how descriptive data mining can be successfully applied in business and describes the statistical and artificial intelligence tools that are most commonly used in industry.
Risk and Simulation Modeling
This course addresses the simulation of business systems that are subject to uncertainty and risk. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to perform the entire process of designing a simulation model, implementing it in appropriate software, executing the simulation, collecting and analyzing output data, and using the results to evaluate alternative decision scenarios.
See Electives
Advanced Marketing Analytics
In this course, students gain an overview of web, social media, and consumer text analytics; analyze consumer data streams from the Internet, mobile devices, and sensors; and handle very large volumes of data. General data analysis software operation for various marketing problems, marketing platform software for general and specific tasks, and learning machines in marketing are also covered.
Data-Driven Decision Making
This course is designed to help students understand how analyzing marketplace data can improve business decision-making. The course focuses on the use of quantitative analysis to support marketing mix and resource allocation decisions, and introduces rigorous tools for measuring the effectiveness of marketing expenditures. Traditional marketing measures, such as awareness, preference, loyalty, customer satisfaction, distribution levels, and market share, are also considered.
Introductory Econometrics
This course is designed to give undergraduate and master’s level economics students an introduction to basic econometric methods, including economic model estimation and analyses of economic data. Hypothesis formulation and testing, economic prediction and problems in analyzing economic cross-section and time series data are considered.
Advanced Analytics and Big Data
Covers advanced business analytics topics, including data cleansing, classification, clustering, reduction, exploration and visualization. Big data analysis platforms and tools are also covered.
Prescriptive Analytics
Prescriptive analytics focuses on the use of data from the other business analytics domains, such as descriptive and predictive analytics, to achieve strategic and operational objectives. This course introduces analytical methods and software commonly used in optimization modeling in businesses.
Project Management and Implementation
Project management involves efficiently and effectively managing people and resources to accomplish a new activity, including budgeting, scheduling, and risk management. This course equips students with the tools and techniques used for planning and managing projects, from initiation through implementation.
Information Technologies for Operations and Innovation
Business leaders must understand how to leverage advanced information technology (IT) for operations and innovation. Learn the foundations of IT, advanced IT trends, and how IT is used to operate, innovate, grow and transform organizations.
24
Core Credit Hours
12 credit hours of business fundamentals + 12 credit hours of analytics methods
+
6
Elective Credit Hours
=
30
Credit Hours to Your M.S. Business Analytics
100% Online
8-Week Courses
"Our students are trained to apply state-of-the-art quantitative methods and related tools, including software and programming languages such as R and SQL, which are in high demand."
- Dr. Jennifer Ryan, Department Chair and Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics and Van Horne Family Endowed Chair
Learn from Distinguished Big Ten Faculty
Nebraska faculty bring real-world expertise and their research findings into the classroom. Our students benefit from working with professors who are thought leaders connecting the classroom to the real world.
