M.S. in Business Analytics

hands working on an ipad

M.S. in Business Analytics

Advance your career with Nebraska's online Master of Science in Business Analytics. Designed for working professionals, this program equips you with the data-driven skills and strategic insights needed to turn complex data into actionable business solutions. Learn from expert faculty, apply real-world analytics tools and connect with a network of industry leaders—all while balancing your busy schedule. Whether you’re looking to enhance decision-making, boost organizational performance or pivot into a new career, our flexible, online program prepares you for success in today’s data-driven business world.

#5
Career Services in the World
Financial Times (2025)
#27
Best Online Master's in Business Programs
In the Nation (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
12%
Job Growth Forecasted
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Start Your Application

Apply Now

May Start | Apply by April 1

August Start | Apply by July 1

January Start | Apply by November 1

Man sitting on a bus

Graduate Advantage Program Enables 15% Discount for Recent Huskers, Mavericks and Lopers Graduates

Learn More

Admission Information

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.

Please note: The M.S. in Business Analytics program welcomes international applicants wishing to study remotely from their country of residence; but, as an online program, the M.S. in Business Analytics does not meet requirements to sponsor student visas for study in the United States.

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

Apply
Apply online and submit the $50 application fee.

Apply Online Now

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.

Fellowship Application

Once admitted, students are welcome to apply for fellowships. Applications are due June 15 with awards made prior to the start of the fall semester each year. Admitted students will be sent instructions from their advisor on how to apply.

Casey Christensen

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, Tarrytown Expocare Pharmacy

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.

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.

View Course Schedule View Course Previews

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

Coursework

GRBA 809: 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.

GRBA 813: 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.

GRBA 815: 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.

GRBA 851: 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.

SCMA 851: 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.

SCMA 852: 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.

SCMA 853: 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.

SCMA 837: 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

MRKT 845: 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.

MRKT 850: 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.

ECON 817: 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.

SCMA 854: 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.

SCMA 855: 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.

SCMA 836: 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.

SCMA 847: 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.

Add a Certificate

The M.S. in Business Analytics program allows you to pair a Graduate Certificate with your degree. A Graduate Certificate is a separate credential signaling an additional area of focus to employers. The following Graduate Certificates can be added by either strategically selecting your MSBA electives or with the addition of 1-2 courses:

Student Engagement Opportunities

Online students have several ways to get involved in the program, including football and softball tailgating events hosted by the College of Business; one-on-one CliftonStrengths coaching with faculty; career coaching; interview and resume preparation; and opportunities to volunteer on the Online Graduate Student Advisory Board.

Interested students should contact Christa Rahl at crahl2@nebraska.edu to learn more about how to get involved.

Fair Tuition

$710 per credit hour

Nebraska's online master's programs are one of the best values for the money because of our combination of fair program cost and strong preparation for career advancement.

The flat $710 per credit hour rate applies to all students, regardless of where you live. Compared to similar programs, our students pay over $15,000 less over the course of the program.

*Based on 2025-26 Tuition Rates

Learn More

CliftonStrengths Coaching

Students are provided with access to take the CliftonStrengths® Assessment, which is based on strengths-based psychology principles developed at Nebraska. The assessment provides a report on strengths you can use toward your professional and personal success, and has been used by most Fortune 1000 companies, the World Bank and United Nations, as well as federal government agencies, including the military. All students are provided with the opportunity to have one-on-one personalized CliftonStrengths coaching from a faculty member in the program.

The CliftonStrengths coaching helped me understand the power in the individual thinking systems I use every day to make decisions in my life. Dr. Amy Bartel's coaching showed me how these characteristics were really my inner superpower. The insights from this experience not only helped me use my strengths to balance the demands of school, family and work, but helped me appreciate the unique perspective I bring to each of those settings. Take the time to do this, you won't regret it!

- Jared Walton, P.E., Current Student

Learn From Distinguished 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.

 

  1. Avatar for Özgür M. Araz
    Department Chair and Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  2. Avatar for Wesley S. Boyce
    Assistant Professor of Practice in Supply Chain Management and Analytics and Program Director of Master of Science in Supply Chain Management
  3. Avatar for Shivam Gupta
    Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  4. Avatar for Majid Nabavi
    Associate Professor of Practice in Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  5. Avatar for David L. Olson
    James & H.K. Stuart Chancellor's Distinguished Chair and Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  6. Avatar for Scott R. Swenseth
    Faculty Director of Business Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  7. Avatar for Silvana Trimi
    Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
  8. Avatar for Yunxia (Peter) Zhu
    Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics Program Director of Master of Science in Business Analytics

Contact Us

Business Graduate Programs

businessgrad2@unl.edu

402-472-2338