George Washington University School of Business: MS in Business Analytics

About the Program

The George Washington University’s MS in Business Analytics program seeks to prepare students for successful careers helping organizations make better decisions through analytics. The MSBA Program is designed to prepare students for the data-driven business world of the 21st century and to balance students with leadership aspirations with both the technical and quantitative skills and abilities necessary to effectively utilize data and strong communication, organizational management, and general consulting knowledge. Graduates of the program are capable of transforming large, unclean data sets into usable and actionable information, while also presenting and communicating these results and recommendations to business leaders in order to create results and enact change. Overall, GWU will teach and train students to harness the power of big data to make informed decisions and envision new possibilities for organizations here and abroad.

Program Format and Schedule

Beginning in the fall, the MS in Business Analytics program is 33 credit hours long. Three-credit courses are a full semester-long (14 weeks). Courses that are 1.5 credits are seven weeks in length and are offered either in the first or second half of a semester. The curriculum is a distinctive blend of analytics methods (descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive), applications (elective courses in analytics applied to a specific functional area or industry), soft skills (consulting, communication and team dynamics), and technology (SAS tools, R, Python, SQL, no-SQL and other current and trending technologies). The culmination of the course of study is a practicum project in which students work within a team of peers to apply their newly acquired expertise to real-world business challenges sponsored by GWU’s partner industry organizations.

Part-time students usually complete degree requirements in 24 months, while full-time students usually graduate in 12-16 months. This program is a STEM-designated degree and is available as an MS/MBA dual degree.