Curriculum

Elon’s M.S. in Business Analytics program includes 33 credit hours of core graduate coursework, one non-credit orientation workshop, and two foundation courses. Business and analytics core courses start in the fall and are completed concurrently. Students completing the full-time, fast-track sequence may start with a foundations course in July.

Non-Credit Requirements

Technical Basics Bootcamp (0 credits)

The Technical Basics Bootcamp has four components as described below. The Statistics and Programming portions of the bootcamp will be online and asynchronous while the Excel and Power Skills sections will be in person during the July Summer Session.

• MSBA 5002: Python Programming
• MSBA 5003: Statistics Foundations
• MSBA 5011: Power Skills
• MSBA 5012: Excel Foundations

Finance and Accounting Basics (0 credits)

• MSBA 5000: Accounting Basics
• MSBA 5001: Finance Basics

The MSBA program requires that all students demonstrate adequate preparation in accounting and finance prior to enrolling in the core MSBA accounting and finance courses (MSBA 7150 and MSBA 7170). Satisfaction of this requirement can be demonstrated in one of two ways:

• Providing evidence of prior undergraduate coursework in accounting and/or finance. To be acceptable, such coursework should have been completed within five years of entering the MSBA program. Students with prior coursework must also pass qualifying exams in accounting or finance.
• Successfully completing foundation classes, usually taken at the undergraduate level, in accounting and/or finance. Such foundation classes can be taken at Elon or at an approved institution. The MSBA program must grant approval.

Required Core Courses

Analytics Core (12 credits)

• MSBA 6605: Data Driven Analytical Models (3 credits)
• MSBA 6615: Information Storage and Data Visualization (3 credits)
• MSBA 6620: Business Data Mining & Machine Learning (3 credits)
• MSBA 6650: Responsible Analytics: Data Security, Ethics and Governance (3 credits)

Management Core (9 credits)

• MSBA 6450: Project Management (3 credits)
• Select two of the following courses:
  • MSBA 6100: Business for the Greater Good (3 credits)
  • MSBA 6230: Principled Leadership (3 credits)
  • MSBA 6270: Applied Marketing Management (3 credits)
  • MSBA 7150: Managerial Accounting (3 credits)
  • MSBA 7170: Financial Management (3 credits)

Analytics Electives (9 credits)

Analytical Methodology (3 credits)

• Select one of the following courses:
  • MSBA 6110: Business Forecasting and Decision Models (3 credits)
  • MSBA 6660: Deep Learning for Business (3 credits)

Analytics Practice Electives (6 credits)

• Select six credit hours from the following courses:
  • Function Specific Courses
    • MSBA 6670: Essentials of Marketing Analytics (3 credits)
    • MSBA 6675: Essentials of Supply Chain Analytics (3 credits)
  • Industry Specific Modules
    • MSBA 6680: Financial Industry Analytics (1.5 credits)
    • MSBA 6685: Healthcare Analytics (1.5 credits)
    • MSBA 6690: Sports Analytics (1.5 credits)

Experiential Learning Requirements

Professional Development Workshop (1 credit)

• MSBA 6820: Professional Development

Capstone (2 credits)

• Select one of the following three options:
  • MSBA 6985: Business Project/Internship with the Center for Organizational Analytics
  • MSBA 6985: Business Project/Internship with an external industrial or non-profit organization
  • MSBA 6998: Research Project with a business analytics faculty member

Continuation Standards

Graduate students who fail to maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 will be placed on academic probation and subject to dismissal from the program. Any student who receives an “F” grade or two “C” grades is dismissed from the program.

A student may request re-admission to the program by writing a letter to the dean indicating why re-admission should be granted. The dean, advised by the program chair and faculty committee, will determine whether to grant the request. If the request is approved, a student can retake a particular course only once and the course being repeated cannot be taken in combination with any other courses. The grade in the course that is retaken must be “B” or better, or the student will not be allowed to continue in the program. A student may use the appeal process only once.

Honor System

The Elon Honor System includes the Honor Code, the Code of Conduct (including the Sexual Misconduct and Gender-Based Violence Policy), and adjudication processes. All undergraduate and graduate students are governed by the Elon University honor system, except as outlined within the Elon School of Law Student Handbook for law students and graduate program student handbooks. Read more