William & Mary launches online master’s in business analytics
The Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary has announced the launch of its new Online Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. Fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Online Master's in Business Analytics program combines the principles of data science with core business concepts and gives graduate students a competitive edge by teaching them to strategically address more complex business challenges. The program's first cohort will begin in August 2018.
“The ability of modern-day business leaders to query, analyze and interpret unstructured data, as well as visualize and plainly share that data with stakeholders, is increasingly critical for job success,” said Larry Pulley, Mason School of Business dean. “The data analytics skills and competencies we teach in both the on-ground and Online MSBA programs allow professionals to solve practical business problems and positions them to have a direct impact on their companies’ profitability and success.”
Delivered entirely online through a digital learning management system (LMS), the 40-credit master’s curriculum emphasizes four primary competencies: applied math, business acumen, information technology and communicating with impact. Each course in the program relates back to one or more of these competencies and builds toward a capstone project, in which students are expected to complete a business data analysis project from start to finish, including visualization and verbal presentation.
Students can access the LMS platform from their desktop computers or remotely using the W&M Connect mobile app. Either way they choose to access the platform, the LMS lets students review weekly objectives and assignments, track grades, monitor the status of submitted projects and interact directly with their instructors and other members of their cohort.
Students participating in the Online MSBA program can graduate in as few as 18 months, and new start dates are available in January, May and August.
“Data scientists have the ability to work in almost any industry — government, private business, finance, healthcare, research facilities, universities — and companies like IBM and McKinsey are projecting that almost 2.7 million of these jobs will go unfilled in the next two or three years,” said Pulley. “Graduates from the Online MSBA will leave William & Mary with a myriad of potential career opportunities, and they will be equipped to improve performance wherever they go.”
U.S. News & World Report currently ranks the Mason School No. 57 among the nation’s Best Business Schools, while Forbes ranks it No. 58.
