Business Analytics Curriculum
Gain the analytics and AI skills to land your next job
The field of analytics is broad, and that means lots of choices. You can focus on functional areas such as analytics for marketing, finance, HR, or supply chain management. Or you can specialize in a particular kind of analytics role, such as data analyst, data scientist, business intelligence analyst, artificial intelligence consultant, data engineer, and machine learning engineer. And because data has become essential to all kinds of businesses, you can work in just about any industry that interests you.
The Carlson MSBA program is recognized by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security as a STEM-designated degree.
Program format
The MSBA program is three semesters (12 months) long. You'll take 14-16 credits of full-time coursework each semester. The program’s cohort model means you start simultaneously with all other current students and move through classes together. You begin the program in September and graduate the following August, ready to take your new knowledge and skills into the workforce. Exact dates vary by year; new students are required to attend orientation.
| Orientation | Fall Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | September to December | January to May | June to August | August |
New curriculum in fall 2024
Our faculty recently conducted a regular review of the MSBA curriculum. To ensure we are providing a high-quality analytics education that reflects the current field, we made several updates that will go into effect in fall 2024. For example, we:
- Enhanced our AI offerings, including new elective courses and an AI for Business track
- Reshaped the business essentials and ethics course
- Expanded/optimized elective courses
- Revised the professional courses
The courses below are from the new curriculum. Please note: Courses are subject to change.
View all course descriptions Explore AI offerings
Incoming students will complete pre-work to prepare them for the technical aspects of the MSBA program. Pre-work will include a virtual Python bootcamp, and details will be shared with incoming students several months before the program begins.
Business & Technical Fundamentals
Your first semester focuses on fundamentals like statistics, programming, and the use of analytics in today’s business environment. You’ll get to know your classmates throughout the fall as you learn to use tools like Python, SQL, and R to tackle analytics problems.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6111 | Business Essentials for Analytics Professionals | Required | 10 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6121 | Introduction to Statistics for Data Scientists | Required | 10 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6131 | Introduction to Business Analytics in R | Required | 10 weeks + 4 weeks live case | 3 |
| MSBA 6311 | Programming for Data Science | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6321 | Data Management, Databases, and Data Warehousing | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6335 | Effective Communication for Analytics Professionals | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6355 | Building and Managing Teams | Required | *Custom | .5 |
*These courses are offered along with experiential learning components in the program and have customized meeting dates and schedules.
Core Analytics Classes & Intro to AI
Because it begins in January, it may be a while before your spring semester feels like spring. In the meantime, you’ll keep busy with courses such as exploratory analytics, predictive analytics, and big data. And you’ll start learning various AI topics as well.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6331 | Big Data Analytics | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6335 | Effective Communication for Analytics Professionals | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6355 | Building and Managing Teams | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6411 | Exploratory Data Analytics | Required | 10 weeks + 4 weeks live case | 3 |
| MSBA 6421 | Predictive Analytics | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6441 | Causal Inference via Econometrics and Experimentation | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
Students will need to take 2 elective credits. Below are some examples, or you can view all electives.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6155 | Generative AI for Business Applications | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MILI 6963 | Healthcare Analytics | Elective | *Custom | 2 |
| MKTG 6052 | Marketing Analytics: Managerial Decisions | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
*Course length varies based on term and format
Advanced Analytics, Experiential Learning & More AI
In your final semester, you'll finish the program with advanced topics like time series forecasting and responsible AI, as well as electives. You’ll also join the Carlson Analytics Lab, where you’ll work as part of a team of students on a 14-week long experiential learning project for a real client.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6341 | Responsible AI | Required | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6345 | Consultative Prob-Solving and Agile Management for Analytics Projects | Required | 14 weeks | 1 |
| MSBA 6351 | Time Series Analysis and Forecasting | Required | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6511 | Business Analytics Experiential Learning | Required | 14 weeks | 5 |
Students will need to take 4 elective credits. Below are some examples, or you can view all electives.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6431 | Recommender System Techniques and Applications | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6451 | Prescriptive Analytics for Optimal Decision Making | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6461 | Advanced AI for Natural Language Understanding | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| FINA 6322 | Financial Modeling | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| SCO 6085 | Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
Incoming students will complete pre-work to prepare them for the technical aspects of the MSBA program. Pre-work will include a virtual Python bootcamp, and details will be shared with incoming students several months before the program begins.
Business & Technical Fundamentals
Your first semester focuses on fundamentals like statistics, programming, and the use of analytics in today’s business environment. You’ll get to know your classmates throughout the fall as you learn to use tools like Python, SQL, and R to tackle analytics problems.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6111 | Business Essentials for Analytics Professionals | Required | 10 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6121 | Introduction to Statistics for Data Scientists | Required | 10 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6131 | Introduction to Business Analytics in R | Required | 10 weeks + 4 weeks live case | 3 |
| MSBA 6311 | Programming for Data Science | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6321 | Data Management, Databases, and Data Warehousing | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6335 | Effective Communication for Analytics Professionals | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6355 | Building and Managing Teams | Required | *Custom | .5 |
*These courses are offered along with experiential learning components in the program and have customized meeting dates and schedules.
Core Analytics Classes & Intro to AI
Because it begins in January, it may be a while before your spring semester feels like spring. In the meantime, you’ll keep busy with courses such as exploratory analytics, predictive analytics, and big data. And you’ll start learning various AI topics as well.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6331 | Big Data Analytics | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6335 | Effective Communication for Analytics Professionals | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6355 | Building and Managing Teams | Required | *Custom | .5 |
| MSBA 6411 | Exploratory Data Analytics | Required | 10 weeks + 4 weeks live case | 3 |
| MSBA 6421 | Predictive Analytics | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
| MSBA 6441 | Causal Inference via Econometrics and Experimentation | Required | 14 weeks | 3 |
Students will need to take 2 elective credits. Below are some examples, or you can view all electives.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6155 | Generative AI for Business Applications | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MILI 6963 | Healthcare Analytics | Elective | *Custom | 2 |
| MKTG 6052 | Marketing Analytics: Managerial Decisions | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
*Course length varies based on term and format
Advanced Analytics, Experiential Learning & More AI
In your final semester, you'll finish the program with advanced topics like time series forecasting and responsible AI, as well as electives. You’ll also join the Carlson Analytics Lab, where you’ll work as part of a team of students on a 14-week long experiential learning project for a real client.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6341 | Responsible AI | Required | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6345 | Consultative Prob-Solving and Agile Management for Analytics Projects | Required | 14 weeks | 1 |
| MSBA 6351 | Time Series Analysis and Forecasting | Required | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6511 | Business Analytics Experiential Learning | Required | 14 weeks | 5 |
Students will need to take 4 elective credits. Below are some examples, or you can view all electives.
| Course number | Title | Required or Elective | Length | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSBA 6431 | Recommender System Techniques and Applications | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6451 | Prescriptive Analytics for Optimal Decision Making | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| MSBA 6461 | Advanced AI for Natural Language Understanding | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| FINA 6322 | Financial Modeling | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
| SCO 6085 | Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning | Elective | 7 weeks | 2 |
Curriculum tracks
We offer two tracks to help you select which courses to take. The tracks help you align your career goals and interests with courses that will teach you the skills you need to succeed in these areas.
- Analytics for Business track: These courses cover foundational and advanced topics in analytics to prepare you to add value in any industry. There are no specific suggested courses for this track, as students can utilize any number of electives available to them.
- Artificial Intelligence in Business track: These courses dive deeper into AI to give you more advanced skills in this area.
Please note that the Analytics for Business and Artificial Intelligence for Business tracks are not mandatory selections. These tracks serve as suggested groupings of elective courses to help guide students towards specific areas of specialization based on their career goals and interests.
Master of Business Analytics Curriculum & Faculty
The MSBA faculty and curriculum prepare students to succeed in business analytics careers after graduation and beyond.
Industry Advisory Boards
Analytics professionals from leading organizations make up two advisory boards for the school's graduate programs in business analytics and the Information and Decision Sciences (IDSC) department. Working in collaboration with faculty, advisory board members bring industry perspective to ongoing program strategy and development.
MSBA students have opportunities to meet and engage with board members at various department events.
- Adnan Awow, Sr. Director Data Science, Target
- Colleen Chrisco, Managing Director of Analytics and Player Data Services, Bungie
- Bonnie Holub, Associate Partner, Business Consulting, Infosys
- Chelsea Ihle, Sr. Director of Data and Analytics, Slalom Consulting
- Chris Manrodt, Head of Data Transformation, Philips
- Jennifer DeGennaro, Sr. Manager Data Science, Best Buy
- Prasoon Sharma, Partner, McKinsey Digital
- William Stentz, Senior Manager, Data and Analytics, Esri
- John Tong, MSBA ‘16, Director, Data Science, Meta
- Erik Tonsfeldt, MBA/MSBA ‘19, Senior Manager, West Monroe
- Veronika Torarp, Partner, PwC
- Jack Vishneski, Principal Analytics Consultant, Cargill
- Jim Willenbring, Principal, Willenbring Consulting and Board President
- Teddy Bekele, CIO, Land O'Lakes
- Rajeev Duggirala, Senior Vice President, Ameriprise
- Justin Kershaw, President, Four Corners Cyber
- Deb Bauman, CIO - Retired, Hazeltine Betty Ford (Retired)
- Prashant Gandhi, Chief Business Officer, Melio
- Janette Smrka, VP of IT, Hollywood Park
- Tammylynne Jonas, CIO, Donaldson
- Erik Erickson, Chief Data Officer, Hennepin County
- Dan Johnson, Director, TailorMed
- Jason Staloch, VP, Digital Core, General Mills
- Kelly Olin, CIO, Cargill
- Pat Bajari, Partner, Keystone Strategy