Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA)
Frequently Asked Questions

Rutgers is the 8th oldest university in the nation. We are the leading state university in New Jersey, spanning three campuses, including Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, with over 65,000 current students and over 500,000 alumni worldwide.

More and more businesses and organizations are seeking individuals with strong analytical skills. There is a demand for job candidates who are capable of gathering, cleaning, mining, modeling, and visualizing business data in order to gain insight into business processes, improve productivity, detect problem areas, identify opportunities, and boost profitability.

Business data can be mined to predict customer purchase or churn, detect fraudulent behavior, analyze flow and traffic patterns, etc. in a variety of industries, including: high technology, not-for-profit, medical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, credit, banking, gaming, hospitality, real estate, utilities, trucking, and transportation.

Upon graduation, you will be able to strategize ways that analytics can be deployed in an organization to help it achieve its key performance objectives. An MSBA can lead to career paths as data analysts, data scientists, business intelligence analysts, digital marketing managers, and data consultants, among others.

The MSBA is comprised of ten courses, through which students acquire knowledge of statistics, machine learning techniques, and relevant software (e.g., SQL, Excel, R, SAS, Python etc.) with direct applications to business domains, such as marketing, operations, finance, and accounting. With this degree, candidates will learn how to extract, collect, clean, describe, segment, and model data, as well as validate models and clearly communicate the results to stakeholders, while appreciating legal, ethical and strategic issues involved.

Students will choose ten (10) courses from offerings, such as:

• Quantitative Skills
• Business Analytics
• Data Management and Business Intelligence
• Social Media Strategy
• Supply Chain Analytics
• Managing Projects and IT
• Strategic Marketing Analytics
• Data Privacy: Legal and Ethical Issues
• Machine Learning Applications in Business
• Database Marketing
• Accounting Analytics

We plan to offer more courses from which students can choose in the near future.

Students who have not taken a college level course in statistics with a grade of B or better in the last 5 years must first take Quantitative Skills. This is a foundation course that will prepare students to take more advanced courses.

Students who have taken at least one college level course with a grade of B or better in the last 5 years should take Business Analytics either before or at the same time as other courses. These students may take Quantitative Skills at any time, if they wish.

For students with a very strong prior analytical background (e.g., undergraduate degree with a major in statistics, mathematics, or engineering), courses may be taken in any order.

It is strongly recommended that applicants possess a working knowledge of algebra. Exposure to statistics and/or calculus is desirable but not necessary.

All classes are offered fully online.

The program follows a traditional semester calendar, with fall classes starting in September, spring classes starting in January, and summer classes starting in May each year.

Classes will consist of asynchronous elements, such as recorded lectures, readings, discussion boards, cases, and other materials that the student completes or contributes to each week. Synchronous elements may also be incorporated such as live chat office hours, homework help, etc. Quizzes, exams, assignments, and other assessments will need to be completed according to the stated guidelines of each course.

No, there is no on campus residency required. All classes are offered fully online.

If students enroll in four (4) courses in the fall, four (4) in the spring, and two (2) courses in the summer, the degree could be completed in as little as 12 months.

Students may complete the program at a slower pace, as well. If students complete one (1) course each in the fall, spring, and summer, the degree could be completed in just over three (3) years.

The courses in the MSBA are worth 3 credits each. You should plan on spending 7 to 10 hours each week, on average, to complete course requirements. The amount of time needed will vary as a function of prior preparation and aptitude.

The MSBA is a more focused program. It concentrates on the development of analytic skills as applied in business contexts. An MBA typically requires more credits to complete, and covers several managerial disciplines, such as management, accounting, finance, marketing, etc.

Yes. As a student matriculated in the MSBA degree program, you will have full access to the Rutgers-Camden Career Center, including career fairs, etc.

For domestic students, applications are due August 1 for Fall, December 1 for Spring, and May 1 for Summer. For international students, the deadlines are June 1 for fall and November 1 for spring.

You need to provide:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited university.
• Original transcripts from your undergraduate university
• Two letters of recommendation (from professors or professional colleagues)
• Resume
• Personal statement describing why you are applying to the program.
  *Although we normally request that you submit GMAT or GRE scores, in response to COVID-19, we are waiving standardized test scores for the 2020-2021 academic year.

If you have scores from the GMAT or GRE, we encourage you to submit them. If you would like to request a standardized test waiver, information is provided at: https://graduate.business.camden.rutgers.edu/gmat/.

A Bachelor’s degree in any topic, from an accredited university is acceptable.

Work experience is not needed to apply, but may be looked upon favorably for your application.

You may petition for a transfer of up to six (6) credits of graduate coursework completed at another AACSB accredited university, if the credits largely replicate course offerings in the MSBA and you received a grade of B or better in the course(s). Contact the program director for more information.

You can take up to five years from the time you begin the degree to complete the 30 credits.

Students may apply for financial aid if they are enrolled in at least two courses in a semester. Click the Rutgers Office of Financial aid for more information (https://studentaid.rutgers.edu or 856-225-6039). Unfortunately, financial aid is not available to international students.

Students receive a term bill at the start of each semester, which they must pay in full. Upon receipt of their grade for the class, they can submit evidence of their tuition payment to their employer for reimbursement, as appropriate.

Both in-state and out-of-state MSBA students pay the same tuition rate. For the 2020-202a academic year, tuition is $1,256 per credit (tuition is $3,768 for one 3-credit course). Note: The $300 per online course fee is being waived for the 2020-2021 academic year, due to COVID-19.

You can contact the Program Director, Dr. Mimi Morrin (856-225-6647 / mmorrin@rutgers.edu), or the Program Manager, Rory "Cal" Maradonna (856-225-6714 / cal.maradonna@camden.rutgers.edu).