Newswise — Irvine, CA – March 15, 2017 – UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business has launched a new Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program in response to high demand from businesses, recruiters and students. The new program is accepting applications now with classes scheduled to begin Summer 2017 (August 7, 2017).

Business analytics involves the application of sophisticated statistical and analytical methods to extract business value and strategic advantage from the growing availability of large data sets.

The Merage School MSBA program was designed to align analytics competencies with business practice and to assist students in landing meaningful jobs in organizations that demand this capability.

“Demand for business analytics is expected to increase by as much as 17 percent annually over the next several years. Surveys suggest Orange County, California alone has nearly 1,000 companies that could employ MSBA graduates,” said Sanjeev Dewan, professor of Information Systems and faculty director of the program. “Our MSBA program will provide students with a nice balance of technical analytics skills and an understanding of business context, leveraging our existing MBA curriculum.”

The program is unique in that it offers a Capstone project along with three flexible curricular tracks that correlate with career paths in marketing analytics, operations analytics and data analytics. The new degree program is also STEM-certified, which allows international students to work in the United States for up to 36 months after graduation.

The Merage School Master of Science in Business Analytics is a one-year, full-time degree program targeting individuals with up to five years of work experience and an undergraduate degree in a quantitative field. The curriculum will include eight core courses (30 credits) and five elective courses (20 units), for a total of 50 units. Taught by world-class Merage School faculty and leveraging the existing MBA curriculum, the coursework will focus on a well-rounded skill set combining big data methods, statistics, and machine learning with a deep understanding of business context. In addition, students will earn real life experience in a Capstone project working with industry in the business analytics space.

The program is accepting applications now, with a final deadline of June 15, 2017. April 22, 2017 is the final deadline for international applicants. Visit http://www.merage.uci.edu/go/msba for more information or email [email protected].

About The Paul Merage School of Business at UC IrvineThe Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine offers four dynamic MBA programs – plus PhD, specialty masters and undergraduate business degrees – that graduate world-ready business leaders with the exceptional ability to grow their organizations through strategic innovation, analytical decision-making, information technology and collaborative execution. While the Merage School is relatively young, it has quickly grown to consistently rank among the top five percent of all business programs worldwide through exceptional student recruitment, world-class faculty, a strong alumni network and close relationships with both individual business executives and global corporations. Additional information is available at http://www.merage.uci.edu.###