W&M Achieves Another Important Milestone with Approval of New Business Analytics Degree
Cutting-edge curriculum prepares students for high-earning careers in business analytics.
The SACS Commission on Colleges has approved William & Mary’s new Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) through the Raymond A. Mason School of Business and has included it in the scope of the university’s current accreditation. The 10-month program will welcome its first class of students in the fall of 2016.
The Big Data Revolution
In recent years, a data revolution has emerged bringing with it new challenges as organizations seek insight from the vast amount of information they collect from their business processes. Designed to meet this industry demand, Mason’s MSBA degree will produce leaders who can apply advanced analytical skills to help businesses gain a competitive advantage from their data by uncovering complex patterns that traditional methods are unlikely to reveal.
“Graduates of our program have the deep analytical skills required of data scientists, but also business knowledge and communication skills which are essential to deploying analytics effectively,” said Jim Bradley, Faculty Director for the MSBA program. “That makes them strategic assets to their companies because they have the expertise to pinpoint the critical data within voluminous data sets and the capability to apply complex analytical tools that determine the best business decisions to make.”
Top Ranked Business School
The Raymond A. Mason School of Business, recognized as one of the best business schools in the nation, will prepare students with a blend of rigorous academics and experiential learning. Hands-on experience is gained in one instance from a capstone project where students work with real businesses to analyze and solve real problems. Students will learn measurable and marketable skills in a variety of key areas including:
- framing problems
- acquiring and cleansing data
- applying analytic methodologies
- communicating results with impact
"The faculty in our MSBA program have more than 150 cumulative years working in industry and in consulting so they understand the difficulties inherent in acquiring and analyzing data,” said Bradley. "Our industry partners have helped us design an MSBA program that will give our graduates a distinct advantage by going beyond teaching the obvious analytical and database skills. Our graduates will also understand how business works so their analyses can be relevant, understood and acted upon.”
The Mason School is now accepting applications for the Fall of 2016. Prospective students who are interested in taking their quantitative skills to the next level should visit W&M’s MSBA website or call 757-221-1763 and speak with Brian Nigg, Associate Director of the MSBA program.
