MSBA Overview

The Master of Science in Business Analytics prepares students to connect data and models to substantive business problems so effective business decisions can be made. The program focuses on using quantitative approaches to help improve decision making and performance in business. To better understand business situations, students focus on collecting and analyzing data, drawing on computer technology, statistics, applied mathematics, and machine learning techniques. The program covers database concepts, data visualization tools and techniques, statistical modeling, machine learning, optimization, and their applications in business disciplines such as accounting, operations, finance, human resources, insurance, management, and marketing.

Domestic students can choose to complete this degree fully online, in-person, or in a hybrid format. To maintain F-1 or J-1 student status, international students are required to take a minimum of 9 credits (units) of in-person classes every fall and spring semester.

The CSUS Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) is a STEM-designated graduate degree program. MSBA international students on a student F-1 visa can qualify for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) in a position directly related to their major area of study, with a STEM OPT extension of up to 24 months. Please contact International Programs and Global Engagement for more information.

MSBA graduates will:

• Master, integrate, and apply knowledge and skills of business analytics to current and practical contexts and situations.

• Demonstrate skills in business analytics software, tools, and technologies.
• Demonstrate an ability to translate data and analytics into clear and actionable business decisions and insights.
• Communicate analytics findings to business decision makers in a variety of formats appropriate to the audience.
• Demonstrate the ability to think creatively, analytically, and critically when confronted with business problems.

The MSBA will prepare its graduates for data analytics related positions such as:

• Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Data Engineer
• Analytics Manager

MSBA Program Inquiry

MSBA Program Curriculum

• Program Requirements (24 units). Please review the academic catalogue.
• Electives (6 units)

1. Program Requirements (24 units)
   • MSBA 201 Programming for Business Analytics (Python, R)
   • MSBA 202 Data Management for Business Analytics (SQL)
   • MSBA 203 Data Visualization and Communication for Business Analytics (Tableau)
   • MSBA 204 Decision Analytics (Python, R)
   • MSBA 205 Data Analytics for Business (Python, R)
   • MSBA 206 Data Mining for Business (Python, R)
   • MSBA 207 Machine Learning for Business (Python, R)
   • MSBA 208 Capstone Project in Business Analytics
2. Electives (6 units)
   • MSBA 211 Marketing Analytics (Temporarily Unavailable)
   • MSBA 212 Social Media Analytics
   • MSBA 213 Financial Analytics (Temporarily Unavailable)
   • MSBA 214 Big Data Technologies for Business

Note: MSBA 203 is the Graduate Writing Intensive (GWI) course that fulfills the first step of your Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). To complete the first step of the Graduate GWAR, all graduate students must earn a grade of B or higher in the required GWI course. More information can be found here.

MSBA Class Schedule and Format

Courses follow the academic calendar dates and are scheduled one evening (6:00pm - 8:50pm in Fall/Spring, 6:00pm – 9:30pm in Summer) per week for each course. Domestic students can also enroll in one to three courses each semester with the approval of Faculty Director and Graduate Program Advisor.

Fall 2025 Cohort:

Two Courses Per Semester (Monday/Wednesday)
Semester 1 (Fall 2025): MSBA 201, 202
Semester 2 (Spring 2026): MSBA 203, 205
Semester 3 (Summer 2026): MSBA 204, 206
Semester 4 (Fall 2026): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 5 (Spring 2027): MSBA 208, 212

Three Courses Per Semester in Fall/Spring
Semester 1 (Fall 2025): MSBA 201, 202, 203
Semester 2 (Spring 2026): MSBA 204, 205, 206
Semester 3 (Summer 2026): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 4 (Fall 2026): MSBA 208, 212

Spring 2025 Cohort:

Two Courses Per Semester (Tuesday/Thursday)
Semester 1 (Spring 2025): MSBA 201, 202
Semester 2 (Summer 2025): MSBA 203, 205
Semester 3 (Fall 2025): MSBA 204, 206
Semester 4 (Spring 2026): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 5 (Summer 2026): MSBA 208, 213

Three Courses Per Semester in Fall/Spring
Semester 1 (Spring 2025): MSBA 201, 202, 203
Semester 2 (Summer 2025): MSBA 205, 206
Semester 3 (Fall 2025): MSBA 204, 207, 214
Semester 4 (Spring 2026): MSBA 212, 208

Fall 2024 Cohort:

Two Courses Per Semester (Monday/Wednesday)
Semester 1 (Fall 2024): MSBA 201, 202
Semester 2 (Spring 2025): MSBA 203, 205
Semester 3 (Summer 2025): MSBA 204, 206
Semester 4 (Fall 2025): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 5 (Spring 2026): MSBA 208, 212

Three Courses Per Semester in Fall/Spring
Semester 1 (Fall 2024): MSBA 201, 202, 203
Semester 2 (Spring 2025): MSBA 204, 205, 206
Semester 3 (Summer 2025): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 4 (Fall 2025): MSBA 208, 212

Spring 2024 Cohort:

Two Courses Per Semester (Tuesday/Thursday)
Semester 1 (Spring 2024): MSBA 201, 202
Semester 2 (Summer 2024): MSBA 203, 205
Semester 3 (Fall 2024): MSBA 204, 206
Semester 4 (Spring 2025): MSBA 207, 214
Semester 5 (Summer 2025): MSBA 208, 212

Three Courses Per Semester in Fall/Spring
Semester 1 (Spring 2024): MSBA 201, 202, 203
Semester 2 (Summer 2024): MSBA 204, 205
Semester 3 (Fall 2024): MSBA 206, 212, 214
Semester 4 (Spring 2025): MSBA 207, 208

Fall 2023 Cohort
Monday/Wednesday courses
Semester 1 (Fall 2023): MSBA 201, MSBA 202
Semester 2 (Spring 2024): MSBA 203, MSBA 205
Semester 3 (Summer 2024): MSBA 204, MSBA 206
Semester 4 (Fall 2024): MSBA 207, MSBA 214
Semester 5 (Spring 2025): MSBA 212, MSBA 208

MSBA Master Class Schedule

MSBA Tuition and Financial Aid

MSBA Tuition

The MSBA tuition is $825 per unit (3 units per class) and will be paid each semester. The total cost of the program is $24,750.

Tuition is the same for both domestic and international students. The MSBA program does not offer tuition discounts.

The tuition does not include student fees books and all course materials.

CSU Employees: The MSBA is considered self-support (i.e. Extended Education) and is not
eligible for the CSU Employee Fee Waiver and Reduction Program.

Financial Aid

Financial Aid via loans may be available for domestic students pursuing the MSBA degree. The MSBA program does not offer any scholarships, grants or graduate assistantships. We recommend starting the financial aid process as early as possible by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Visit the College of Continuing Education Financial Aid Page for more details.

For questions, please contact: ccefinancialaid@csus.edu

You can view a full list of scholarships available at Sac State. The Office of Graduate Studies also provides additional financial aid opportunities. Instructional Student Assistant (ISA), Graduate Assistant (GA) or Teaching Associate (TA) opportunities can be viewed in the Graduate Studies Job Listings.

MSBA Application Dates and Deadlines

The Sacramento State MSBA program admits students for both the spring and fall semesters each year.

Spring 2025

Cal State Apply application available: August 1, 2024.

Application Deadline for international applicants for Spring 2025: October 15, 2024

Application Deadline for domestic applicants for Spring 2025: December 1, 2024

Fall 2025

Cal State Apply application available: October 1, 2024.

Application Deadline for international applicants for Fall 2025: March 15, 2025

Application Deadline for domestic applicants for Fall 2025: May 16, 2025

NOTE: You must complete the entire application process and pay the $70 fee by the appropriate deadline to be considered an applicant to the program. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Please follow the directions carefully below to be considered for the MSBA Spring 2025 program.

Applicants will need to submit the following:

Complete a Cal State Apply Application and pay $70 application fee

On the first page, please select which term you would like to apply to: Spring 2025

Campus: Sacramento State
Add Program: Business Administration - Business Analytics listed under "Sacramento Extension"

- Complete the Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information Sections
- Under Program Materials, applicants will submit the following:

• Statement of Career Objectives (1 page): This statement should include a description of your long- and short-term career goals, and the ways in which you believe the MSBA curriculum will help you to achieve them.
• Current resume
• Request for two letters of recommendation: Applicants will enter name and an email request will automatically be sent to the recommender on your behalf. Please advise your recommender to look for this email in their inbox, as well as their spam or junk-mail folder, as emails do occasionally get filtered out. Recommenders can complete the Recommendation Form or write their own letter and upload directly through the email portal. Please see page 27 of these instructions for more details on the recommendation submission process.

Domestic Applicants

Copies of official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, other than Sacramento State sent electronically to gradtranscripts@csus.edu or hard copy to:

Office of Graduate Studies
California State University, Sacramento
Riverfront Center, Room 215, MS 6112
6000 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95819

All transcripts must be received by the application deadline. Domestic applicants with foreign documents must have their transcripts evaluated by one of our approved agencies. Please follow the instructions outlined by the Office of Graduate Studies.

For students graduating in Spring 2025, please request official transcripts to be sent. You will need to request a second set of transcripts once you have graduated and your degree is conferred.

Need help?

Download the MBA Instructions for the Cal State Apply Application as an example

An email will be sent to you approximately one week after you submit your Cal State Apply application. The email will come from the University Office of Graduate Studies and contains instructions on how to create a SacLink account and Sac State email address.

MSBA Minimum Qualifications

Candidates are required to have:

• Undergraduate degree from an accredited institution with a 2.50 overall GPA. Title V of the California Educational Code requires that MBA candidates must have earned a minimum 2.50 cumulative GPA and an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution. Foreign undergraduate degrees must be evaluated as equivalent to a 4-year, U.S. bachelor's degree with a minimum 2.50 cumulative GPA on a U.S. 4.0 scale. The 2.5 minimum GPA requirement is strictly enforced. We will take the cumulative GPA of all courses so applicants are encouraged to take additional related courses to boost your GPA to be able to meet our minimum. Related courses include DS101 Introduction to Business Analytics or MIS 15 Introduction to Business Programming.
• Minimum 6 units of quantitative courses with a grade of a minimum of “C” or higher in these quantitative courses from those applicants with less than 3 years of analytics related work experience. MSBA applicants should have at least one college-level Calculus course and one Statistics course to be competitive with our applicant pool.
• Applicants with foreign documents must submit their transcripts for evaluation by one of the approved agencies. Please review the information from the Office of Graduate Studies.

• Foreign language test is required of all applicants who have earned their undergraduate degree from a country where the official language is not English. One of the following tests taken within the past two years are accepted: Official English Proficiency Score Report (Institution Code: 4671). TOEFL - Minimum of 80 iBT, IELTS - Minimum of 6.5 Band Score, or PTE Academic Score – 65. Please review the information from the Office of Graduate Studies.

• Two Letters of recommendation

• Statement of Career Objectives (approx. one page): This statement should include a description of your long- and short-term career goals, and the ways in which you believe the MSBA curriculum will help you to achieve them.
• Current resume

Contact Information

Faculty Director

Min Li, PhD
(916) 538-2753
Tahoe Hall - Room 2056
limin@csus.edu

Prospective Students & Admissions

Pheng Yang
Graduate Programs Analyst
cobgraduateadmissions@csus.edu
(916) 278-5767

Current Students & Academic Advising

Serena Hoffman, M.S.
Academic Advisor
johnss@csus.edu
(916) 278-6391

Graduate Programs Office

Current Students: cba-grad@csus.edu
Prospective Students: cobgraduateadmissions@csus.edu

Executive Director of Graduate Programs

Maleeha Khan
maleeha.khan@csus.edu

Mailing Address

California State University, Sacramento
College of Business
Tahoe Hall, Room 1020
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6088

MSBA Degree Learning Goals

Students will have certain capabilities (knowledge, skills, abilities) that result from your business degree program. At the Sacramento State, we call these capabilities learning outcomes. Learning outcomes are measured and analyzed through a broad range of assessments, from class assignments to standardized exams, to provide assurance of learning in the degree program. From time to time, the College of Business (COB) or your instructors may ask or require you to participate in assessments. We use the information from assessments to reinforce what is working or to make changes to support student learning and success. For example, we may revise curriculum or hire additional staff and faculty to support the needs of our students. We document how our students perform and the actions that we take to continuously improve. This process helps to enhance the student experience and maintain our external accreditation with AACSB International. Speaking of accreditation, less than 5% of business schools worldwide are accredited by AACSB and thus this elite accreditation contributes greatly to the COB reputation. We hope that when you are asked to participate in assessment activities that you will accept the invitation and put your best effort forward.

Goal 1: Integrate and apply knowledge and skills of business analytics.

1.1: Integrate knowledge of business analytics methods in statistics, data warehousing, data mining, machine learning, and management science to create business value.

1.2: Develop tools using business analytics software and technologies.

Goal 2: Communicate analytics findings to business decision makers.

2.1: Communicate in writing analytics findings to business decision makers appropriate to the audience.

2.2: Communicate analytics findings orally to business decision makers appropriate to the audience.

Goal 3: Demonstrate creative and analytical thinking.

3.1: Develop analytical models to appropriate data to make holistic judgments when analyzing business situation.

3.2: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the underlying assumptions and limitations of business analytics methods and models.

Goal 4: Communicate key knowledge of business analytics with clarity and purpose.

4.1. Demonstrate an ability to integrate multiple sources of data, evaluate data accuracy and thereby translate data and analytics into clear and actionable business decisions and insights.

Goal 5: Understand professional integrity and the ethical and legal implications of the use of business analytics.

5.1. Integrate ethical actions and regulatory compliance in the management and use of data.

Goal 6: Incorporate multicultural perspectives and global awareness

6.1. Develop business analytics implementations that represent multicultural perspectives and global awareness.