The University of Illinois Masters in Business Analytics is another great specialized masters degree offered by the University of Illinois Gies College of Business. Business analytics is a very popular course of study right now and a number of universities are coming out with programs to satisfy this demand. UIUC has a great one for anyone looking at a graduate degree in this subject and the way they approach their specialized masters is very unique. Since this is the first time I have written about this program on my site I will provide a full overview and try and post additional information as I get more specifics. Enjoy!
Program Overview
The UIUC Masters in Business Analytics is a 9-month, STEM certified, on campus graduate program preparing students for a career where analytical ability, combined with an understanding of finance, information systems, accounting are required to succeed.
Students take 36 credit hours during their time in the program and have three pathways to choose from – Accounting, Business and Financial analytics. Students choose 16-24 credit hours of analytics electives plus up to 8 credits of general electives.
The curriculum looks very details and allows for a great focus. In the fall, students take 12 hours of general coursework plus 6 hours of electives. There is also a practicum course so you can apply what you are learning in a real world environment. The spring semester is all electives, allowing students to pick 18 hours of selected classes. UIUC provides a sample illustration of the classes you can chose for the various pathways.
Admissions
The admissions process is fairly standard. All applicants need to start their online application. Resume, essays, transcripts, and TOEFL (international students). Those interested in the program can include optional scholarship essays as well as a video questions (not required, but recommended).
GMAT and GRE are optional. They mention that the score helps give the admissions staff a better picture of your overall competitiveness. I would say if you have a strong application (high GPA, well regarded UG school, some work experience, maybe CFA levels, etc) you can probably forego the test. If you have a liberal arts background or weaker quant academics or an otherwise marginal application, you should take the GMAT or GRE and work hard to do well on the test to help your admission odds. This is only my advice though.
Fall 2022 Deadlines:
- Early Bird Deadline: November 15, 2021
- Round 1 Deadline: January 15, 2022
- Round 2 Deadline: March 31, 2022*
- Round 3 Deadline: April 30, 2022
From the UIUC website:
“In general, the admissions committee reviews applications on a rolling basis, however, the committee reserves the right to hold or waitlist an application to consider a candidate’s competitiveness within a larger applicant pool.”
Tuition
The cost of this program is relatively reasonable, especially if you are an Illinois resident. I am including only the tuition costs as I think the additional expenses are very unique to the particular applicant. Keep in mind these are from the website as of 10/24/21. Check the site yourself in case these figures change.
- Illinois Resident – $35,000
- Non-Resident – $48,000
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The University of Illinois reputation in quantitative studies is well known and I think this program provides a lot of value at a reasonable cost. Being able to specialize is great as you can use this degree for a variety of career paths since everything requires analytics nowadays. Check back for more updates on this program.
Here is a link to the University of Illinois Masters in Business Analytics Program
