Graduation and Degree Requirements
To earn an M.S. in Business Analytics dual degree, the graduate student must:
• Have an overall minimum grade point average of 3.0 in all graduate courses.
• Satisfactorily complete 33 credit hours and, if needed, two courses in undergraduate foundation classes in accounting and finance.
Degree Requirements
Foundations in Accounting & Finance
The Elon MSBA program requires that all students demonstrate adequate preparation in accounting and finance prior to enrolling in graduate level accounting and finance courses. *Adequate foundational knowledge can be demonstrated in one of four ways:
- Evidence of prior undergraduate coursework in accounting and/or finance. To be acceptable, coursework should have been completed within five years of entering the MSBA program. If after review, the coursework is deemed as acceptable, students must also pass a qualifying exam (waiver exam) in accounting and/or finance. Course evaluations will be completed by the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. Waiver exams are administered by the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.
- To complete a waiver exam in accounting and/or finance, a student must be enrolled in the program (have an Elon student status).
- Completion of Elon learning modules in accounting and/or finance. The learning modules are online, asynchronous and are taught by Elon MSBA faculty and are designed specifically to prepare students for the core MSBA classes. A satisfactory grade must be obtained (at least a “C” or “P” grade).
- Completion of Elon undergraduate courses in accounting and/or finance classes. A satisfactory grade must be obtained (at least a “C” or “P” grade).
- Completion of learning modules or foundation classes, usually taken at the undergraduate level, in accounting and/or finance from other approved course providers and institutions. Approval is granted by the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business. After completion or upon approval, students are required to take the waiver exam in accounting and/or finance and obtain satisfactory score. Waiver exams are administered by the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.
Students are not required to complete foundation courses before enrolling in the MSBA program. Upon admission to the program, students may take classes that do not require accounting or finance. However, foundational knowledge must be demonstrated in one of the four ways described earlier at least 2 weeks before the student plans to take a class that has accounting and/or finance as prerequisites.
*Adequate foundational knowledge in accounting and finance are reviewed independently; therefore, a student does not have to demonstrate adequate knowledge for each course in the same manner. For example, a student may demonstrate foundational knowledge in accounting through option one (evidence of prior undergraduate coursework) but utilize option two (completion of Elon learning module) to demonstrate foundational knowledge in finance.
Core Courses - 18 semester hours
Organizational Systems - 3 semester hours
| MSBA 6410 | Advanced Operations and Supply Chain | 3 sh |
Organizational Analytics - 15 semester hours
| MSBA 6430 | Analytics I-Quantitative Methods | 3 sh |
| MSBA 6610 | Analytics II: - Analytics II: Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning for Business | 3 sh |
| MSBA 6620 | Analytics III: Business Data Mining | 3 sh |
| MSBA 6630 | Programming Basics | 3 sh |
Students Starting at NEOMA
Students applying to the NEOMA M.S. in Business Analytics dual degree will begin their degree at NEOMA during the fall and complete their degree at Elon during the winter and spring semesters. The requirements below are written with the expectation that students have demonstrated adequate foundation knowledge in accounting and finance prior to arriving at Elon.
During the fall semester at NEOMA, requirements (28 ECTS/18 credit hours) are:
- Shape Your Career (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 5010 Introduction to the MSBA Program”)
- Leadership Seminar (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 6230 Management & Organizational Behavior”)
- Business, Analytics, and Strategy of the Firm (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 6250 Economic Policy and the Global”)
- Digital Business Strategy (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 6270 Marketing Management”)
- Data Privacy and Ethics (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 7150 Managerial Accounting”)
- Data Analytics for Finance, Marketing and Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Data Management (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 6410 Advanced Operations and Supply Chain”)
- Decision Models (recognized by Elon as “MSBA 6610 Analytics II: Natural Language Learning with Deep Learning for Business”)
During the winter and spring semesters at Elon, requirements (32 ECTS/15 credit hours) are:
- Data Preparation for Business Analytics (Elon equivalent is “MSBA 6430 Analytics I: Quantitative Methods”)
- Statistical Learning and Data Mining (Elon equivalent is “MSBA 6620 Analytics III: Business Data Mining”)
- Programming for Business Analytics (Elon equivalent is “MSBA 6630 Analytics IV: Programming Basics”)
- Advanced Business Analytics (Elon equivalent is “MSBA 7170 Financial Management”)
- Data Visualization and Storytelling/Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Business (Elon equivalent is “MSBA 6750 Analytics V: Analytics for Business Strategy Capstone”)
- C-suite Simulation and Final Dissertation (Elon equivalent is “Final Dissertation”)
Dissertation
All M.S. in Business Analytics dual degree students are required to complete a final dissertation. Students who start at Elon will complete the dissertation during their final semester at NEOMA. Students who start at NEOMA will complete the dissertation during their final semester at Elon University. For Elon students, the dissertation is a zero-credit hour required course and for NEOMA students it is a required course worth 8 ECTs. Students will have a dedicated NEOMA faculty advisor to guide them through the process and provide ongoing feedback. NEOMA faculty will serve as dissertation advisors for all dual degree students.
The required dissertation serves as an opportunity for students to demonstrate they:
- have acquired knowledge of analytical tools and methods to address a wide range of business challenges
- learned and can execute sophisticated data analytical techniques to affect outcomes and decision-making
- can transform insights to impact to address global business challenges and generate business value
Students Starting at Elon
Students applying to the Elon M.S. in Business Analytics dual degree will begin their degree at Elon during the first summer session of the MSBA program. The requirements below are written with the expectation that students have demonstrated adequate foundational knowledge in accounting by summer I and finance by the winter.
During the summer and fall semesters at Elon, requirements (18 credit hours/28 ECTS) are:
- MSBA 5010 Introduction to the MSBA Program (recognized by NEOMA as “Shape Your Career”)
- MSBA 6230 Management & Organizational Behavior (recognized by NEOMA as “Leadership Seminar”)
- MSBA 6250 Economic Policy and the Global Environment recognized by NEOMA as “Business, Analytics, and Strategy of the Firm”)
- MSBA 6270 Marketing Management (recognized by NEOMA as “Digital Business Strategy”)
- MSBA 7150 Managerial Accounting (recognized by NEOMA as “Data Privacy and Ethics”)
- MSBA 6410 Advanced Operations and Supply Chain (recognized by NEOMA as “Data Analytics for Finance, Marketing and Supply Chain Management/Enterprise Data Management”)
- MSBA 6610 Analytics II: Natural Language Learning with Deep Learning for Business (recognized by NEOMA as “Decision Models”)
During the spring semester at NEOMA, requirements (15 credit hours/32 ECTS) are:
- MSBA 6430 Analytics I: Quantitative Methods (NEOMA equivalent is “Data Preparation for Business Analytics”)
- MSBA 6620 Analytics III: Business Data Mining (NEOMA equivalent is “Statistical Learning and Data Mining”)
- MSBA 6630 Analytics IV: Programming Basics (NEOMA equivalent is “Programming for Business Analytics”)
- MSBA 7170 Financial Management (NEOMA equivalent is “Advanced Business Analytics”)
- MSBA 6750 Analytics V: Analytics for Business Strategy Capstone (NEOMA equivalent is “Data Visualization and Storytelling/Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Business ”)
- Final Dissertation (NEOMA equivalent is “C-suite Simulation/Final Dissertation”)