Best MBA Programs in Data Analytics 2024

What is an MBA in Data Analytics?

An MBA in Data Analytics combines the field of data analytics and business skills. This degree offers specialized courses like entrepreneurship, financing, international business and organization development along with data analysts, data mining and visualization, etc. Students will be able to learn about business intelligence, data analytics, and information technology. This degree will equip the students with cutting-edge knowledge and specialized skills like business process analysis and predictive modeling, data management, and business processes. This degree can secure you jobs with the following titles like business analyst, systems analyst, data architect, and business intelligence developer.

Business Analytics Masters vs MBA in Data Analytics

MBA in data analytics covers the business, information science, and technology to provide knowledge of the business field and analytics, modeling, and data mining. Though it mainly focuses on business planning, management also provides a deep understanding of the technicalities of the analytics field to solve complex problems.

On the other hand, a Master’s in Business Analytics is a more technical-oriented field. Its curriculum involves programming languages, data quality management, data mining, and modeling with an overview of the business field.

MBA in data analytics skills are more towards the business field with an understanding of analytics tools. In contrast, a master’s in business analytics provides technical expertise with an overview of business-related fields.

100 Best MBAs in Data Analytics

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Pros and Cons of Data Analytics MBA VS MS

MBA gives a wider horizon since it covers both the business and data analytics fields. In the case of MS, it’s more limited as it develops core technical skills with less emphasis on the business field. However, both fields have bright chances in the future, and it depends upon students’ interest and scope which one they want to opt for.

What is the Outlook for Data Analytics Careers?

Data analytics is one of most rapidly growing information technology fields in the world. Between 2018 to 2028, the job opportunities for data analytics is expected to increase 25% year over year.  For years organizations spend millions on data storage with little understanding of data retention or value that is embedded within their depository. Having a better understanding on why data should be stored, which sections within the data sphere should be mined, and how long should the data be retained are all board of director level concerns.

Having an experienced team of data analytics personal help take the terabytes of data hosted within the corporate data center and create value intelligence on client’s buying habits, record on product failure rates, and data mine for critical trends around overall performance and efficiencies of the goods and services provided by the company. Data Analytics has a very impactful measurement function when companies determine overall return on investment and return on assets. The outlook for data analytics continues to be in high demand and salaries and overall compensation continue to grow year over year.

The career prospects for Data Analytics are very high in 2021 due to its increasing demand. Moreover, with the business aspect of the degree, you can apply for managerial positions as well. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job demand for operation research analysts, including business analysts, would likely increase by 20 percent by 2028.

Apart from various jobs that you can take in data analysis like operation manager, business analyst, project manager, etc., you can explore other areas with this degree. You can work in Journalism, Financial analysis, digital marketing management, and more. Moreover, it has great applications in the business field, as no business in today’s world can grow without the useful insights of data.

Based on research from galvanize.com, Colorado and Texas are the two states that hire the most data analysts . Many companies that relocated out of California in the last years have ended up in Texas and Colorado. Companies Toyota, Tesla, Websense (Raytheon) just to name a few that originally were from California. Where the companies go, so do the jobs.

As these and many other companies that relocated to other states, these organizations executed “ a newer way” of business as part of their digital transformations. The executives used the “migration” from state to the next as a compelling reason to change and innovate their business models. A huge part of that digital transformation is mining the value of their data. Now that these companies have transformed many of their processes and worksteams, data analytics is a critical gain in their strategy planning.

State	2,018	2028	Change	%Change	Avg. Annual Openings
United States	109,700	137,900	28,200	25.7	10,900
Alabama	650	830	180	27.7	70
Alaska	80	80	0	0	10
Arizona	910	1,270	360	39.6	110
Arkansas	640	840	200	31.3	70
California	10,600	13,600	3,000	28.3	1,090
Colorado	910	1,280	370	40.7	110
Connecticut	1,150	1,400	250	21.7	110
Delaware	980	1,190	210	21.4	90
District of Columbia	1,010	1,230	220	21.8	100
Florida	4,260	5,610	1,350	31.7	460
Georgia	3,370	4,210	840	24.9	330
Hawaii	150	180	30	20	10
Idaho	520	560	40	7.7	0
Illinois	5,140	6,250	1,110	21.6	480
Indiana	1,150	1,440	290	25.2	110
Iowa	850	1,100	250	29.4	90
Kansas	740	910	170	23	70
Kentucky	1,080	1,360	280	25.9	110
Louisiana	380	390	10	2.6	0
Maine	350	430	80	22.9	30
Maryland	4,710	5,990	1,280	27.2	560
Massachusetts	2,680	3,320	640	23.9	260
Michigan	1,750	2,060	310	17.7	160
Minnesota	3,290	4,070	780	23.7	320
Mississippi	420	430	10	2.4	0
Missouri	1,610	1,980	370	23	150
Montana	100	120	20	20	10
Nebraska	1,120	1,420	300	26.8	110
Nevada	270	370	100	37	30
New Hampshire	590	770	180	30.5	60
New Jersey	3,030	3,670	640	21.1	280
New Mexico	290	350	60	20.7	30
New York	5,920	7,590	1,670	28.2	610
North Carolina	3,060	3,890	830	27.1	310
North Dakota	110	140	30	27.3	10
Ohio	3,830	4,650	820	21.4	360
Oklahoma	550	670	120	21.8	50
Oregon	1,270	1,680	410	32.3	140
Pennsylvania	2,920	3,630	710	24.3	280
Puerto Rico	80	110	30	37.5	10
Rhode Island	460	570	110	23.9	50
South Carolina	870	1,170	300	34.5	100
Tennessee	1,440	1,930	490	34	160
Texas	11,080	15,270	4,190	37.8	1,280
Utah	1,800	2,720	920	51.1	240
Virginia	9,320	12,040	2,720	29.2	970
Washington	2,970	3,770	800	26.9	380
West Virginia	240	300	60	25	20
Wisconsin	1,410	1,780	370	26.2	140

Where Do Data Analytic MBAs Work

Operations research analysts held about 104,100 jobs in 2020. Which industry you work in also influences your salary. According to The Quant Crunch, some industries offer higher salaries like finance and insurance, information technology and management, and scientific and technical services, accounting for more than three-quarters of data job openings. The largest employers of operations research analysts were as follows, according the the BLS:

Finance and insurance	27%
Professional, scientific, and technical services	22
Management of companies and enterprises	9
Manufacturing	6
Federal government	6

How Much Does an Data Analytics MBA Earn?

Average starting salary for MBA students from universities that offer an MBA in Data Analytics today is $83,473.46 with the lowest of starting of $35,850.00 and the highest reported starting salary of $182,272.00.

Data Analytics Earnings by State and Experience

The average salary for a data analyst is $99,420 per year in the United States. However, it varies from location, industry, and experience. Below, find salaries based on states and level of expereince.

State	Employment	1 to 4 Years	5 to 9 Years	10 to 19 Years	20+ Years
Alabama	560	$54,920	$72,520	$129,360	$155,360
Alaska	120	$43,340	$49,480	$95,550	$125,260
Arizona	1,680	$46,070	$58,020	$102,050	$126,620
Arkansas	270	$34,810	$44,610	$76,450	$100,770
California	8,940	$58,340	$74,510	$131,250	$162,160
Colorado	790	$55,350	$71,620	$115,470	$136,240
Connecticut	990	$48,300	$60,960	$109,390	$131,120
Delaware	690	$51,730	$66,130	$108,860	$135,760
District of Columbia	1,330	$60,720	$83,480	$145,140	$170,800
Florida	5,570	$35,680	$46,010	$89,890	$112,520
Georgia	3,630	$41,150	$48,970	$90,720	$114,280
Hawaii	170	$52,810	$62,760	$116,030	$135,350
Idaho	620	$23,370	$37,980	$94,090	$128,080
Illinois	4,270	$57,000	$72,970	$121,630	$145,100
Indiana	1,260	$43,470	$53,170	$88,250	$114,580
Iowa	470	$47,010	$60,170	$110,290	$142,610
Kansas	640	$54,940	$66,720	$105,260	$125,090
Kentucky	1,200	$38,850	$48,840	$85,080	$104,770
Louisiana	280	$37,600	$54,270	$104,450	$129,500
Maine	320	$46,330	$55,120	$87,410	$106,710
Maryland	4,030	$53,360	$72,010	$133,460	$162,200
Massachusetts	2,830	$53,430	$65,840	$109,970	$142,610
Michigan	1,810	$54,830	$65,450	$103,760	$128,590
Minnesota	2,870	$49,710	$65,570	$108,050	$134,080
Mississippi	290	$40,770	$56,150	$95,040	$120,750
Missouri	1,450	$43,760	$52,870	$104,670	$125,070
Montana	110	$54,050	$57,420	$80,010	$109,850
Nebraska	380	$44,080	$54,470	$103,590	$124,370
Nevada	210	$49,480	$56,320	$87,900	$113,020
New Hampshire	500	$54,940	$67,930	$120,860	$145,330
New Jersey	2,700	$63,450	$80,280	$141,160	$171,220
New Mexico	350	$47,510	$61,610	$116,310	$135,690
New York	6,600	$52,760	$68,440	$129,800	$184,770
North Carolina	2,650	$53,220	$67,880	$119,430	$144,920
North Dakota	120	$50,110	$59,540	$94,960	$110,640
Ohio	4,830	$51,000	$67,630	$109,690	$131,930
Oklahoma	640	$47,490	$59,590	$94,620	$108,600
Oregon	1,230	$57,600	$68,650	$105,260	$127,800
Pennsylvania	3,260	$51,750	$63,510	$106,270	$132,480
Puerto Rico(7200000)	40	$34,030	$40,630	$96,410	$141,950
Rhode Island	390	$45,650	$53,390	$121,330	$144,040
South Carolina	900	$53,090	$63,060	$104,770	$126,120
Tennessee	1,370	$17,960	$43,160	$85,190	$108,650
Texas	8,880	$46,770	$62,520	$106,500	$131,600
Utah	1,640	$39,120	$48,310	$96,570	$121,450
Vermont	160	$53,100	$61,980	$96,200	$109,360
Virginia	7,350	$56,810	$75,840	$136,310	$166,930
Washington	2,520	$61,560	$74,940	$113,010	$136,120
West Virginia	390	$30,020	$39,100	$80,800	$113,680
Wisconsin	1,900	$45,720	$56,130	$97,160	$136,830

Data Analyst Salaries by City

If you live in one of the USA’s big cities, then the chances are more that you have higher salary packages. Especially cities like San Francisco, New York, Boston, or Washington, DC offer more pay rates. Here are some of the midpoint salaries for a data analyst.

• San Francisco: $151,230
• New York: $149,633
• Boston: $142,710
• Washington, DC: $141,645
• Chicago: $132,060

Data Analyst Salaries by Experience

An increase in experience adds up the salary package and contributes to one of the main factors influencing the salary package.

Less than one year      $70,950 per year

3 to 5 years                 $94,380 per year

7 to 9 years                 $12,4000 per year

15+ years                    $155,530 per year

What Can I Do With an MBA in Data Analytics?

MBA in Data Analytics is one of the most demanding fields in the market and offers various opportunities.  

• Business Intelligence Analyst -As a business intelligence analyst, you have to monitor the patterns in the data and analyze them. Additionally, you are expected to work with SQL, data visualization, and modeling.
• Higher-Level Roles in Business Administration – Many organizations demand a master’s degree in a job application for hiring higher-level roles in business administration. Therefore, you can work as CEO, COO, CMO, CTO, CFO, and vice president.
• Operations Research Analyst – With advanced mathematical and analytical methods, operation research analysts solve operational issues and make informed decisions for the future.
• Data Analyst – The primary role of the data analyst is to understand the data, analyze it and find opportunities and value from the data. Data analyst jobs can also be found with other titles like ‘Intelligence analyst, Business Analyst’ and similar roles.
• Computer Systems Analyst – Computer system analysts identify the need for its current computer systems and update them according to the latest market trends. They provide solutions to make their system work more effectively.
• Software Developer – With the knowledge of data analytics, you can choose your career as a software engineer. As a software engineer, you have to develop applications and design systems that will help companies or consumers in various fields of their lives.
• Data Analytics Consultant – As a data analytics consultant, your main role is to provide consultation regarding the data to help the companies with their business. The benefit of working in this position is that you can provide consultancy at various firms simultaneously. Moreover, you can work remotely.
• Project Manager – The project manager’s role is to make use of analytics tools to manage the workflow and increase the employee’s productivity to achieve the goals trajectory. Project managers can also work in supply chain management for smooth flow of operations and maintaining profit margins.
• Quantitative Analyst – The quantitative analyst uses data analysis to find out the financial investment opportunities for the company. They also work on trade models, determining the price of the stocks, commodities, and exchange rates.

What Skills Do I Need to be Successful In Data Analytics?

• Data Visualization – How to present data is equality critical to the data itself. Without strong data presentation and skillful visualization capability; explaining the value of data mining, analytics, and the true connection back to the business becomes near impossible for the target audience to understand the value. The audience needs to understand the investment in analytics and data mining. Without a strong visualization, many will get lost in the mounts of excel spreadsheets and pivot tables.
• Strong Analytical and Statistical: Data analytics and mining is about math and computations. The relevance of the data set in many cases can be time sensitive. Real-time analytics for industry 4.0, autonomous cars, and Internet of Things is directly connected to computation time and data visualization feeding into a machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithm. Computation skills help insure property mining consistency along the correct time of delivery into the ML and AL engines.  Having a strong analytical mind will help greatly. The creation of the relevant data set modeling is critical to feeding into the computation and content delivery layers. Determining out of the terabytes of data available within the organization’s data lakes is very important. What data to keep and what to use in analytic modeling could make the difference in the overall mining strategy.
• Communication Skills: Along with strong visualization, having excellent communications is a must. While the data scientist may understand all the data computation terminology, most of the target audience will not. Having the ability to deliver the value of the data analytics to a non-data science audience is most important. Many positions within the corporation; supply chain directors, retail director, and finance person are consumers of data analytics. These co-workers may not understand how the data sets are formed or analyzed, they only care about the actual end-state. That output needs to be relevant to the individual departments’ needs in order for them to see a value. Without a good communications approach, data analytics may not have any consumers or sponsors within the organization.
• Business Acumen: Without business understanding, you will not be able to understand how your data analytics skill can benefit the business. In the end, it is all about adding value to the organization.
• Project Management: You will work with different teams, managing work and meeting deadlines as a data analyst. You need to build networks, give commands and distribute the work.
• Programming: Having a good understanding of programming languages, especially Python and R, is necessary to succeed in this field. You will build different algorithms or models to automate your business information management system.

Is an MBA in Data Analytics for Me?

Getting an MBA in any major is a value. However, some MBAs have greater long term value to an organization than others. Some who major in English and choose an MBA in communications could be a great asset for the organization’s marketing and public relations departments. A person pursuing a MBA in data analytics over a MBA in Information Technology could be a good move or a very limited choice. 

A specialized or professional MBA in cybersecurity, data analytics, or system architecture could be viewed as a “limiting” career option. Yet, these MBA’s are growing in importance to organizations due to the increase in cyber attacks, greater need for qualified chief data officers, and with most workloads moving to the cloud, the need for  system architect also has become in demand. Here are the top industries and placement functions for data analytics graduates:

Top Placement Industries

• Financial Services (24%)
• Technology (20%)
• Consulting (17%)
• Retail & Consumer Goods (12%)
• Health Care / Pharmaceuticals (9%)

Top Placement Functions

• Marketing (31%)
• Finance (28%)
• Consulting (18%)
• General Management (6%)
• Operations (2%)

Seeking a MBA in data analytics is almost insuring a steady growth in both career and in salary. The field of data scientist has only just started. As more companies invest in data lakes, data mining, and data science, this MBA will become even more valuable. Yet, like all choices for a career, the client candidate needs to understand that this field is very specialized and often the roles will not lead to a chief information officer role in their future. Yet, as a result of the importance of data mining, corporations have started promoting and hiring people to the role of chief data officer.

What Is a Typical Curriculum Offered by Data Analytics MBA Programs?

The prerequisites are a bachelor’s degree in a particular business course; GMAT is the most common test for entry in the MBA. Moreover, applicants will be asked about their work experience as well. MBA data analytics curriculum offers fundamental business courses like finance, economics, marketing, operations management, leadership. It is combined with data-focused topics like database management, social media analytics, data mining in business analytics, marketing analytics and related courses.

• Database Management: introduces the MBA students to understand organizing, storing, and retrieving data from the computer. This subject allows students to change the data into information to support making decisions in professional life.
• Social Media Analytics: helps the MBA student to understand and find meaning in data collected from social media accounts to make students measure and draw actions based on the data from social media.
• Marketing analytics: includes the study of data gathered via marketing campaigns to understand consumer behavior, conversions, regional performance, and much more.
• Operations Management: provides MBA the study of business practices to develop the highest efficiency level within an organization.
• Data Mining for Business Analytics: gives the MBA students an understanding of how to retrieve data and convert information to pull out customers’ behavior and learn more about them.
• Project Management: provides the MBA students with the market understanding of project management, how to work and distribute the work among the team to achieve organizational goals.
• Data Cleaning: develops the skill of MBA students to clean or remove any inaccurate data from the record, table, or dataset and replace it with the correct one.

How Much is Tuition for MBA Data Analytics Programs

Tuition for MBA Data analytics programs depends on whether you have enrolled in online MBA data analytics or in-person MBA. Moreover, many financial institutions offer financial aid and scholarships for students.

Students must take into account the expected utility and return on investment for MBA Data Analytics Program. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the starting salary range for new graduate MBA data analytics in 2021 is annually. With work and experience, it will increase. It also depends upon the type of the job. For example, a Data analyst earns $75,253 per year, and an operations analyst earns $67,353. Project Managers make around $73,247, while marketing analysts have an average salary of $66,571.

As a prospective MBA student, one should consider the time that would take them to pay back their degree. Therefore, if you are going for a personal MBA, it will have an average cost of $36,529.81 per year. While for an online MBA, it will cost you an average of $33,570.13 per year. However, it can vary from institute and nature of institute, if it’s public or private.

The average Tuition for an MBA in Data Analytics is $47,083.98 with a highest of $180,258.00 and the lowest of $7,048.00

Best ROI for MBA Programs

The average ROI full-time for MBA programs in Data Analytics is 139% with a highest of 524% and the lowest of 30%.

Return on investment (ROI) is an essential factor when considering which MBA program(s) to apply to. To calculate ROI, consider both the tuition for the MBA program and the average salary a graduate earns. The average tuition cost for an MBA degree in Data Analytics is approximately $47,083.98, while the average starting salary for MBA graduates is around $83,473.46. To calculate ROI, you need to subtract the tuition from the salary and divide by the tuition cost. This will give you a rough estimate of how much value you will get out of the MBA Data Analytics.

The average ROI for all MBA programs in the United States is 146%. The average ROI for Data Analytics programs is 139%.

Reports for campus MBA ROI and online MBA ROI.

GMAT Scores Needed for an MBA in Data Analytics?

GMAT is an admission test for measuring analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills. The lowest GMAT score needed for a Data Analytics MBA is 265 and the highest is 737 with an average GMAT score to be accepted in a Data Analytics MBA program is 568.

Student / Faculty Ratio for Best MBA in Data Analytics

Student/Faculty Ratio is an important criterion that allows running a program for the required ratio of student to faculty ratio. It varies widely from the institution and between public and private institutions. This ratio defines how much an institution is willing to pay faculty members for a lower ratio of students.

In many MBA classes, the student to profession varies depending on the course plan. If an MBA program requires more in depth research, mentoring, or group projects, the classes tend to be a smaller ratio compared to other MBA programs like business administration or marketing. Data Analytics program ratio based on statistics from Notre Dame university is around 123 students per class. On the higher end, the University of Pennsylvania is around 945 students per class. With the growth of online learning classes, many Universities including Arizona State University now office a MBA program for data sciences online.

The lowest student faculty ratio from a Data Analytics MBA program is 1:1 while the highest ratio is 35:1, and the average from all MBA programs is 15:1.

Student Enrollment MBA in Data Analytics

Many MBA programs are offered for both domestic and international students. Most major universities extend their data analytics programs in order to meet the continuous storage of qualified data scientists with experience in analytics. The University of Notre Dame averages close to 29% of the students enrolled in the MBA data analytics program to be women. In contrast, at the California State University at Long Beach, 68% of the students enrolled in the MBA program are women.

You need to know about the student population for MBA in data analytics as different universities are offering minimum and maximum seats. For example, the University of Akron offers the lowest number of 6 students. At the same time, Duke University’s maximum number of students who can enroll for this degree is 1920. The average number of students that can take admission is 175. It helps you decide if you want to have a smaller group of people around you or a larger group.

The student population should also include diverse students from different background areas and locations. When students outside the USA get admission, it becomes a great means of network building, knowing different cultures, especially in today’s global competition.

The MBA program with the lowest student enrollment that offers an MBA in Data Analytics is 3 from The University of Akron. The MBA program with the highest student enrollment offering an MBA in Data Analytics is Highest: 3,933 from The University of Texas at Dallas. The average student enrollment from all universities that offer an MBA in Data Analytics is 331.

Best 100 MBA Programs in Data Analytics