Inside the Number One School for Business Analytics: MIT

This article was based upon the 2019 edition of the QS Business Masters Rankings. Explore the QS Business Masters Rankings: Business Analytics 2021.

MIT Sloan School of Management is currently ranked as the number one business school for its Master of Business Analytics degree in the newly launched QS Business Masters Rankings: Business Analytics 2019, and for very good reason. Having also ranked number one in the world last year, MIT Sloan continues to impress through its high level of performance across most of the five indicators used to assess these schools: employability, alumni outcomes, value for money, thought leadership, and diversity. Read on for an inside look at this year’s number one school for business analytics.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Sloan was first established in 1914, at a time when the concept of providing business training within an academic environment was rapidly gaining wide acceptance.  

MIT Sloan was ranked number one for business analytics thanks to its perfect scores for employability, alumni outcomes and thought leadership, and, with an alumni which includes notable figures such as the late United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and Microsoft chairman, John W. Thompson, its impeccable scores for the three indicators are anything but surprising.

Among the school’s wide range of specialized master’s degrees, its Master of Business Analytics course is designed to polish and prepare those aspiring for top careers in business analytics and the data science industry as a whole. It’s open to recent graduates as well as undergraduates (including applicants with a three-year bachelor’s degree from an international university) and those wishing to either change or take their career to the next level, such as engineers, mathematicians, physicists, computer programmers, and other technology professionals. The course is STEM-designated, meaning international students are able to extend their training in the US by 24 months after graduating.

The course takes a standard year to complete, although students are given the option to a further six months, which would provide them with the opportunity to take part in a highly beneficial summer work placement. Tuition fees currently stand at US$77,350 and cover all required course packs for the first-semester core classes, however, financial support is also offered to eligible applicants and a number of payment options are available to choose from.

Each year, several master’s in business analytics students at MIT Sloan are appointed to teaching and research assistantships which provide various levels of workloads and salaries. As well as helping students to finance themselves, assistantships also expose them to the school’s educational research programs, and include tasks such as working one-on-one with students, assisting in research, and grading assignments and exam papers. Fellowships are also immediately available to admitted candidates from all citizenships and academic backgrounds, but are only awarded to a select few with exceptional academic records, a history of personal achievement, and a demonstrable ability to perform well professionally.   

For applicants who wish to study business analytics at either undergraduate or doctoral level, MIT Sloan offers these courses too, plus non-degree programs for those who would prefer to take a slightly different academic route in the field.

If you wish to apply to MIT Sloan, the application process typically compiles several stages: a one-page resume (personal statement), an essay question (why you wish to pursue the Masters of Business Analytics degree at MIT Sloan), three letters of recommendation, academic transcripts, a video question (a brief video statement in response to a general interest question), GMAT or GRE test scores, and an application fee of $150. You’ll need to submit your application by January 9 2019 for Fall 2019 entry.