The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics MS-AIBA, formerly known as the Master of Science in Business Analytics and Information Systems, prepares students for growing needs in industry for expertise in business analytics, data science, data engineering, and information technology across a wide range of sectors including technology, banking, healthcare, consulting, energy, retail, entertainment, telecom, and many others. Our graduates secure internships and jobs in companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Tesla, Samsung, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Cap Gemini, Booz & Company, Deloitte, Citi, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, SAS Institute, Amgen, Verizon, Disney, Paypal, TechData, Raymond James Financial, Quicken Loans, Publix, and Spectrum Brands. Starting salaries of our graduates are typically in the $100,000-125,000 range, with higher salaries for jobs on the West Coast.
We offer a strong industry-relevant curriculum emphasizing technology skills such as business analytics, machine/deep learning, SQL and NoSQL databases, agile methods, coding and scripting, networks and security, cloud computing, and big data. An advisory board consisting of senior business leaders and information systems executives works closely with the department to ensure that the program stays relevant and maintains high standards. Classes in the program are taught by a world-class faculty with PhD degrees from Harvard Business School, Princeton University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Texas at Austin, Purdue University, University of Michigan, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University, Georgia Tech, University of Arizona, and many others. Students have the option of working in full-time or part-time internships and customized independent study opportunities with professors as part of the program.
The program also offers a suite of extra-curricular activities to complement our curriculum and to help our students improve their technology skills, internship and job placement potential, and career success. These activities include free technology bootcamps, certification programs, resume workshops, LinkedIn workshops, interview workshops, career fairs, and many others. Outstanding students will also have the opportunity to participate in practice center projects (mentored internships managed by the department) and get employment opportunities as teaching assistants or graduate research assistants throughout USF campus.
Admission to our program is extremely competitive. We receive thousands of applicants each year and admit only about 250 students annually. We admit students in both the Fall and the Spring semester. We evaluate applications on a rolling basis and close the process when our student intake capacity is reached.
For the Fall semester, the early deadline for application is March 1 for international students and July 1 for domestic students. Applications received after these deadlines will be considered only if seats are still available. For international applicants, we try to make our final admission decisions by April to give them sufficient time to get visa appointments at their local U.S. consulate or embassy. For the Spring semester, our application deadline is August 1 for international students and November 1 for domestic students. However, we admit most of our students in Fall, and Spring admissions are very limited.
Our admission decisions are based on “portfolio criteria” that includes the following components. Please note that incomplete applications (e.g., missing GRE scores, unless explicitly waived by us) will NOT be processed until they are completed:
In addition, all applicants must meet USF’s Admission and English Proficiency requirements. For international applicants, this means TOEFL scores, although we do not consider TOEFL score as part of our admission criteria.
Applications are first reviewed by our Office of Graduate Admissions and are then forwarded to our MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program for further review. The MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program makes an accept/reject decision, and the Office of Graduate Admissions will notify you of our decision. The admission decision usually takes 1.5 to 2 months, and visas for international students may take an additional 3 to 4 months. Our admission decisions are first come, first served, and will close whenever we reach our intake capacity for the academic year. To help the process move smoothly, we recommend that you do the following:
Florida has one of the lowest tuition costs of all states in the United States. Our tuition and fees can be calculated using our online tuition calculator at http://usfweb.usf.edu/graduate-studies/tuition-and-fee-calculator/ (enter ‘Graduate (Business, Engineering)’ in the Program Level drop down menu; the MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program is a minimum of 33 credits, not including any outstanding prerequisites).
As of 2022, the out-of-state tuition and fees for a two-year MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics degree for an international student is approximately $30,000. Students should also include another $15,000-20,000 for two years of living expenses while in the program.
We have a limited number of graduate (teaching) assistantships, which typically make students eligible for a lower, in-state tuition and pays for their health insurance during their term of assistantship, in addition to providing them a monthly stipend. Assistantship decisions are highly competitive and made on a semester-to-semester basis, based on students’ performance in prior semesters at USF, their work ethic, and their ability to assist us with undergraduate and graduate classes. For example, we will only hire students with a strong background in statistics as teaching assistants for our statistics classes. Assistantships are not available in your first semester at USF, but will be available from the second semester onwards, based on your performance in prior semesters at USF. Note that assistantships are not merit-based or need-based scholarships, they are on-campus jobs, for which you are expected to work for 20 hours/week as assigned by your supervising professor.
Additional on-campus job opportunities are available as graduate assistants in other offices, departments, and centers on the USF campus, for example, at our Dean’s office, the Provost’s office, at USF Library, our INTO program office, USF Morsani Center of Medicine, USF Center for Urban Transportation Research, and other departments on campus. These jobs typically require specific skills such as Power BI, coding, and so forth. These are university-wide positions, and students are selected based on their fit with job requirements. Our students are often considered favorably for these positions because of their strong technical skills. Only students already enrolled at USF have access to such positions on an internal USF portal, called Handshake. Incoming international students cannot apply for these jobs from their home countries.
Students can also do paid full-time or part-time internships at a US company for a maximum of 12 months as part of the curricular practical training (CPT) option of the program, while fully retaining their 18-month optional practical training (OPT) to secure a job and a work visa upon completion of their MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics degree. You must complete two fu semesters of coursework at USF to be eligible for an internship. Our students often get internship positions in prestigious companies like Amazon, BMW, and JP Morgan Chase, and many of these internships often convert into full-time positions upon graduation.
The MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics degree requires 33 credits of coursework, plus any necessary prerequisite courses, and may be taken either full-time or part-time. This includes 18 credits of required courses (core courses and capstone) and 15 credits of electives. The required courses are:
If you meet our program prerequisites, we will automatically register you for the first three courses in the above list in your first semester in our program. From your second semester onwards, you will have the flexibility to choose classes of your interest. Depending on your desired career path, you may wish to consider the following sequences of courses:
Of course, you can mix and match courses from different sequences or choose other courses not listed here from our course catalog. Optionally, students can choose one of three possible concentrations—analytics and business intelligence, Fintech, and information assurance—by choosing a certain set of elective courses recommended for each concentration. However, a concentration is not necessary to complete your degree.
Typically, most courses are 3 credit hours, except internship and independent study courses which are 1-2 credits. Full-time students with appropriate prerequisites may be able to complete the program in 3-4 semesters of study. Part-time students will typically need from 2-3 years to complete the degree. For more information on our coursework or prerequisite requirements, feel free to contact the program advisor below.
This Global Executive Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics program is designed for full-time, working professionals worldwide. This is a fully online program with 100% live instruction that combines information systems and business analytics courses. This program offers a predetermined set of required and elective courses in a lockstep format, without the flexibility or customizability of our regular program. Since students in this executive program are already full-time working professionals, our extracurricular support (bootcamps, internships, job placement, etc.) are not available to students in this program.
Han Reichgelt
Graduate Coordinator, MS in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics
School of Information Systems and Management
Muma College of Business
Phone: (727) 873-4786
muma-msaiba@usf.edu
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, BSN 3403,
Tampa, FL 33620, USA
813-974-4281
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