Bachelors in Business Administration Major in Business Analytics

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

Auburn University

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in Business Analytics at Auburn University prepares students to turn business data into meaningful insights that support strategic decisions, solve problems and improve organizational performance. It is a strong fit for students interested in data, business and technology who want to develop skills in analytics, predictive modeling, data management, artificial intelligence and communicating quantitative results.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students begin with Auburn's business and university foundations, developing quantitative and communication skills through courses such as MATH 1680 Calculus with Business Applications I, ENGL 1100 English Composition I, ENGL 1120 English Composition II and COMM 1000 Public Speaking. Professional preparation also starts early through BUSI 1010 Professional and Career Development in Business I, giving students a foundation for their later analytics coursework.

Year 2: Students move into core business subjects while beginning dedicated analytics study. BUAL 2600 Business Analytics I introduces the use of data for business decisions and basic predictive modeling, while BUAL 2650 Business Analytics II develops statistical inference, classification analysis, forecasting and introductory data mining; students also study accounting, economics, supply chain and information analysis.

Year 3: The program becomes more technically and professionally focused through BUAL 5500 Business Data Management and Acquisition, BUAL 5600 Principles of Predictive Modeling and BUAL 5660 Descriptive Analytics for Business Decisions. Students learn to manage and prepare large datasets, develop predictive models and extract insights for business decisions, while courses in finance, marketing, management information systems and professional development connect analytics with business functions.

Year 4: In the final year, students deepen their predictive analytics expertise through BUAL 5610 Predictive Modeling for Business Decisions and complete BUAL 5860 Communicating Quantitative Results in Business, applying analytics techniques to business problems and communicating findings effectively. Business Analytics electives allow students to tailor their studies, with options including BUAL 3100 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, BUAL 5800 Data Visualization and BUAL 5850 Foundations of Sports Analytics, alongside strategic management and professional career development.

Focus Areas

Business analytics, data management, predictive modeling, descriptive analytics, statistical analysis, data mining, artificial intelligence, data visualization, business decision-making, quantitative communication, machine learning

Learning Outcomes

Students learn to formulate business problems, identify and prepare relevant data, uncover patterns, develop predictive models, use analytical results to make recommendations and communicate quantitative findings appropriately to executives or clients.

Professional Alignment (Accreditation)

The BSBA is offered through Auburn University's Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, which is accredited by AACSB International. Harbert describes AACSB accreditation as a rigorous quality framework requiring the college to meet established standards and undergo periodic peer review.

Reputation (Employability Rankings)

For 2027, Auburn's Business Analytics program was ranked No. 13 among public universities and No. 34 overall by U.S. News & World Report. The current program page also reports an 89% job placement rate, $66,700 average starting salary, and lists Deloitte, KPMG and Regions among top employers.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

Auburn's Business Analytics major places strong emphasis on applying analytics to real business problems rather than learning concepts only in the classroom. Students can gain practical experience through internships, data-focused competitions and a required capstone in which they identify patterns in data, develop predictive models using machine-learning approaches and communicate their findings.

Students also have access to Harbert's business technology infrastructure, including computer labs and virtual computing environments equipped with analytics and visualization tools. The university's technology resources include Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx Designer, KNIME Analytics Platform, IBM SPSS Statistics and Python, among other software and data-analysis tools.

These opportunities give students several ways to turn classroom analytics into practical experience:

Business Analytics Case Competition: Students analyze real-world datasets and present solutions to panels that include industry sponsors and faculty. The competition provides a direct opportunity to work with business problems and compete for cash prizes.
Required capstone: Students complete a Business Analytics capstone at the end of the program, defining objectives, identifying patterns through descriptive analytics and creating predictive models using machine-learning approaches. Teams can compete in the Business Analytics Poster Competition for prizes and certificates.
Internships: Business Analytics students can begin internships as early as their sophomore year, with opportunities locally, nationally and globally; Auburn reports that 67.1% of students complete at least one internship. Students have interned with organizations including NASA, Brasfield & Gorrie, Bonnie Plants, OCV and Motion Industries.
Industry-relevant technology: Harbert's current Business Analytics materials identify technologies including Tableau, Power BI, SQL, Python, RStudio, KNIME and SAS Viya as industry-relevant technologies associated with the major.
Real-world analytics projects: Auburn has documented students using Python to build linear regression, decision-tree and neural-network models during the Business Analytics Case Competition, demonstrating how analytics techniques can be applied to real organizational datasets.
Data immersion facilities: Harbert has highlighted investment in a state-of-the-art data immersion lab designed to give Business Analytics students hands-on exposure to data technologies.
Career coaching: Students can meet career coaches through the Office of Professional and Career Development for career exploration, job searching, salary negotiation and graduate-school planning, with Handshake also available for career opportunities.

Progression & Future Opportunities

Auburn's Business Analytics graduates develop a combination of quantitative, technical and business skills that can be applied across industries such as finance, healthcare, marketing, consulting, transportation and information technology. The program's current career outcomes include roles such as Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, AI and Data Associate and Power BI Engineer, while its broader curriculum supports careers involving data analysis, predictive modeling and business intelligence.

Typical career roles include Business Analyst, Data Analyst, Financial Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst, with additional opportunities in data science, analytics consulting and AI-focused roles.

Students can build toward these opportunities through:

Career services: Harbert's Office of Professional and Career Development provides career coaching, résumé and professional-development support, mock interviews, mentoring and employer engagement. Business Analytics students can also work with dedicated career coaches and use Handshake for internship and employment opportunities.
Employment outcomes: The current Business Analytics program page reports an 89% job placement rate and $66,700 average starting salary. Auburn also reports that 67.1% of Business Analytics students complete at least one internship and that 100% gain real-world experience through experiential learning.
Employer connections: Auburn lists Deloitte, KPMG and Regions among the program's top employers, while Business Analytics students have also completed internships with organizations including NASA, Brasfield & Gorrie, Bonnie Plants, OCV and Motion Industries.
Industry engagement: The Business Analytics Case Competition brings students together with industry sponsors and faculty to analyze real-world datasets and present recommendations. Auburn also reports that the department's experiential-learning initiatives include internships, projects, competitions and industry collaborations.
Accreditation value: The Harbert College of Business is AACSB accredited, providing the business degree with a quality framework recognized across business education and maintained through rigorous standards and periodic peer review.
Graduation outcomes: The program's combination of a 123-credit BSBA curriculum, internship opportunities, capstone experience and career support is designed to help graduates move into analytics-focused professional roles or continue into graduate business and analytics study.

Further Academic Progression: Graduates can continue into graduate-level study at Auburn, including the Harbert College of Business's Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) and other graduate business pathways. The college also offers MBA and doctoral-level business education, providing options for students who want to deepen their expertise in analytics, information systems, management or business research.