MSA Class of 2013

The Institute is delighted to announce it has enrolled 85 candidates who will begin studies soon as members of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2013. The admissions committee reviewed 270 applications, up over 62-percent from last year. A total of 94 applicants were offered admission; all but nine accepted the offer. The process yielded a competitive acceptance rate of 35-percent. Incoming students represent 14 countries of origin and hail from 14 states coast-to-coast. Over eighty percent of the Class of 2013 are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Seventy percent have prior work experience, and over 40-percent hold one or more graduate degrees, including 9 with a MBA, one PhD, and one JD.

The Class of 2013 will complete the 10-month MSA program in two evenly split cohort groups. The expansion from 40 to 85 students comes after graduation of the Institute’s fifth cohort, and the continually increasing employer demand for analytics professionals matched by a growing pool of highly qualified applicants. Commenting on the new class, the Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, stated “The 85 candidates in the Class of 2013 are clear evidence of the Institute’s ability to attract exceptionally talented and highly motivated students, who will soon help fuel economic development in North Carolina and nationwide through the application of analytics to big data. We’re very excited to have them here.” The Institute’s Master of Science in Analytics is the nation’s first program of its kind founded in 2007.

TABLE: Profile of the MSA Class of 2013.

Number of students:	85
Percent who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents:	82
Percent who are North Carolina residents:	59
Number of countries of origin:	14
Percent who are female:	40
Average number of years since undergraduate degree:	6
Average undergraduate GPA:	3.42
Percent with a prior graduate degree:	44
Percent previously employed full-time:	71
Average / Median age:	29 / 27
Range in age:	21-54