Mays Business School offers a graduate program leading to the degree of Master of Science (MS) in Analytics.

The mission of the MS Analytics program is to transform working professionals into leaders who can collaboratively solve business problems using modern techniques in analytics and communicate highly technical solutions in simpler terms while demonstrating social, cultural, and global competence.

The MS Analytics program is offered in 5 semesters as a part-time program designed for working professionals. This program is offered at CityCentre in Houston, Texas, and is also approved for delivery via synchronous distance education technology.

Students in the program choose whether to attend class sessions face-to-face or synchronously via distance education technology.

Steps to Fulfill a Masters Program 

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee
• Degree Plan
• Credit Requirements
• Transfer of Credit
• Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses
• Thesis Option
• Non-Thesis Option

Student’s Advisory Committee

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

The Mays MS Analytics student’s advisory committee consists of the Director of the Mays MS Analytics Program, or the Assistant or Associate Dean for Graduate Programs within the Mays Business School. The Director or the Assistant or Associate Dean has the responsibility of approving the standardized degree plan for each MS Analytics student. When necessary, recommendations in cases of academic deficiency will be made to the Graduate and Professional School.

Degree Plan

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

The student’s advisory committee, in consultation with the student, will develop the proposed degree plan. The degree plan must be completed and filed with the Graduate and Professional School prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable, and no later than 90 days prior to the date of the final oral examination or thesis defense.

A student should submit the degree plan using the online Document Processing Submission System.

A student submitting a proposed degree plan for a Master of Science degree should designate on the official degree plan the appropriate program option.

Additional coursework may be added to the approved degree plan by petition if it is deemed necessary by the advisory committee to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination or Request for Final Examination Exemption is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Credit Requirement

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A minimum of 36 semester credit hours of approved coursework is required for the non-thesis option.

Ordinarily the student will devote the major portion of his or her time to work in one or two closely related fields. Other work will be in supporting fields of interest.

Transfer of Credit

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

Due to our cohort model, the MS in Analytics program does not accept transfer of credit or substitutions.

Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

Some departments may have more restrictive requirements for transfer work. If otherwise acceptable, certain courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the master’s degree under the following limitations.

1. Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit.
2. For non-distance degree programs, no more than 50 percent of the non-research coursework required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.
3. To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs. 

Exceptions will be permitted only in unusual cases and when petitioned by the student’s advisory committee and approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Thesis Option

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

Please note that the thesis option does not apply to the MS in Analytics program.

Non-Thesis Option

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A final oral examination is not required for the Master of Science in Analytics degree.

A student pursuing the non-thesis option is not allowed to enroll in  691 (Research) for any reason and 691 may not be used for credit toward a non-thesis option Master of Science degree. A maximum of 4 credit hours of 684 (Professional Internship), 8 credit hours of 685 (Directed Studies), and up to 3 credit hours of 690 (Theory of Research) or 695 (Frontiers in Research) may be used toward the non-thesis option Master of Science degree. In addition, any combination of 684, 685, 690 and 695 may not exceed 25 percent of the total credit hour requirement shown on the individual degree plan. All requirements for the non-thesis option Master of Science degree other than those specified above are the same as for the thesis option degree.

The department head or the chair of an intercollegiate faculty (if appropriate) for the program may approve an exception for a PhD student who changes to a non-thesis option MS degree program after at least one year of PhD studies to use 691 credits toward a non-thesis option Master of Science degree. The department head or chair of an intercollegiate faculty (if appropriate) for the program may approve an exception for a master’s student who changes from a MS thesis option degree to a MS non-thesis option degree program to use 691 credits toward a non-thesis option Master of Science degree. In both cases, the student is allowed to use a maximum of 8 credit hours of 685 and 691 combined. Departments, Colleges, and Interdisciplinary Degree Programs may opt to establish higher standards. Further any combination of 684, 685, 690, 691, and 695 may not exceed 25 percent of the total credit hour requirement shown on the individual degree plan. All requirements for the non-thesis option Master of Science degree other than those specified above are the same as for the thesis option degree.

Additional Requirements

• Residence
• Continuous Registration
• Time Limit
• Scholastic Requirements
• Foreign Languages
• Application for Degree

Residence

On-Campus Degree Program

In partial fulfillment of the residence requirement for the degree of Master of Science, the student must complete 9 resident credit hours during one regular semester or one 10-week summer semester in resident study at Texas A&M University. A minimum of 1 credit hour must be in a non-distance education delivery mode. Semesters during which the student is enrolled in all distance education coursework will not count toward fulfillment of the residence requirement. Upon recommendation of the student’s advisory committee, department head or Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program, if appropriate, and with approval of the Graduate and Professional School, a student may be granted exemption from this requirement. Such a petition, however, must be approved prior to the student’s registration for the final 9 credit hours of required coursework.

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, students are required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of their employment to the Graduate and Professional School.

See Residence Requirements.

Distance Education Degree Program

The distance education modality does not have any residence requirement.

Continuous Registration

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

A student in the thesis option of the Master of Science program who has completed all coursework on his/her degree plan other than 691 (research) is required to be in continuous registration until all requirements for the degree have been completed. See Continuous Registration Requirements.

Time Limit

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

All degree requirements must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until seven years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework which is more than seven calendar years old at the time of the final examination (oral or written) may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

A student who has chosen the thesis option must have the final corrected copies of the thesis cleared by the Graduate and Professional School within one year of the semester in which the final exam is taken, or a final exam exemption petition was approved. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a final exam taken and passed during the Fall 2022 semester will expire at the end of the Fall 2023 semester. A final exam taken in the time between the Summer and Fall 2022 semesters will expire at the end of the Summer 2023 semester.

Scholastic Requirements

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

Please see the student handbook for additional academic standards, requirements, and processes.

Foreign Languages

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs

No specific language requirement exists for the Master of Science degree.

Application for Degree

On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs