Murad Moqbel, program director for UTRGV’s Master of Science in Business Analytics, says data is powering the world these days.

“Data is the new oil,” he said. “It used to be that people made decisions based on their experience or intuition but analytics allows us to make data-driven decisions.”

That’s why a recent study by Fortune magazine that ranks UTRGV’s Online MSBA program fourth in Texas for 2024 – and 17th in the broader national roster – is so important.

It’s common practice today for companies to collect the data they need to gain insights and knowledge for improving efficiencies, reducing waste and increasing profitability.

“In our MSBA program, we teach our students how to process all this data, transforming it from raw facts – ‘crude oil,’ if you will – into clear, useful information,” Moqbel said.

It is predicted that the employment rate for data scientists will grow by 36 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations, with a projected 17,700 openings for data scientists each year.

High Ranking Analysis

Bin Wang, chairman of the Department of Information Systems in the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, was a leading force in organizing the MSBA program five years ago.

Since then, the program – which can be completed in as little as a year – has had more than 200 graduates, with many sharing their success stories with Wang and other faculty.

“We took a lot of care when we developed our curriculum to make sure that we have a high-quality program and people who care about our students, to make this the program really successful,” Wang said.

Despite training students in highly technical, leading-edge analytics skills sought out by many industries – like data mining, machine learning and data visualization – Wang said the UTRGV MSBA is accessible to students from a variety of backgrounds, not only those with business, math or computer science expertise.

An analysis of the program’s students found that more than half have a non-business undergraduate degree.

“Many joined our program and were enabled to shift careers,” Wang said. “Anyone who has an interest in using data to project how businesses can grow successfully in the future is welcome.”

Fortune’s MSBA rankings are based on a combination of selectivity, success and demand.