Frequently Asked Questions

We don’t believe that the application process should be a significant roadblock to pursuing your education. Working through the entire online application from start to completion should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes. However, if you decide to complete a personal statement as part of your application, you should set aside enough time to compose and proofread it as well.

You have access to all the resources that on-campus students have, including Career Services (even for distance learners who are unable to make it to campus) and the Student Health Center (If you are local) . You can join and participate in student clubs if you are able to make occasional trips to campus, and you can even opt in to the Rec Center (contact Student Financial Services if you wish to opt in and the fee will be added to your tuition bill). More information on these opportunities is available during the online new student orientation.

The Online MBA program requires attendance at a three-day, two-night residency retreat during the first few weeks of your first term. The retreat is part of the program’s first course, OMBA 5205 Teams and Decision-Making, and features networking, team building, and leadership training activities. There are no in-person requirements for the Online MSBA program.

Tuition for both the Online MBA and MSBA programs is calculated on a per-credit-hour basis. Tuition and fee information can be found here.

Some courses may have live lectures or proctored tests; it is up to individual instructors to decide whether they think this is appropriate for their course.

Both the Online MBA and Online MSBA programs require a minimum GPA of 3.0 to graduate. Note that a C- grade is considered failing in both programs and will not count toward completion of your degree.

Yes! Students are highly encouraged to attend graduation.

At this time, courses for the Online MBA and Online MSBA are offered in sequence throughout the entirety of each program.

If you need to go off-sequence from the recommended program plan, you may work with a Student Success Coordinator to create an individualized program plan.

You may take one leave of absence for up to one year. If you require another leave of absence after the one allotted, it must be approved by the dean.

The average class size is 20 to 25 students.

Scholarships specific to the Online MBA and MSBA programs are not available at this time, but we encourage you to contact Student Financial Services at +1-206-220-8020 or financialservices@seattleu.edu with questions regarding financial aid.

Online graduate business students may be eligible for a variety of loans and grants. Be sure to file the FAFSA to establish your eligibility for government-sponsored financial aid.

If you are accepted into either the Online MBA or MSBA, more details on funding options will be sent to you by your Student Success Coordinator.

Albers strongly believes in the value of direct interaction and interpersonal communication for developing empathetic, collaborative business professionals. Our online business students can connect via the Zoom videochat app, course discussion boards, or email, and students local to the Seattle area sometimes meet for in-person study groups as well.

If you are aware of upcoming travel plans, we advise you to complete work for your course(s) ahead of time. Reach out to your instructor to see what options you may have in terms of due dates. If your scheduled trip is within the drop deadline, you may drop a course and have your program plan resequenced if necessary. It is always best to plan trips when you will not have any courses; keep in mind that instructors do not have to modify any due dates.

The Online MBA program consists of 54 credits and takes 2.5 years (9 quarters) to complete.

While the Online MBA program technically carries a full-time course load (two courses per quarter), the actual experience of the program is much more aligned with a flexible part-time MBA. Our online learning environment allows you to complete your coursework on your own time, in coordination with a full-time job and other responsibilities, and year-round scheduling ensures that the program can be completed in a timely manner (nine academic quarters).

The Albers Placement Center helps students and alumni be successful in their career development and job placement activities. Visit their website and read more about the services they provide for students.

The following companies recruit heavily from Seattle University: Amazon, Boeing, Blue Nile, CBRE, Ernst & Young, Holland America, ING Financial Partners, King County, New York Life, Nordstrom, PACCAR, Revel Consulting, and T-Mobile, as well as a host of small- to medium-sized companies.

Seattle University’s Online MBA stands out among MBA programs due to the influence of the university’s Jesuit ethics and values on its learning experience. Students are able to thrive in understanding and applying complicated concepts related to understanding various business challenges in this industry today. The amount of interaction, engagement, hands-on application of concepts, networking connections, and mentorship we offer is unlike other online MBA programs that are out there.

Furthermore, Albers’s MBA program has solidified its presence across industries through its proven track record of alumni employment with notable companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, and more. The university continually works to connect its students and secure support for them from start to completion of their Online MBA degree.

Yes, students can choose to take a study tour course in place of OMBA 5310. Along with our on-campus students, you will travel for two weeks and learn about international business topics. Take this opportunity to experience a new country and forge stronger connections with the Seattle University network. Each trip will have at least one 3-credit class associated with it, and the course subjects and locations vary every year. Learn more about past and upcoming trips on the Seattle Albers study abroad page.

Because it is so new, our Online MBA program does not have a cohort of alumni at this time. However, you will have access to Redhawk Landing as an Online MBA student, through which you can connect with alumni of Albers and SU in general.

Our Online MBA program does not offer concentrations at this time.

In addition to its online delivery, our Online MBA program differs from our on-ground programs because of its unifying program feature, “Leadership Challenges.” Learn more about how Leadership Challenges are utilized in each Online MBA course, and explore more information about all of the MBA programs we offer at Albers.

Any potential transfer credits must be submitted to the department for review and approval.

The Online MSBA program consists of 48 credits and takes 2 years (7.5 quarters) to complete.

If you choose to submit a personal statement, our admissions team suggests responding to one of the following suggestions:

• Describe any work you have done analyzing data to solve a problem, the process used, and software you may have used.
• The Online MSBA program is very quantitative in nature. Highlight your experience with quantitative analysis
• How might your Online MSBA experience assist your future organization?

In addition, applicants are encouraged to read our personal statement writing tips.

In addition to R and Python programming, students will also study Apache Hadoop and Spark, SQL, NoSQL, MapReduce, and more.

It depends on how you look at it. In the Python and R prep course, we not only cover the absolute basics but also the information will help you build a strong foundation in data analytics and these tools.All materials can be found in the Canvas course, so there is no textbook.

Some of you may experience a steep learning curve, but it is important to have a solid foundation moving forward. The more time you spend learning these programming languages, the better you will understand the material.

Your SU email account will be the primary method of communication. Please email your instructor directly if you have a question. Your instructor will usually respond within 24 hours, but please do not wait until the last minute to ask for help. They may not be able to respond on short notice. You can also use the discussion forums in Canvas if you would like to reach out to your classmates.

You can run Python and R on macOS or Microsoft Windows operating systems. However, the business world is primarily PC-based so it would be a good idea to be familiar with PCs.

Some notable employers of Albers’s MSBA graduates are Amazon, Bank of America, Expedia, Facebook, Boeing, Deloitte, Microsoft, and Zillow.

The university’s Jesuit roots inform the education in the Online MSBA program by supporting its focus on empathy, ethical data practice, and interpersonal communication. We are also uniquely placed to offer networking connections to leading-edge data-driven companies like Amazon, Qualtrics, and Zillow due to our location in the tech hub of Seattle.

The Online MSBA does include a significant amount of technical content, particularly programming skills. In order to help ease the transition into technical coursework, the program features an online R and Python programming bootcamp prior to the beginning of your first quarter.

Our online business students can connect via the Zoom videochat app, course discussion boards, or email, and students local to the Seattle area sometimes meet for in-person study groups as well.

We do not offer analytics certificates at this time.

While data analytics certificates may offer a quick, targeted education in technical skills and tools, a robust master’s degree program like the Online MSBA provides a much deeper examination of such tools’ applicability in business settings and training in the essential data translation function that the best business analytics professionals play in today’s organizations.

Structurally, the Online MSBA program requires 48 credit hours of specifically sequenced required courses to complete, whereas the on-campus MSBA is 45 credit hours in length with 9 credits of electives. The on-campus MSBA can be completed in as little as one year, but only permits students to start in the fall term; The Online MSBA takes as few as 2 years to complete, but allows four quarterly starts per year.

In terms of course content, the Online MSBA program has been built around a theme of “Data Translation,” and each course features a Data Translation Challenge that teaches students to view business problems in terms of the analytical approach required to solve them and the communication skills necessary to transform your findings into a plan of action.

Online MSBA courses feature problems and case studies derived from real-world data sets.

Our business analytics faculty is a diverse group, some of whom hold PhDs, MS or MBA degrees, and JDs. Faculty who teach in the Online MSBA come from many departments at Seattle University, not just from Albers. Some have worked solely in academia, but the majority have experience outside of academia as well, in roles that include:

• Consultants (for both private and public entities, including governmental agencies)
• Managing directors of major corporations and banks such as Goldman Sachs
• Vice president of a Fortune 500 company
• Analyst at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
• Software engineers working in tech and financial services companies including Hewlett-Packard Company and Kroll Factual Data