The program allows students to tailor the program to their career goals. There are a wide variety of electives offered in applied statistics and mathematical statistics, including biology, computer science, operations research, accounting, business administration, finance, sociology, actuarial science, and math.

BGSU is excited to offer the MSAS with a specialization in business analytics. The explosion of modern computing power and data acquisition techniques has created a profession generally known as business analytics that is in increasing demand. The job market seeks people with a strong background in fundamental statistical training, a solid exposure to operations research, and a firm understanding of management of information systems and business operations. Writing on the growing opportunities in the fields of business analytics and big data, McKinsey & Company, a global management-consulting firm, found that “by 2018 the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills.” The business analytics specialization at BGSU prepares students for this exciting new career. The specialization adds six credit hours to the standard MSAS curriculum, with courses covering data mining, time series analysis, and linear and integer programming. It also adds additional elective options in economics, business administration and computer science.