How technical is the Ross MSBA curriculum?Do students learn coding, Python, SQL, or is it more business-focused?

Question

T Mehta · Accepted Answer

The Ross MSBA curriculum is technical enough to teach coding skills like Python and SQL, but it balances them with business applications. Core courses include programming, data management, statistics, and machine learning. Students usually get hands-on practice with tools like Python, R, and SQL for data analysis.
At the same time, the program isn&rsquo;t designed to make someone a pure software developer. Classes emphasize how to apply these technical skills to solve business problems in marketing, finance, or operations. Capstone projects with companies push students to connect coding with real-world decisions.
For applicants from non-technical backgrounds, the learning curve can be steep in the beginning, but the program provides support through workshops and peer collaboration. The goal is to graduate with both coding ability and the business context to use it effectively, which is what recruiters expect.

Mohit C · Answer

The program is not just business cases and PowerPoints &mdash; coding is very much part of it. Students go through a mix of technical and applied courses that build solid data skills.

Python and R are used for statistical modeling, machine learning, and data visualization.
SQL is covered for database management, which is key for large datasets.
Business-focused courses come later, showing how analytics supports areas like marketing, supply chain, or finance.
Company projects make students apply both coding and problem-solving in a consulting-style setting.
Those from non-technical backgrounds usually spend extra time on the programming side, while engineers often focus on sharpening business communication.

So it&rsquo;s a hybrid: strong enough in coding to get into data science or analytics roles, but with a constant push to tie every technical skill back to real business use cases.
For more details you can read this blog on "Michigan State University MSBA "