The Best Entry-Level MBA and MSBA Jobs

If you're thinking about getting either an online master's of business administration (MBA) or online master's of science in business analytics degree (MSBA), what may be driving your decision is how much money you can earn after graduation. And even before that, you're probably wondering which of these degrees makes the most sense for you to pursue in the first place.

In this blog post, we'll discuss the main differences between the programs and tell you some of the best entry-level MBA and MSBA positions you can get once you have your degree in hand.

Before you apply for a program, you should think about what kind of knowledge and skills you’d like to gain or which jobs you want. In terms of subject matter, the main difference between an MBA and MSBA degree is that the MSBA degree is more specialized. The curriculum of a traditional MBA program covers a broad range of the business topics you'll need to master if you want to take a leadership role in public or private enterprises. Typical MBA courses include:

• Teams and Decision-Making
• Building Internal and Community Stakeholder Relationships
• Creating Value through Marketing and Operations
• Corporate Financial Management
• The Domestic and Global Economies
• Supply Chain Management
• Negotiation Skills

The MSBA degree, on the other hand, has grown due to the demand for people working at the intersection of business and technology.¹ It typically takes less time to earn this degree; students can usually complete an online MSBA program in as little as a year, while the MBA is a two-year program. Moreover, the degree's focus is on using technology to make better business decisions and communicating data findings to stakeholders. This is a popular choice for people with strong math and computer science skills.

In addition to learning R and Python programming, you'll take MSBA classes such as:

• Statistics for Business Analytics
• Programming for Business
• Data Wrangling, Visualization, and Communication
• Big Data Analytics
• Machine Learning
• Artificial Intelligence for Business

Marketing managers create a strategic plan to improve a company's ROI (return on investment) by advertising their goods or services. Depending on the size of the company, a marketing manager may handle all of the marketing or be in charge of one sector, like digital marketing or content creation. Job growth in this field is about average—a predicted 10% from 2020 through 2030—and the median pay is $141,490 a year.¹ Entry-level positions pay far less; according to ZipRecruiter, you can expect to earn $43,221 a year on average.²

The job of a medical and health services manager is to make sure the health care facilities that employ them run cost-effectively. This can be a difficult entry-level MBA job, given the number of regulations to which the facility must adhere. The median pay for this career in 2020 was $104,280, and there is strong projected job growth: 32% between 2020 and 2030.³

When people think of financial managers, they may think of someone who makes recommendations about the holdings in an individual's retirement portfolio. But financial managers also work to make sure a company has sufficient cash flow to remain in operation. The median salary for financial managers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, was $134,180 in 2020. Projected job growth is better than average—17% from 2020 to 2030.⁴

Companies hire management consultants when their organization is either at a critical transition or facing major obstacles. The consultant's role is to assess how the organization is currently functioning and make solutions. The vast majority of entry-level positions are with management consultant firms. In 2020, the median pay was $87,660. Job growth between 2020 and 2030 is 14%, which is slightly higher than the average.⁵

Business analysts compile, evaluate, and analyze the vast amounts of data that an organization accumulates to help the organization improve ROI and achieve its goals. According to GlassDoor, the average national starting salary for a business analyst is $55,793.⁶ Employees in this role often receive additional compensation in the form of annual bonuses.

When you're a computer and information systems manager, you coordinate, plan, and direct the computer-related activities for an organization. Along with these elevated responsibilities, this career has high earning potential: the median pay in 2020 was $151,150. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, projected job growth through 2030 is 11%, or just above the national average.⁷

A marketing manager creates a business's marketing plan, while a marketing analyst interprets and studies a company's data to assist in formulating that plan. Marketing analysts also study the data on competitors' activities, ongoing market conditions, and consumer behavior. While this job does not pay as much as some of the other careers you can get with an online MSBA degree—$65,810 was the median salary in 2020—it is a fast-growing field with plenty of room for advancement.⁸

Starting your career can be intimidating, but we’ll make sure you enter the job market with confidence. After all, U.S. News and World Report voted Seattle University's Albers School of Business one of the nation's Best Value Schools for a reason: You won't need to break the bank to prepare yourself for a top-paying entry-level job at companies like Boeing, Nike, Microsoft, or Amazon.¹⁰

Interested in learning more about what an online degree from Seattle U offers? Check out our MBA and MSBA course offerings today.