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Master
Business Intelligence

Unlock the power of data with our master in Business Intelligence programme. Dive deep into data science, predictive analytics, big data, machine learning and more to shape the future of business decision-making!

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AACSB
EQAR
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Wissenschaftsrat

End 2024 right: invest in your career

Apply by January 5th and get a discount of up to €1,444!

Commit to improving your future today and make 2025 your year. Join us on campus in Berlin, study in English, and graduate with an internationally recognised degree. 

Apply Now

End 2024 right: invest in your career

Apply by January 5th and get a discount of up to €1,444!

Commit to improving your future today and make 2025 your year. Join us on campus in Berlin, study in English, and graduate with an internationally recognised degree. 

Apply Now
Overview

Take the next step with an online Master in Business Intelligence

Business intelligence and data reporting have dual importance in modern-day businesses: it helps to better understand and improve daily operations, and also helps to plan and assess future actions. With a Master's in Business Intelligence, you'll have a strong base in the business and technical aspects of data management and business intelligence. You can use this to help make businesses better, and develop an international career in a fast-growing industry sector.

Your online degree summed up

All the facts and figures about your study programme at a glance
OnlineCampus Study Model Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
60 or 120 ECTS credits

Language
English
Accreditation & Recognition
Accreditation
Accredited in line with German and European standards
ZFU 1130022
60 ECTS credits - English
ZFU 1130122
120 ECTS credits - English

Recognition
Your degree is Internationally recognised and can easily be transferred to another country
Tuition Fees & Discounts
Tuition Fees
Starting from € 299 (US$ 316)* per month
*based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)

Online application
No application fees
Study Duration
Study start
any time

Duration
12 - 48 months (depending on time model)
100 % flexible

You decide where and when you want to study

Modernised learning

Access our unique learning app and AI tutor 

Award-winning education

First-class learning: 96% recommended 

Study contents

Course overview

Here's a quick overview of what your studies in the Master in Business Intelligence programme at IU will look like:

Programme Highlights:

  • Gain expertise in various data management concepts and practices.
  • Emphasis on practical work skills, including close examinations of ETL processes, data storage, data modeling, and visualization.
  • Focus on key figure creation for BI (Business Intelligence) reports.

Progression of Studies

  • Acquaint yourself with main practical aspects of business intelligence.
  • Later studies involve expanding and deepening knowledge.
  • Choose elective courses based on personal interests in the field.
  • Study topics like big data, data mining, data analytics, business analytics and even topics like project management, machine learning, database management, marketing analytics and more!

Programme Options

  • 120-ECTS Master's degree for those with a Bachelor's degree in Information Sciences.
  • Advanced 60-ECTS programme for candidates with professional experience in Business Intelligence roles and have a non-Information Sciences undergraduate degree.

This programme includes an AI prompt engineering course, so you can learn how to use tools like ChatGPT best in your everyday life, work, and studies. 

Semester 1

Module

ECTS credits

Business Intelligence I

5

Relational and NoSQL Databases

5

Data Query Languages

5

Project: Business Intelligence

5

Data Warehousing Architecture Types

5

Seminar: Data Warehouse Approaches and Methodologies

5

Semester 2

Module

ECTS credits

Advanced Research Methods

5

Elective A

10

Master Thesis

15

Electives overview

Elective A

In your 2nd semester, you'll need to choose an elective module, which you can choose from one of the following modules:

Module

ECTS credits

Applied Data Modeling and Reporting

10

Data Provisioning in Data Warehouse Systems

10

Big Data Engineering

10

AI and Mastering AI Prompting

10

Semester 1

Module

ECTS credits

Business Intelligence I

5

Concepts in Data Management

5

Corporate Governance of IT, Compliance and Law

5

Relational and NoSQL Databases

5

Data Query Languages

5

Project: Business Intelligence

5

Semester 2

Module

ECTS credits

Seminar: Ethic & Societal Considerations in Data Management

5

Strategic Management

5

Data Warehousing Architecture Types

5

Extract, Transform and Load Technologies

5

Advanced Research Methods

5

Seminar: Data Warehouse Approaches and Methodologies

5

Semester 3

Module

ECTS credits

Data Modeling and Reporting

5

Project: Data Modeling and Reporting

5

Elective A

10

Elective B

10

Semester 4

Module

ECTS credits

Master Thesis

30

Electives overview

Elective A + B

In your 3rd semester, you'll need to choose an elective module, which you can choose from one of the following modules:

Module

ECTS credits

Data Engineer

10

Big Data Engineering

10

Big Data

10

Data Miner

10

Digital Marketing

10

Digital Business Models and Change

10

Technical Project Lead

10

Digital Business and Entrepreneurship

10

AI and Mastering AI Prompting

10

Module guide

Module guide (60 ECTS credits)

Module guide (120 ECTS credits)

Online course schedules

Course Schedule (60 ECTS credits)

Course Schedule (120 ECTS credits)

All the support you need, any time of day

With this programme, you’ll have access to human and AI-powered tutoring. 

Your tutors will be available to answer any questions, and you’ll have recurring appointments where you can discuss course topics with them and other students. 

Syntea, IU’s AI-powered tutor, will be available 24/7 to guide you through your courses and prepare you for exams. 

Study your way, and master working with AI at the same time. 

Admission

Entry requirements

The admissions documents must be provided in English or German. If they were not issued in one of these two languages, a translation is required. If you need to translate your documents, we can help refer you to our trusted translation partners. You can find more details here. 

General admission requirements

Admission Requirements for 120-ECTS credits: 

  • Completed, undergraduate degree with 180 ECTS credits with a focus on Economics or Business Administration, Natural Sciences, Data Science or (Business) Informatics or Computer Science 
  • Your degree must be from a state or state-recognised higher education institution/university  
  • You must have achieved a final grade of at least “satisfactory” or Grade C equivalent in your previous undergraduate degree 

Admission Requirements for 60-ECTS credits  

  • Completed, undergraduate degree with 240 ECTS credits.  
  • Your degree must be from a state or state-recognised higher education institution/university  
  • You must have achieved a final grade of at least “satisfactory” or Grade C equivalent in your previous undergraduate degree 
  • Proof of at least one year’s professional work experience completed prior to the start of study programme. Work experience must have been gained after completion of your undergraduate studies 

Further admission opportunities

For the 60 ECTS credits programme:

Depending on previous education, the following entry options are applicable for the 60 ECTS credits Master's degree:

  • undergraduate degree with 210 ECTS credits: You can bridge the gap of 30 ECTS credits with proof of one year of qualified professional experience
  • undergraduate degree with 180 ECTS credits: You can bridge the gap of 60 ECTS credits with proof of two years of qualified professional experience

For the 120 ECTS credits programme:

If you have completed a non-subject-related undergraduate degree programme, you can still apply for admission. By successfully completing 2 specific modules of the Master's degree programme, you can gain admission to your desired 120 ECTS credits Master's degree programme. 

The recognition of knowledge and skills acquired outside of higher education is generally possible.

The further admission opportunities represent individual cases to the above-mentioned general admission requirements and ensure the existence of a corresponding qualification for Master's degree programmes. Admission is at the discretion of the university.

Work experience

For the 60 ECTS credits programme:

  • Proof of at least one year’s qualified work experience completed prior to the start of the study programme (the work experience must be gained after the completion of your undergraduate studies).
  • Don’t have a year’s worth of qualified work experience? Don’t worry! With the Fee Reduction Programme, you can start your studies right away, and gain your professional experience alongside your studies. You’ll need to achieve the one year’s worth of experience before you complete your Fee Reduction Programme.
  • You can provide us a translation of your employment contract and your pay slip or you can ask your company to fill out this form in English, sign it, apply the company stamp and send it to us:
    Proof of work experience (EN)
    Proof of work experience (NL)
    Proof of work experience (ES)
    Proof of work experience (IT)
    Proof of work experience (FR)

Fee Reduction Programme

Apply for the Fee Reduction Programme and receive a discount on your tuition fees. 

Please get in touch with our Study Advisory Team for more details. 

English language skills

Depending on your personal circumstances, you might be required to provide proof of your English language proficiency. Your skills would need to match the B2 level of the Common European Framework (CEF). 

We accept the following English language skills certificates*: 

  • TOEFL (minimum 80 points)* or 
  • IELTS (minimum Level 6)* or 
  • Duolingo English Test (minimum 95 points)*
  • PTE Academics (minimum 59 points)* or
  • Cambridge Certificate (minimum Grade B)* 

Is English your native language, or have you graduated from an English-speaking school or university? Then you do not need to prove your English language proficiency. 

Get in touch with our study advisors for more details. 

*Proof must not be older than five years. 

Work experience

For the 60 ECTS credits programme:

APS Certificate

If you are from India, China or Vietnam, you might need the APS certificate to study in Germany, regardless of if your programme is 100% online or on-campus. Learn more about the APS certification here.  

Don’t meet the work experience requirements? You can still apply to our partner institutions.

At IU, we’re serious about making education accessible! So, if you do not meet our work experience requirements, you still have the option to get a similar international, flexible degree from one of our partner institutions. Contact the Study Advisors today to learn more.

Careers

Your Master in Business Intelligence career outlook

With your Master's in Business Intelligence, you can expect excellent career prospects in global companies looking to improve their business operations by analysing data. Whether it be in sports organisations, software companies or e-commerce operations, you can find one of the following roles:

Business analyst (man) with curly hair, glasses and blue shirt, smiles at camera

Business Intelligence Analyst

Business intelligent analysts are professionals with the ability to make sense of complex data, recognise patterns in it and come up with business-relevant insights based on those patterns and findings. They’re responsible for not only generating data reports, but also for developing the concepts for which they should be created. That is why for such a role, a strong understanding of business administration objectives is required.

Woman wearing orange shirt and glasses holds paper documents in hand and listens to a discussion

Business Intelligence Solution Architect

Your work as a business intelligence solution architect will revolve around analysing business processes. Create prediction models, develop databases and data warehouse architectures, generate reports and dashboards for stakeholders and be the contact person for questions regarding data and operations.

Data consultant (man) with dark hair and grey shirt is at work on his computer

Data Consultant

As a data consultant, it will be up to you to develop data management strategies based on your expertise as a business intelligence professional. Solve concrete problems regarding data analysis and protection, but also work on implementing large-scale data collection strategies for companies.

Student reviews

This is what our students say

  • “After completing your Master’s studies at IU, you can quickly start a management career.”

    Denise Piko

    Online student

  • “In my view, the flexibility makes a compelling case for learning online at IU. The wide range of elective modules to choose from also won me over. It means you can specialise in what you really want to do.”

    Philipp Kleingrothe

    Graduate, Germany

  • “In both my passion and my career, the skills and competencies I learned at IU have made a big difference.”

    Zena Massaad

    Online student, Syria

Read our success stories
Personal counselling
Have any questions?

Visit our FAQ page or get in touch with our Study Advisors. You can also find information about the application process under our Become a Student page.

Personal counselling
Have any questions?

Visit our FAQ page or get in touch with our Study Advisors.


Tuition fees

Online Study models & fees for your Master degree in Business Intelligence

On campus study model and fees for your Master degree in Business Intelligence

Depending on your personal or professional circumstances, you may wish to complete your studies as quickly as possible, or you may prefer a more flexible study programme that is less time-consuming. That’s why we offer part-time options for all our study programmes. This allows you to study alongside professional or personal commitments. We adjust your study fees based on your chosen time model.

Are you unable to finish your programme within the given time? No problem! If you realise that you need more time, you can simply switch to another time model with one months’ notice before the end of the month.

No registration or administration fees are charged when you apply for studying – you’ll only be charged once your studies have started, and the trial month has ended.

Your trial month begins when you receive your login credentials. This will give you the opportunity to test our courses for one month without obligation, before being charged. During that month, you can then take your first courses and start learning right away!

Once the trial month is over, your studies continue. You’ll pay your tuition fees according to your contract.

At IU, we believe in full transparency – so there are no hidden fees. You only pay for your tuition and the one-time campus registration fee of €1,500.

No registration or administration fees are charged when you apply for studying – you'll only be charged once your studies have started. If you won't be admitted to a programme because you do not meet the admission requirements, no fees will be charged.

Full-Time

Duration 12 Months

Perfect for students who want to hit the ground running and shorten the period of study by increasing their studying pace.

US$ 820
US$ 692 /mth* Apply now
* € 655 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)

Part-Time I

Duration 18 Months

Excellent for talented all-rounders who want to give their studies everything they’ve got while holding down a job and keeping down their monthly costs at the same time.

US$ 608
US$ 523 /mth* Apply now
* € 495 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)

Part-Time II

Duration 24 Months

Ideal for students who would like to take their time completing their courses on top of their job and everyday life and keep down the monthly costs of their studies.

US$ 503
US$ 439 /mth* Apply now
* € 415 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)
Additional charges

Full-Time

Duration 24 Months

Perfect for students who want to hit the ground running and shorten the period of study by increasing their studying pace.

US$ 588
US$ 524 /mth* Apply now
* € 496 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)

Part-Time I

Duration 36 Months

Excellent for talented all-rounders who want to give their studies everything they’ve got while holding down a job and keeping down their monthly costs at the same time.

US$ 441
US$ 399 /mth* Apply now
* € 377 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)

Part-Time II

Duration 48 Months

Ideal for students who would like to take their time completing their courses on top of their job and everyday life and keep down the monthly costs of their studies.

US$ 348
US$ 316 /mth* Apply now
* € 299 based on the exchange rate from 30.11.2024 12:00 AM (CET)
Additional charges

All our study programmes include the following benefits

  • Teaching and study material
  • Marking of your end-of-module exams
  • Monthly live and recorded tutorials
  • Use of the online campus
  • Individual study coaching
  • Online exams
  • Career coaching
  • Learn English for free
  • 4-week money back guarantee
  • Teaching and study material
  • Marking of your end-of-module exams
  • Individual study coaching
  • Online exams
  • Career coaching
  • Learn English for free
  • On-campus tutorials, 2-3x week
  • Access to all on-campus services
Recognition

Recognition of previous achievements

  • Save time: Skip individual modules or whole semesters!

Even before you apply for a study programme, we’ll gladly check whether we can take your previous achievements into account: 100% online, no strings attached. Simply fill in our recognition application form, which you can find under the content section of each study programme's webpage, and upload it via our upload section. You can also e-mail it to us, or send it via post.

Send an email to study@iu.org to find out which previous achievements you can get recognised. You can get your previous achievements recognised during your studies.

Do you need help with your application for recognition? Our student advisors will be happy to help. Simply arrange a personal call-back appointment.Arrange a personal video consultation appointment to discuss recognition

Recognition files

Guide to recognition

Individual application for recognition (60 ECTS credits)

Individual application for recognition (120 ECTS credits)

Why IU International University of Applied Sciences is the best choice

Your Studies Are Flexible and 100% Online

Schedule when you want to learn and study 100% online. At IU you have the possibility to complete your degree fully from home, whether full-time or part-time. You can even take your exams online whenever it suits you. 

Accredited & Globally Recognised

IU is accredited and certified with a seal of approval from the German Accreditation Council. All IU study programmes, materials, and services meet high internal and external quality standards, which are regularly reviewed and updated. We can also provide you with an official Europass Diploma Supplement once you graduate, to ensure that your degree is recognised anywhere in the EU.

You Gain Full Support

We provide you with innovative learning tools, digital study material, tutorial videos, live teaching sessions, student advice and support. You also have 24/7 access to our large online library. Your tutors are always available to answer your questions. Our study coaches are also available to help at any time. 

The Ideal Mix of Theory & Practice

Our programmes provide you with essential theoretical knowledge and focus, above all, on practice-oriented studies designed to best prepare you for your future career. Thanks to our great variety of electives you can specialise in the specific areas that match your personal goals.

Accredited & Globally Recognised

IU is accredited and certified with a seal of approval from the German Accreditation Council. All IU study programmes, materials, and services meet high internal and external quality standards, which are regularly reviewed and updated. We can also provide you with an official Europass Diploma Supplement once you graduate, to ensure that your degree is recognised anywhere in the EU.

The Ideal Mix of Theory & Practice

Our programmes provide you with essential theoretical knowledge and focus, above all, on practice-oriented studies designed to best prepare you for your future career. Thanks to our great variety of electives you can specialise in the specific areas that match your personal goals.

Hybrid Studies = More Flexibility

By combining in-person tutorials 2-3 times per week with 24/7 access to online study materials, you get to benefit from a more flexible study schedule. This allows you to work alongside your studies, or combine other activities, with relative ease. 

You Gain Full Support

We provide you with innovative learning tools, intimate campuses, easy access to lecturers, live teaching sessions, student advice services, and career support. You also have 24/7 access to our large online library. Your tutors are always available to answer your questions – and so are our study coaches.  

FAQs

What is a master in business intelligence?

A Master in Business Intelligence focuses on developing expertise in utilizing data-related tech to help in decision-making in the business world. You will typically cover topics such as big data, data science, data analysis, data mining, and business analytics. You'll learn how to collect, interpret, and leverage data to drive strategic and operational decisions within an organization.

What's better a master in business intelligence or MBA?

The choice depends on career goals. An MBA is broader, while a masters in Business Intelligence is more specialised. The latter is more streamlined towards data analysis, data science, big data and business analytics. It helps to figure out where your interests lie before you choose between a traditional MBA or a business intelligence master that is more tailored to today's digital era.

Who is eligible for a business intelligence master?

Eligibility requires a completed bachelor's degree in fields with a focus on Economics or Business Administration, Natural Sciences, Data Science or (Business) Informatics or Computer Science.

Is business intelligence in demand?

Yes, business intelligence professionals are in high demand as companies increasingly rely on data-driven insights. Skills in big data, data analysis, and business analytics (which is what you'll learn in business intelligence programmes) are particularly sought after in today's business world!

What career opportunities can a Master in Business Intelligence open up for me?

With a Business Intelligence master, you can explore diverse career paths - including roles in business analytics, data management, data science, and strategic decision-making. Our programme equips you with the skills sought after in today's data-driven business landscape!

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