Accelerated Online Behavior Analysis (MA)

Essential Skills & Insights

Coursework in this online master’s in behavior analysis program prepares you to apply evidence-based strategies that improve outcomes for individuals, families, and organizations. You’ll develop the advanced skills needed to design interventions, analyze data, and lead with compassion and scientific rigor.

• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) — Expertise-Master the principles and practices of ABA to support individuals with developmental, behavioral, or learning challenges.
• Assessment & Data Analysis — Learn how to assess behavior, collect and interpret data, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
• Program Development & Implementation — Gain the ability to design, implement, and monitor behavioral programs that promote positive change across settings.
• Ethics & Professional Practice — Develop a strong understanding of ethical guidelines and best practices to ensure responsible and effective care.
• Leadership & Communication — Strengthen your ability to collaborate with families, educators, healthcare providers, and organizational leaders.

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AI-Powered Learning, Real-World Impact

Our accelerated online programs integrate opportunities to engage with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a powerful tool for learning and career preparation. Students apply AI in ways that build authentic skills and mirror how businesses are leveraging it across industries. We emphasize ethical and responsible use, ensuring that students develop the judgment to apply AI appropriately. This approach helps graduates enter the workforce with both technical knowledge and a clear understanding of AI’s role in their discipline.

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Careers in Behavior Analysis

The demand for behavior analysts continues to grow, particularly in clinical, educational, and organizational settings. Graduates of a Master’s in Behavior Analysis are prepared for roles that improve lives and support communities while advancing professional opportunities.

• Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) — Median salary: $76,000
  Provide assessment, intervention, and treatment planning for individuals with developmental disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and other behavioral challenges.
• Behavior Intervention Specialist — Median salary: $70,000
  Work in schools, clinics, or community organizations to design and monitor interventions that support student and client success.
• Organizational Behavior Management Consultant — Median salary: $95,000
  Apply behavioral principles in corporate and organizational environments to improve performance, leadership, and workplace culture.

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Admissions Requirements

For admission to your Accelerated Online MA in Behavior Analysis, simply complete the 2 step application process.

1. Complete the Graduate Admissions Online Application by visiting my.lindenwood.edu/register
2. Request official transcripts from your undergraduate institution(s) showing a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
   
   Only transcripts with the final degree posted are required if you attended multiple institutions.
   
   Request your official transcript to be sent directly to Lindenwood University Accelerated Online via one of the methods below:
   • Electronically to: [email protected]
   • By Mail to:
     Office of Admissions
     Lindenwood University Accelerated Online
     8205 S Priest Dr #11480
     Tempe, AZ 85284
   • By Fax to: 480-393-1826

Curriculum Overview

Take the next step toward a rewarding career as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with our online accelerated Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis. Designed for working professionals and career changers alike, our program combines the flexibility of 24/7 online learning with rigorous, hands-on preparation.

Our MA BA program curriculum is designed to prepare graduates to meet the academic eligibility requirements for Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) examination. You will complete the 2,000 hours of supervised fieldwork required for BCBA certification in a variety of real-world settings, build confidence under the mentorship of seasoned supervisors, and graduate ready to step into independent practice. By combining flexible online coursework with immersive fieldwork, our program ensures you’re not just meeting requirements—you’re preparing for a successful and meaningful career as a behavior analyst.

Required Courses:

Major Coursework – 30 credit hours

Foundation courses are provided to support student readiness for MBA coursework and are required if students have not taken prior undergraduate courses:

Code	Title	Credits
EDSBA 50001	Ethical and Professional Issues in Behavior Analysis	3
EDSBA 51001	Concepts and Principles in Behavior Analysis	3
EDSBA 51101	Philosophical Foundations in Behavior Analysis and Introductory Concepts	3
EDSBA 52001	Advanced Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis	3
EDSBA 52101	Measurement, Data Display, Interpretation, and Experimental Design	3
EDSBA 53001	Behavior Change Procedures for Applied Behavior Analysis	3
EDSBA 53101	Verbal Behavior Concepts and Applications to Behavior Change Procedures	3
EDSBA 54001	Observation and Assessment in Behavior Analysis	3
EDSBA 55001	Performance Diagnostics, Supervision, and Organizational Behavior	3
EDSBA 56001	Master’s Thesis – Behavior Analysis	3

Ethical and Professional Issues in Behavior Analysis

This course will familiarize students with the BACB Ethics Code (updated January 2022) and will include topics on responsibility as a professional, responsibility in practice, responsibility to clients and stakeholders, responsibility to supervisees and trainees, responsibility in public statements, and responsibility in research, as well as code enforcement procedures, legal constraints, and professionalism. Students will also be introduced to the IRB process. Additionally, this course covers Domain E 1-12 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO) and satisfies the requirement of 45 contact hours of behavior analytic ethics within a freestanding course.

Concepts and Principles in Behavior Analysis

In this course, students will develop competence in the technical terminology on the basic concepts and principles of behavior analysis. Topics will include identifying and distinguishing stimulus and stimulus class, identifying and distinguishing positive and negative punishment and automatic and socially-mediated contingencies, and identifying and distinguishing unconditioned, conditioned, and generalized reinforcers and punishers. Additional topics will include basic and compound schedules of reinforcement, extinction, stimulus control and discrimination, generalization, maintenance, motivating operations, behavioral momentum, the matching law, imitation, and observational learning. This course covers Domain B 2, B 5-17, and B 22-24 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO) and meets the requirement that 45 contact hours on these topics are covered within a freestanding course.

Philosophical Foundations in Behavior Analysis and Introductory Concepts

This course covers the history and philosophical underpinnings of behavior analysis, theoretical approaches to understanding behavior, and will introduce students to concepts and principles necessary for understanding behavior. Topics will include the goals of behavior analysis as a science (i.e., description, prediction, control), the philosophical assumptions underlying the science of behavior analysis (e.g., selectionism, determinism, empiricism, parsimony, pragmatism), the dimensions of applied behavior analysis, and the radical behaviorism perspective. Students will distinguish among behaviorism, the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and the professional practice guided by the science of behavior analysis. Introductory concepts will include identifying and distinguishing behavior, response, and response class, identifying and distinguishing respondent and operant conditioning, and identifying and distinguishing positive and negative reinforcement contingencies. This course covers Domains A 1-5 and B 1, B 3 and B 4 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Advanced Research Methods in Applied Behavior Analysis

This course will develop competence in the measurement of behavior, data analysis, and experimental design with an emphasis on single-subject design. Topics will include distinguishing dependent and independent variables, distinguishing internal and external validity, identifying threats to internal validity, identifying the defining features of single-subject design, identifying strengths of single-subject and group designs, critiquing and interpreting data from single-subject designs, distinguishing reversal, multiple baseline, multielement, and changing criterion designs, describing rationales for conducting comparative, component, and parametric analyses, and applying single-case designs. This course covers Domain D 1-9 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Measurement, Data Display, Interpretation, and Experimental Design

This course introduces students to foundational research concepts in behavior analysis to develop competence in how principles of behavior are discovered and described in basic research. Topics will include operational definitions, direct, indirect, and product measures of behavior, procedures for measuring occurrence (e.g., frequency, rate, percentage), procedures for measuring temporal dimensions (e.g., duration, latency, interresponse time), and procedures for measuring form and strength (e.g., topography, magnitude). Students will distinguish continuous and discontinuous measurement, will design and implement discontinuous measurement procedures (e.g., interval recording, time sampling), will measure efficiency (e.g., trials to criterion, cost-benefit analysis, training duration), evaluate the reliability of measurement procedures, select an appropriate measurement system to represent data and procedural integrity, graph data to communicate relevant quantitative dimensions (e.g., equal-interval graphs, bar graphs, cumulative records), and interpret graphed data using visual analysis. This course covers Domain C 1-12 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO) and satisfies the requirement that 45 contact hours on these topics are covered within a freestanding course.

Behavior Change Procedures for Applied Behavior Analysis

This course will develop competence in the application of principles of behavior specific to behavior change procedures. Topics will include designing and evaluating positive and negative reinforcement contingencies, positive and negative punishment contingencies, differential reinforcement procedures with and without extinction, time-based reinforcement schedules, simple and conditional discrimination procedures, modeling procedures, instructions and rules, trial-based and free operant procedures, group contingencies, and stimulus and response generalization and maintenance. Additional topics will include identifying procedures for selecting and using conditioned reinforcers, incorporating motivating operations and discriminative stimuli into behavior change procedures, selecting and evaluating stimulus and response prompt and prompt fading procedures, shaping dimensions of behavior, selecting and implementing chaining procedures, and evaluating emotional and elicited effects of behavior change procedures. Students will also develop intervention goals in measurable and observable terms, identify and recommend interventions based on assessment results, scientific evidence, client preferences, and contextual variables, select socially valid behavior to increase, plan for and attempt to mitigate unwanted effects from behavior change procedures and relapse, make data-based decisions about procedural integrity and the effectiveness of an intervention including potential modifications to the intervention, and collaborate with others to enhance client services. This course covers Domains G 1-18 and H 1-8 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Verbal Behavior Concepts and Applications to Behavior Change Procedures

This course will familiarize students with Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior and will cover the elementary verbal operants, assessment and intervention across verbal operants, multiple control, the importance of the listener, autoclitics, private events, problem solving, and emergent behavior (e.g., bidirectional naming, stimulus equivalence, etc.). Students will demonstrate competence of these concepts by writing a research proposal based on existing research in verbal behavior. Additionally, this course covers Domains B 18-21, and G 19 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Observation and Assessment in Behavior Analysis

This course will develop competence in the application of principles of behavior specific to assessment in applied behavior analysis. Topics will include identifying relevant sources of information within a records review, identifying and incorporating cultural variables during the assessment process, designing and evaluating assessments of skill strengths, designing and evaluating preference assessments, descriptive assessments, and functional analyses, interpreting assessment data to determine the need for services and to identify socially valid, client informed, and culturally responsive procedures and goals. This course covers Domain F 1-8 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Performance Diagnostics, Supervision, and Organizational Behavior

This course will familiarize students with the history of organizational behavior management within behavior analysis, assessment and intervention for personnel and organizational problems across performance management, behavioral safety, and behavioral systems analysis categories, and effective supervision. Topics will include pinpointing behavior, selecting a measurement system, PIC/NIC analysis, the performance diagnostic checklist, antecedent interventions (e.g., task clarification, goal setting, response effort), staff training and behavioral skills training, consequence interventions (e.g., feedback, pay for performance), incentive systems in the workplace, maintenance of behavior change in the workplace, social validity, relationship maps, process maps, turnover and diversity in human service organizations, and systems for effective supervision based on behavior-analytic principles. Students will complete an applied project in which they demonstrate competence of these concepts by assessing an organizational issue and proposing an intervention based on assessment results. Additionally, this course covers Domain I 1-7 of the BACB Sixth Edition Test Content Outline (TCO).

Master’s Thesis – Behavior Analysis

Students will develop competence in defining a research problem, designing a method to address the problem, and conducting and reporting an investigation that carries out the method to conclusion. Experimental theses will include students developing a research topic based on existing literature, completing a literature review specific to the research topic leading to the purpose of the thesis, developing methods for addressing the research topic which allows for replication and experimental control, obtaining IRB approval, submitting a proposal for committee review and approval, collecting data according to outlined methods, providing results following data collection, providing a conceptual analysis to interpret the results that discusses limitations and guides future areas of research, and submitting a final written thesis for committee review and approval. Thesis equivalent projects will include a proposal that describes the work to be conducted, the work itself, and a report of the work that describes the rationale, method, outcome, and an evaluation of the outcome.

Field Experience Coursework – 12 credit hours:

Code	Title	Credits
EDSBA 58101	Behavior Analysis Fieldwork I	3
EDSBA 58201	Behavior Analysis Fieldwork II	3
EDSBA 58301	Behavior Analysis Fieldwork III	3
EDSBA 58401	Behavior Analysis Fieldwork IV	3

Behavior Analysis Fieldwork I

(3 credits, 500 fieldwork hours, 10 week course) Students will develop competence in defining a research problem, designing a method to address the problem, and conducting and reporting an investigation that carries out the method to conclusion. Experimental theses will include students developing a research topic based on existing literature, completing a literature review specific to the research topic leading to the purpose of the thesis, developing methods for addressing the research topic which allows for replication and experimental control, obtaining IRB approval, submitting a proposal for committee review and approval, collecting data according to outlined methods, providing results following data collection, providing a conceptual analysis to interpret the results that discusses limitations and guides future areas of research, and submitting a final written thesis for committee review and approval. Thesis equivalent projects will include a proposal that describes the work to be conducted, the work itself, and a report of the work that describes the rationale, method, outcome, and an evaluation of the outcome.

Behavior Analysis Fieldwork II

(3 credits, 500 fieldwork hours, 10 week course) This course is designed to allow students to accrue the BACB-required supervised experience hours by working in the field with a university approved provider. Students will complete supervised fieldwork hours, concentrated supervised fieldwork hours, or a combination under the supervision of a BCBA qualified professional as designated by the BACB and fieldwork hours may be accrued at an on-ground location, remotely, or a combination of these modalities. No fewer than 20 hours, but no more than 160 hours, including supervision, will be accrued per month until the total hours required by the BACB has been reached. Students will apply behavior-analytic concepts within their fieldwork locations under the supervision of their BCBA supervisor. Students will discuss these applications during course meetings with their fieldwork instructor and will be given the opportunity to be evaluated by their fieldwork supervisor as well as evaluate the quality of their supervision experience ongoing.

Behavior Analysis Fieldwork III

(3 credits, 500 fieldwork hours, 10 week course) This course is designed to allow students to accrue the BACB-required supervised experience hours by working in the field with a university approved provider. Students will complete supervised fieldwork hours, concentrated supervised fieldwork hours, or a combination under the supervision of a BCBA qualified professional as designated by the BACB and fieldwork hours may be accrued at an on-ground location, remotely, or a combination of these modalities. No fewer than 20 hours, but no more than 160 hours, including supervision, will be accrued per month until the total hours required by the BACB has been reached. Students will apply behavior-analytic concepts within their fieldwork locations under the supervision of their BCBA supervisor. Students will discuss these applications during course meetings with their fieldwork instructor and will be given the opportunity to be evaluated by their fieldwork supervisor as well as evaluate the quality of their supervision experience ongoing.

Behavior Analysis Fieldwork IV

(3 credits, 500 fieldwork hours, 10 week course) This course is designed to allow students to accrue the BACB-required supervised experience hours by working in the field with a university approved provider. Students will complete supervised fieldwork hours, concentrated supervised fieldwork hours, or a combination under the supervision of a BCBA qualified professional as designated by the BACB and fieldwork hours may be accrued at an on-ground location, remotely, or a combination of these modalities. No fewer than 20 hours, but no more than 160 hours, including supervision, will be accrued per month until the total hours required by the BACB has been reached. Students will apply behavior-analytic concepts within their fieldwork locations under the supervision of their BCBA supervisor. Students will discuss these applications during course meetings with their fieldwork instructor and will be given the opportunity to be evaluated by their fieldwork supervisor as well as evaluate the quality of their supervision experience ongoing.

Program Length Details

Lindenwood University’s (LU) Accelerated Online programs offer you choice and flexibility to support your education journey. Time to complete a master’s degree can vary based on course load, transfer credits, and individual pacing. You will tailor a course schedule that keeps you in the driver’s seat.

• Transfer Credit: LU allows 9 transfer credits toward a master’s degree and you can complete your degree in as few as 33 credits.
• Accelerated Courses: LU accelerated online programs offer 10 5-week terms per year. By enrolling in two courses per term, you can potentially begin and complete up your master’s degree in 17 months.
• Frequent Start Dates: LU offers multiple start dates throughout the year so you can begin your studies when you are ready allowing you to graduate sooner.
• Personalized Degree Plan: LU academic advisors will work with you to tailor your degree plan to support your education goals while balancing your personal and professional responsibilities.