M.A. Program Requirements

General Requirements

The Master of Arts graduate degree program in the College of Business Administration allows you to pursue one or two areas of specialization in business (or one area in business and one area outside of business); and, with the help of a faculty adviser, custom-design your own program.

Management Department areas of specialization

• Management Science
• Management Information Systems
• Organization & Management Theory
• Organizational Behavior
• Personnel/Human Resource Management
• Production & Operations Management
• Strategic Management & Business Policy
• Entrepreneurship
• International Management

The M.A. program is normally chosen by students who already have a general background in business administration and want to specialize. To prepare students for graduate studies in business, the College requires students who are not graduates of an American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited college or school of business to complete the Common Body of Knowledge courses. The Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) consists of the following classes: BLAW 371 (Legal Environment); ACCT 201 and 202 (Principles) or 306; ECON 211 and 212 (Principles) or 210; 215 (Statistics); FINA 361 (Finance); MRKT 341 (Marketing); MNGT 360 (Managing Behavior in Organizations); MNGT 245 (Elementary Quantitative Methods); and MNGT 331 (Operations and Resource Management). Also required are calculus, speech, and computer proficiency. In addition to CBK courses, if you have not completed a business policy course, you will need to take GRBA 853, Strategic Management and Business Policy.

Options

The M.A. degree is offered under all three options according to the requirements of the graduate college.

Option I - Thesis

1. Your program will consist of 30-33 credit hours. Typically this program would include 24 hours of coursework and a thesis worth 6-10 credit hours.
2. As part of the Option I M.A. program, you must take 18 hours of graduate level only coursework, and half of your total hours (including your thesis) must be taken in one major field. The remaining coursework can be from supporting fields and should consist of courses from at least one other area, or a 9-hour minor in a field outside the business interdepartmental area.

Option II - Outside Areas

1. A 36-hour program which provides flexibility if you wish to take one or two minors in pro-grams outside of the business interdepartmental area.
2. You may select an 18-hour major and a 9-hour minor, or a 15-hour major and two 9-hour minors. You must take 15 hours of graduate-level-only coursework under Option II. This option does not include a thesis. If you want to concentrate your studies in business, you should select:

Option III - Business Only

1. This 36-hour program allows you to take an 18-hour major in one area and build a strong foundation by completing 18 hours in other business areas.
2. Under Option III, you must take 18 hours of graduate-level-only coursework; no thesis is required.

MBA

The Master of Business Administration degree program is designed to produce business generalists. The program provides diverse tools and understanding to equip future business leaders with the necessary qualitative and quantitative abilities. This program emphasizes managerial skills. Many courses teach team building and utilize case analysis and presentations.

M.B.A. students enter the program with a wide variety of undergraduate backgrounds. To be admitted to the M.B.A. program, you must meet minimal undergraduate business course requirements. You must have taken undergraduate courses in mathematics, statistics, and computer competency. In the M.B.A. program you will take advanced coursework in accounting, finance, economics, management, and marketing. There is no thesis required for the M.B.A. program. Your M.B.A. program will include 48 credit hours of coursework. If you have an undergraduate business major, you may be able to begin taking core MBA courses during your first semester of graduate work. If you have no undergraduate business background, you may be required to complete certain prerequisite courses. After completing the prerequisite courses, you may begin work on the core M.B.A. graduate requirements.

Core Requirements (Six 3-hour courses)

• Managerial Accounting
• Managerial Finance
• Managerial Economics
• Marketing Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Operations and Information Systems Strategy

Up to 12 hours can be waived for students with undergraduate business degrees if course work has been at a sufficiently demanding level.

In addition to these core courses, you must complete cross-functional requirements, breadth (business) requirements, and elective requirements.

Cross-functional coursework

• Managerial Decision Making
• International Business
• Strategic Management and Business Policy
• Management Skills Seminar

To complete the breadth requirement, you will take nine hours of electives from three of the four business departments - Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and Management. Nine hours of elective courses can be taken from any of the four business departments, or outside of the College of Business Administration. Breadth and elective courses may be structured into a concentration, which consists of nine hours in an area of specialization. A concentration can be obtained in Marketing, Finance, Agribusiness, Human Resources, MIS, International Business, or Strategic Planning. M.B.A. students are encouraged to complete internships and take advantage of study abroad opportunities. Study abroad programs are available in a variety of locations including Tokyo, Japan; Oxford, England; St. Petersburg, Russia; Dijon, France; Asolo, Italy; Monterrey, Mexico; Istanbul, Turkey; and Kharagpur, India.