Master of Business Administration, MBA

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Admission

Entrance into the MBA program is open to all students holding a bachelor’s degree without regard to major. It is not necessary to have any previous business coursework to be admitted. Applicants should take the Graduate Management Admission Test at least two months prior to enrollment (scores more than five years old at the time of application are not normally accepted). An admission application form must be completed and submitted to the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, and official transcripts must be sent from all colleges and universities attended. The deadline for receipt of all materials, including GMAT score, is 30 days prior to registration for the semester in which the student desires to enroll.

The acceptance decision is based on a combination of undergraduate GPA and GMAT score. To be accepted, a candidate must have a minimum GMAT exam score of 420 and satisfy one of the following two admission formulae:

earn a value of at least 1000 using the formula (overall GPA x 200) + GMAT exam score
or earn a value of at least 1050 using the formula (upper-division GPA x 200) + GMAT exam score.

For purposes of this formula, “upper-division” is defined to be either the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework (excluding freshman-level courses) or all junior/senior courses. Applicants with an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher from a U.S. post-secondary institution are exempt from the GMAT requirement; additionally, the GMAT may be waived by the MBA director for applicants with significant managerial work experience. Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis. A student whose native language is not English also must present a score of at least 213 on the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language or 550 on the paper-based test. Exceptions to these standards are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Program of Study

Each MBA student’s degree plan is customized according to her/his background. Students lacking math or computer skills begin with one or more of the following undergraduate “prerequisite” courses: MGMT 2372, MATH 1324 and MATH 1342 (see the Undergraduate Bulletin for descriptions).

Graduate coursework is divided into three categories: leveling courses (if needed), required coure classes, and a concentration or electives. Leveling courses are business courses covering the major business disciplines and would normally be found in an undergraduate business curriculum. Depending on the student’s background, some or all of the leveling courses may be waived by the MBA Director. For a course to be waived, the student must normally have completed comparable undergraduate or graduate business coursework from a regionally accredited university with grades of B or better within the last five years. The following undergraduate courses (or their equivalents) are required: ACCT 2301, ECON 2302, FINC 3333, MGMT 3370; MKTG 3351 (see the Undergraduate Bulletin for descriptions). The following courses, while not required, are helpful: ACCT 2302, CSIT 3340, ECON 2301, MGMT 3371, 3377.

All MBA candidates are required to complete a 36-semester-hour core. These courses refine business knowledge by exploring business theories and applications and applying the knowledge to real-world situations.

Business Administration Core

ACCT 5311 - Accounting for Management Credit(s): 3
BUSI 5350 - Executive Leadership Credit(s): 3
ECON 5320 - Managerial Economics Credit(s): 3
FINC 5314 - Advanced Financial Management Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5317 - Strategic Management Credit(s): 3
MKTG 5313 - Marketing Management Credit(s): 3

Management Option

Select one course from:

MGMT 5371 - Operations Management Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5377 - Organizational Behavior and Theory Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5381 - Information Systems in Organizations Credit(s): 3

Data Option

Select one course from:

ACCT 5366 - Advanced Statistical Methods and Data Analytics for Detecting Fraud Credit(s): 3
BUSI 5380 - Applied Business Analytics and Data Visualization Credit(s): 3
ECON 5325 - Data Driven Decision Making Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5380 - Quantitative Management Applications Credit(s): 3

Concentration or Elective Option

Complete one of the following:

Human Resource Management Concentration

Twelve hours from:

BUSI 5357 - Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5370 - Employee and Labor Relations Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5373 - Seminar in Human Resource Management Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5377 - Organizational Behavior and Theory Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5377 may not be used to satisfy both Management Option and Human Resource Management concentration.

Sports Business Concentration

Twelve hours from:

MGMT 5325 - Sports Management Credit(s): 3
MGMT 5382 - Advanced Sports Analytics Credit(s): 3
MKTG 5358 - Sports Marketing and Promotion Credit(s): 3
MKTG 5362 - Revenue Generation in Sports Credit(s): 3
Or one of the following:
MGMT 5376 - Advanced Graduate Studies Credit(s): 3
MKTG 5376 - Advanced Graduate Studies Credit(s): 3

Electives

Twelve credit hours of 5000 level business electives from ACCT, BCOM, BLAW, BUSI, ECON, FINC, MGMT, and MKTG or approved non-business electives.

Note:

Each M.B.A. student must make a grade of “B” or better in the capstone MGMT 5317 course to satisfy the university comprehensive exam requirement. MGMT 5317 must be taken in the last semester of study, but may be taken simultaneously with other M.B.A. courses.