BS in Business Administration
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) is a four-year program designed to teach broad business functions, develop students' professional skills, expand technological literacy, and build global perspective. Kogod students can tailor their degree program by specializing in a particular business discipline or by adding a major or minor in another academic area.
University Requirements
- A total of 120 credit hours
- 6 credit hours of college writing
- 3 credit hours of college mathematics or the equivalent by examination
General Education Requirements
- A total of ten courses, consisting of one foundation course and one second-level course in an approved sequence from each of the five curricular areas
- No more than 6 credit hours may be taken in the same discipline
Curricular Area 4 should be fulfilled by ECON-100 Macroeconomics and ECON-200 Microeconomics.
Major Requirements
- A total of 120 credit hours with a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher
Students must ensure that no more than 66 of the 120 credit hour graduation requirement are taken within the Kogod School of Business.
IBUS-200 and FIN-200 are considered business courses and may not count toward the non-business course requirement even if they are taken for General Education credit.
Students must ensure that no more than 66 credits of their 120 graduation requirement are taken within the Kogod School of Business.
- Business core courses: 33 credit hours with grades of C or better (pass/fail grades are not permitted)
- Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 to be eligible to enroll in business courses
- Area of specialization: a minimum of 12 credit hours with grades of C or better (pass/fail grades are not permitted)
Students should declare an area of specialization before the end of their junior year. All areas of specialization must be approved in advance by the Office of Academic Programs. Students must meet the following minimum standards of performance prior to approval:
- Minimum grade of C in MATH-211 Applied Calculus I and STAT-202 Basic Statistics
- Minimum grade of C in ECON-100 Macroeconomics and ECON-200 Microeconomics
- Free electives: 15 credit hours
- At least 50 percent of the business credit hours required for the BSBA must be earned at American University
Course Requirements
Students are responsible for fulfilling university and school requirements following a prescribed sequence. The academic advisors in the Kogod School’s Office of Academic Programs must be consulted for counseling and advice when preparing class schedules. However, it is the student’s responsibility to consult course descriptions to identify course prerequisites and when courses are offered.
Non-Business Requirements
- ECON-100 Macroeconomics 4:1 (3)
- ECON-200 Microeconomics 4:2 (3)
- MATH-211 Applied Calculus I (4)
or
- MATH-221 Calculus I (4)
Students needing to strengthen their quantitative skills should begin with MATH-157 Finite Mathematics: Business.
- STAT-202 Basic Statistics (4)
- Courses from the School of International Service (SIS)
- Courses from the Department of Language and Foreign Studies, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
Curricular Area 3 (Global and Multicultural Perspectives) courses may be used to meet this requirement, but the 6 credit hours must be in addition to those taken to fulfill the General Education Requirement
AU Abroad courses (if not used to fulfill another requirement), international internships, or other approved study abroad programs
Business Core Courses (33 credit hours)
- ACCT-240 Principles of Financial Accounting (3)
- ACCT-241 Principles of Managerial Accounting (AT) (3)
- FIN-365 Business Finance (AT) (3)
- IBUS-300 Fundamentals of International Business (C/W) (3)
- ITEC-200 The Edge of Information Technology (AT) (3)
- ITEC-355 Production/Operations Management (AT) (3)
- KSB-100 Business 1.0 (3)
(Students not taking KSB-100 in their freshman year take a 300- or 400-level business course in its place)
- MGMT-201 Global Corporate Citizenship (O) (3)
- MGMT-353 Principles of Organizational Theory, Behavior and Management (T) (3)
- MGMT-458 Business Policy and Strategy (C/O/T/W) (3)
- MKTG-300 Principles of Marketing (W) (3)
AT = analytical tool emphasis; provides a strong foundation in business analytical software
C = case analysis emphasis; provides growth opportunities for students to evaluate cases
O = oral communication emphasis; assists in the development of oral presentation skills
T = teamwork emphasis; focuses on teamwork and the importance of interpersonal relationships and communication
W = written communication emphasis; develops business writing skills, written assignments account for a significant part of the course grade
Area of Specialization
Business majors select a specialization from the approved specializations listed below or design a custom or interdisciplinary specialization with the approval of their Kogod advisor. Specializations must include a minimum of 12 credit hours at the 300 level or above. Students who choose a second area of specialization must also take a minimum of 12 credit hours in the second specialization.
Students who choose a specialization in International Business, International Finance, International Management, or International Marketing must satisfy a global experience requirement. This can be met either through completion of an approved study abroad program, an international internship, or successful completion of a comparable American University global immersion course. Exceptions to this requirement may be granted on a case by case basis by the Department of International Business. International students are exempt from this requirement.
