Business Administration, M.B.A.

Troy Festervand, Program Director
(615) 898-2964
Troy.Festervand@mtsu.edu

The University offers a Master of Business Administration degree which requires courses in the departments of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Computer Information Systems, and Management and Marketing.

Please see undergraduate catalog for information regarding undergraduate programs.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the M.B.A. program (see Admission to the College of Graduate Studies ), a student must meet one of the following:

GPA x 200 + GMAT = 950* or Upper Division GPA x 200 + GMAT = 1,000*
International students must comply with the following provision: For undergraduate degrees from foreign institutions where a grade point average cannot be clearly established, but where that work is thought to be equivalent to domestic grades of B or higher, admission eligibility may be determined by the GMAT score. A score of at least 450 is required for unconditional admission under such circumstances. Preparatory work taken in institutions with grading systems paralleling that of most United States institutions must conform to a B average.

*A minimum GMAT score of 400 is required. A student who otherwise meets the admission formula, but lacks at least a 400 GMAT score may be recommended for admission by the Jennings A. Jones College of Business following review by the appropriate committee.

Required Foundation Courses (9 hours)*

Students in the M.B. A. program are expected to have completed the following foundation courses (or equivalents) before enrolling in core courses.

ACTG 3000 Survey of Accounting for General Business
FIN 3010 Business Finance OR FIN 3000 Principles of Financial Management
QM 6000 - Quantitative Methods Survey

NOTE: Accounting and quantitative methods should be completed prior to taking finance.

Students are expected to begin each M.B.A. core course with appropriate baseline knowledge. This knowledge may be acquired through undergraduate or graduate coursework or by completing activities listed at the College of Business M.B.A. website. Students will be assumed to have mastered the material at the site at the beginning of the related core course. Failure to prepare is the sole responsibility of the student. Appropriate undergraduate courses include BLAW 3400, ECON 2410 and ECON 2420, INFS 3100, MGMT 3610 and MGMT 3620, and MKT 3820. Appropriate graduate courses include ECON 6030 and MGMT 6000 .

In addition to the above, it is desirable that all students in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business be proficient in keyboarding and basic computer skills. Students should develop these proficiencies prior to taking Jennings A. Jones College of Business courses in which these skills are typically used. Basic computer skill may be developed by taking INFS 2200, Introduction to Microcomputing.

*Some or all of these courses may be waived by the associate dean for Graduate and Executive Education based upon an analysis of previous courses completed.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

Deadlines for completed applications: Fall - July 1; Spring - December 1; Summer - April 1. Completed application packages received after the deadline will be evaluated based on the date received.

Applicant must

submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.shtml);
submit official scores on the GMAT examination;
submit official transcripts of previous college work.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Business Administration follows a program which stresses interrelationships of functional business areas and which requires a total of 36 semester hours, at least 30 of which must be at the 6000 level.

BUAD 6980 Strategic Management is taken in lieu of a comprehensive written examination for the M.B.A. This course should be taken during the student’s last semester and after completing the following courses: ACTG 6910 or ACTG 6920 , INFS 6610 , ECON 6000 , FIN 6710 , MGMT 6000 and MGMT 6650 , and MKT 6800 , or the equivalent.

Curriculum: Business Administration

Candidate must complete 36 hours in the following course of study:

Core Courses (27 hours)

ACTG 6910 - Accounting and Business Decisions 3 credit hours * OR
ACTG 6920 - Financial Statement Analysis 3 credit hours *
ECON 6000 - Managerial Economics 3 credit hours
FIN 6710 - Financial Analysis 3 credit hours
INFS 6610 - Information Systems Management and Applications 3 credit hours
MGMT 6600 - Study of Organizations 3 credit hours
MGMT 6650 - Operations Management 3 credit hours
MKT 6800 - Marketing Management 3 credit hours
QM 6770 - Computer-Based Decision Modeling 3 credit hours
BUAD 6980 - Strategic Management 3 credit hours (taken in the last semester only)
*Undergraduate Accounting majors may not take either ACTG 6910 or 6920, but should take another 6000-level accounting course.

**Undergraduate CIS majors may not take INFS 6610, but should take another 6000-level INFS course.

Elective Cognate (6 hours)

Choose 6 hours from approved electives in same field.

Approved Elective (3 hours)

Course taken to satisfy this elective requires prior approval of the associate dean for Graduate and Executive Education

(Requests to use an independent study course to satisfy this elective must be accompanied by a research proposal which has been approved by the supervising faculty member, appropriate department chair, and associate dean for Graduate and Executive Education.)

Program Notes

Core courses may not be satisfied by independent study.

A degree plan will be prepared when an applicant is approved for admission to the graduate business program and submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

A student who has had substantial undergraduate instruction in accounting, economics, finance, information systems, management, or marketing may be required, as determined by the director, to take an alternate 6000-level course in the same area of instruction in lieu of the required graduate course.

Candidate must file a Notice of Intent to Graduate form in the College of Graduate Studies within the first two weeks of the term in which candidate intends to graduate.