Nov 08, 2024  
2024-25 Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-25 Graduate Catalog

Business Administration, MBA


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Program code: MBA

The Master of Business Administration degree program is designed to serve the needs of junior and intermediate-level business executives who are seeking additional knowledge and skills to do a more efficient job of problem solving and decision-making. Also, the program is structured to give recent college graduates advanced training in business management prior to entry into a business career.

The MBA may be taken on either a part-time or full-time basis. Courses are scheduled for both day and night sessions, including a schedule of course offerings in the summer.

Prerequisites of the program consists of four undergraduate-level prerequisite courses that are designed to provide a foundation in the basic concepts and techniques used in the various functional areas of business and to prepare the student for the graduate courses in business administration. Core I requirements can be met by completing the prerequisite courses at IUP, by completing equivalent courses at other accredited universities/institutions, by completing noncredit modules in related areas offered by reputed institutions, or through successful completion of College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests in these subjects (with a grade of “C” or better). At the time of admission, the MBA program coordinator will evaluate the academic transcripts and the experience of the student for Core I course waivers and give the student a plan for completion of courses needed for this stage.  Course descriptions may be required to establish equivalency of courses completed elsewhere.

Complete the following prerequisite courses or equivalent with a grade of “C” of better:


ACCT 201 Accounting Principles I
ECON 122 Principles of Economics II
FIN 310 Finance I
MATH 214 Probability and Statistics


Or successfully complete equivalent proficiency examinations approved by MBA Program Coordinator.  

Admission Criteria

In addition to meeting the admission requirements of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, students seeking admission to the MBA program must have achieved a minimum 2.75 GPA. Students with a 2.75 GPA or above, are asked to submit their transcript and resume. Students who have not earned this standard may be considered based with a holistic evaluation. These students will be assessed based on their academic track record, prior work experience, letters of recommendation and/or GMAT scores, if asked to submit these.

International applicants are required to submit a Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) score report as part of the MBA application unless they are from a country where English is the dominant language, or they earned a degree from an accredited US institution of higher education.

Program Requirements


Core I


Complete the following prerequisite courses or equivalent with a grade of “C” or better:

  • ACCT 201 - Accounting Principles I Credits: 3
  • ECON 122 - Principles of Economics II Credits: 3
  • FIN 310 - Finance I Credits: 3
  • MATH 214 - Probability and Statistics Credits: 3
  • Or successfully complete equivalent proficiency examinations approved by MBA Program Coordinator.

Core II (30 cr.)


Complete 30 credits in the following graduate MBA courses:

B. Optional Concentration Requirements:


Students seeking to specialize can take additional credits of prescribed coursework and receive a concentration in the following areas:

  • Entrepreneurship: The entrepreneurship concentration helps current and prospective entrepreneurs and small business owners in all facets and phases of starting and successfully operating a small business. It also helps individuals in understanding how to be innovative in a larger organization and how creativity and agility can help teams and departments in organizations.
  • Finance: The in-depth Finance courses will enable the student to appropriately integrate financial theory with challenging problems in the finance field. Specializing in finance will help students become attractive candidates for employment in the areas of investment banking, commercial banking, risk management, and derivatives.
  • Information Systems: The IS concentration is designed to be offered to an audience with basic exposure to IS. It will serve to further their understanding of IS/IT concepts and principles. For those students that already have a background in IS/IT, the value added will come from the enhanced business and managerial focus in the course content. The courses will integrate learning from other business and technical courses, and apply them to a business and managerial context. This program will help prepare students to take a diverse set of roles in the IS/IT industry, depending upon their background and interest. IS/IT is pervasive in today’s business and a variety of roles exist for students to explore and build a career in this area. For instance sustainability is emerging as an important topic in the area of IS/IT that students can explore. The IS/IT area is a dynamic and fast evolving discipline and as such course offerings in the concentration will be periodically adjusted as per market conditions and trends in the industry
  • International Business: This concentration helps students to learn to manage in a global business setting such as a multinational company. It is important for today’s managers to understand the nuances of working in a global and cross-cultural setting. Students will gain expertise in the management and marketing aspects of a global business.
  • Human Resources Management: The HRM concentration prepares students to be human resources generalists in smaller businesses or to be specialists that can work in appraisal, labor relations, and related human resource functions.
  • Marketing: Marketing concentration entails courses that provide MBA students with an in-depth knowledge in specific functional areas of marketing, which would enable them to make strategic and tactical decisions pertaining to the marketing-related activities of their firms. The courses have been developed to provide the MBA students with the tools and the theories to deal with all three key areas of marketing: External Marketing—to make realistic promises of product and service offerings to B2B and/or B2C customers; Internal Marketing—to interact with the customers efficiently and effectively to deliver them the promised product and service offerings, thereby converting them to profitable, long-term customers.
  • Professional Accountancy: The Professional Accountancy Concentration is designed for non-accounting majors who do not have an undergraduate degree in accounting but want to further their understanding of accounting concepts and principles. Completion of the program will help to prepare students for entry into the accounting profession and in most U.S. states satisfy the educational requirements to sit for the CPA licensing exam. (Since educational requirements may differ between states, the student should check with the regulatory agencies in the state in which he or she plans to sit for the exam to verify that state’s requirements.)
  • Supply Chain Management: Managing supply chains has become increasingly important in today’s business environment, in which customers, manufacturers, service providers, and suppliers are spread around the world. This concentration prepares students to manage operations with good understanding of supply chains and logistics, enterprise resource planning (ERP), balanced scorecard, quality management, project management, inventory management, capacity management, strategic alliances, outsourcing, facility location/layout, and related topics.

Students seeking to specialize in a specific area of business can take additional credits of prescribed coursework as described below and receive a concentration in that area only in conjunction with the MBA degree. Concentrations are only available on-campus or by online delivery at designated times. The MBA program director will advise the Executive Track students about the available concentrations during the time of admission.

International Business

* Only one three-credit internship will count towards the concentration.

Other

Students may take a maximum of 6 credits of electives in their concentration area from 581/681 Special Topics courses offered with the following prefixes: ACCT, BLAW, BTST, FIN, IFMG, MGMT, MKTG, and QBUS.

A student with an undergraduate degree in a functional area cannot obtain an MBA concentration in the same area. For example: An MBA student with a Marketing undergraduate degree cannot obtain an MBA concentration in Marketing.

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