Accelerated Bachelor of Business Administration to Master of Business Administration
Program Entry Options
The BBA program has three program options:
- Accelerated Bachelor of Business Administration to Master of Business Administration
- Credit-hour Bachelor of Business Administration
- Competency-based Bachelor of Business Administration
The accelerated BBA to MBA degree program offers students a degree path with up to eighteen fewer credits than the combined traditional BBA and MBA degree programs.
Mission:
The Accelerated Bachelor of Business Administration to Master of Business Administration (BBA to MBA) prepares graduates to manage and lead enterprises that create value for stakeholders in a dynamic, global business environment.
Program Learning Outcomes:
-
Business Functions/Processes: Analyze and evaluate business functions and processes.
-
Strategic Planning: Evaluate and formulate effective domestic and global business strategies.
-
Sustainability/Ethics: Integrate ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability in decision-making.
-
Leadership: Identify, evaluate, communicate and implement effective leadership of a diverse workforce.
-
Innovation: Research, design and apply the innovation process from creativity to solution design and implementation.
Requirements for Admission
Admission requirements include two phases, BBA admission and MBA admission during the student’s senior year:
Phase 1, BBA Admission: Regular undergraduate admission standards apply. See Undergraduate Admission for Degree Seeking Student Applicants in this catalog. Students interested in participating in the Accelerated BBA to MBA degree program must select this track during their undergraduate admission process so they will be identified as candidates for this degree program and advised accordingly. Formal admission to MBA phase of the Accelerated BBA to MBA does not occur until the student attains senior status.
Phase 2, MBA Admission: Accelerated BBA to MBA candidates apply for formal admission to the MBA at the beginning of their senior year. At this time, candidates for this program must demonstrate readiness to do graduate level work by satisfactorily fulfilling one of the following admission options.
Option One
A 3.0 grade point average (GPA) calculated over the most recent graded 30 semester (45 quarter) credits completed in either a baccalaureate or post baccalaureate program, including credits earned toward a credential. All credits used for GPA calculation must be from a regionally accredited institution.
Option Two
A GPA between 2.5 and 2.99 calculated over the most recent graded 30 semester (45 quarter) credits competed in either a baccalaureate or post baccalaureate program, including credits earned toward a credential. All credits used for GPA calculation must be from a regionally accredited institution. A satisfactory score on an accepted graduate admission exam is required.
-
Graduate Record Exam (GRE): Achieve the required minimum scores on two out of three of the subsections of the GRE. (Minimum score for Quantitative: 141, minimum score for Verbal: 150, minimum score for Analytic Writing: 4.5)
-
Millar Analogies Test (MAT): Achieve a minimum scaled score of 400.
-
Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT): Fulfill the formula GMAT + (GPA X 200) > 1000.
Option Three
An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution.
Option Four
Submission of a portfolio of evidence that shows adequate preparation for graduate studies. The portfolio will contain: Writing samples that show graduate level communications and analytical skills; a detailed resume showing professional development and achievements; awards; professional recognition; letters of reference from persons who can attest to the applicant’s ability to do graduate level work; and a letter of explanation detailing the reasons the student believes he or she is a good candidate for graduate study in the field of Business Administration.
Transfer Credit Policy
A maximum of nine credits may be accepted in transfer to the MBA degree program. (See the Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures section of this catalog.)
In addition to university policies concerning transfer of coursework, the MBA program will accept transfer of military coursework which meets the following requirements:
-
Course requested for transfer must include an official transcript or copy of an ACE evaluation which verifies graduate-level work;
-
Coursework must be letter graded or provide verification of completion at a grade of “B” or higher;
-
Coursework must be comparable to program requirements (if marginal comparability, a written statement of rationale must be provided); and
-
Military coursework will be accepted in transfer as fulfilling elective requirements only.
In addition to University policies concerning transfer of coursework, University of Massachusetts Global may accept the following:
-
Transfer of twelve elective credits to the MBA upon receipt of appropriate official documentation of successful completion of the University of California, Irvine Extension Project Management Certificate provided that all required certificate courses were completed with a grade of “B" within the last seven years.
-
Transfer of twelve elective credits to the MBA Degree to eligible Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, retired and prior military service members for completion of military coursework comparable to OLCU 641 Leadership in Military Communication, OLCU 643 Military Operations Leadership, HRCU 618 Career Management, and HRCU 605 Talent Management. Qualifications and provisions of this twelve credit transfer opportunity follow:
a. The service member must qualify for admission to the MBA degree program. (See Graduate Admission section of this catalog).
b. Active Duty, active reserve, retired and prior service military members in the following ranks are eligible: Commissioned Officer (any rank), Senior NCO (E7 or above) or CW2 or above.
c. Commissioned Officers must be graduates of a commissioning program (OCS or equivalent, ROTC, Military Academy) and an officer basic career course. Senior NCOs must be E7 or above and graduates of a career NCO Advanced Course. Warrant Officers must be CW2 or above and graduates of a Warrant Officer Candidate School and a Warrant Officer career course.
d. The seven-year rule for completion of all coursework toward the MBA degree applies, including transfer credit for military schooling. (See Seven-Year Limitation in Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures section of this catalog.)
e. Recipients of the twelve credit transfer must complete all remaining coursework for the MBA degree at University of Massachusetts Global in accordance with academic policy.
f. This is not an online only program. Service members who qualify may enroll in the MBA program, if available, at a nearby campus or as an online student
Core Course Waiver Policy
The Accelerated BBA to MBA degree track has four MBA core courses eligible for waiver consideration, which can reduce a student’s degree path by up to twelve credits provided that waiver requirements are met. The courses eligible for waiver consideration are:
-
ACCU 602 Financial Reporting & Analysis
-
BUSU 610 Data Analysis for Decision Making
-
BUSU 620 Economic Analysis for Managers
-
OLCU 613 Seminar in Organizational Dynamics
Course Waiver Requirements
- For graduate courses supporting an eligible MBA core waiver course: Produce evidence of equivalent graduate course content by attaching relevant course descriptions.
- For undergraduate courses supporting an eligible MBA core waiver: Produce transcript evidence of the following courses:
- Fundamentals of Accounting I and Fundamentals of Accounting II are required for waiver consideration of ACCU 602 Financial Reporting & Analysis.
- A computer course and a statistics course are required for waiver consideration of BUSU 610 Data Analysis for Decision Making.
- Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are required for waiver consideration of BUSU 620 Economic Analysis for Managers.
- Two theory oriented Leadership or Management courses are required for waiver consideration of OLCU 613 Seminar in Organizational Dynamics.
-
Only courses with a grade of “B” (3.0) or higher in appropriate courses will be considered.
-
Undergraduate and graduate courses taken within the last seven years may be used toward waivers. A course older than seven years may be authorized via the petition process provided that currency in the field can be verified by matching current student knowledge and experience with the course’s Course Learning Outcomes. Verification of currency in the field requires the submission of a current job description and supervisor’s letter. Currency in the field cannot be self-reported.
-
A course that has been waived may not be taken or used for elective credit for this degree.
-
No tuition and unit-based fees refund or cancellation will be issued for courses taken and subsequently waived.
The Dean has the final decision on all course waivers. This decision may not be appealed.
BBA Course Substitutions: PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP certification within three years may be used as a substitute for HRCU 445 Human Resource Studies
Students with IT professional certification(s) may substitute courses as outlined below provided that their certification(s) are unexpired and currently recognized in the field. Refer to UMassGlobal for additional information on IT certification substitutions listed by catalog year.
| Industry Standard Certification | Substitution Course |
|---|---|
| MCSE, CCNP, MCSA: Windows Server | CSCU 353; CSCU 453 |
| Oracle DBA, MCDBA, MCSA: SQL Server 2008, MCSA: SQL Server 2012 | CSCU 408; CSCU 453 |
| CompTIA A+ | CSCU 251 |
| CompTIA Network+ | CSCU 353 |
| CompTIA Security+ | CSCU 270 |
| CompTIA Cloud Essentials | CSCC 475 (approved substitution for CSCU 251) |
| VCP (VMWare Certified Professional) | CSCU 251; CSCU 353 |
| RHCSA (Red Hat Systems Administrator) | CSCU 251; CSCU 353 |
| CASP (CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner) | CSCU 270; CSCU 375 |
| CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) | CSCU 270; CSCU 375 |
| CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) | CSCU 270; CSCU 375 |
| CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) | CSCU 270; CSCU 375 |
| CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) | CSCU 270; CSCU 375 |
| PMP (project management professional) | CSCU 383; CSCU 385 |
| Six Sigma Green Belt | CSCU 383; CSCU 415 |
| CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) | CSCU 353 |
| CompTIA IT Fundamentals | CSCU 200 |
| Certification | Substituted | Course Comments |
|---|---|---|
| CMA | ACCU 640 | Current certification at the time of application |
| CPA | ACCU 602 | Current certification at the time of application |
| PHR | HRCU 600 | Certification or recertification within 3 years |
| SPHR | HRCU 600 | Certification or recertification within 3 years |
| GPHR | HRCU 603 | Certification or recertification within 3 years |
| SHRM-CP | HRCU 600 | Certification or recertification within 3 years |
| SHRM-SCP | HRCU 600 | Certification or recertification within 3 years |
Students who receive substitution credit as an undergraduate for HRCU 445 for the PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP may only receive waiver credit for HRCU 600 as graduate students.
BBA Requirements for the Accelerated BBA to MBA Degree
In addition to the University General Education requirements, the BBA portion of the Accelerated BBA to MBA requires the following components: 18 Lower-Division Core requirements; 24 Upper-Division Core requirements; 21 undergraduate electives; 6 Additional Core requirements taken at the graduate level upon admission to graduate standing during the senior year; and a 3 Credit Capstone.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Division Core | ||
| ACCU 201 | Principles of Accounting I | 3 |
| ACCU 202 | Principles of Accounting II | 3 |
| CSCU 200 | Introduction to Computers and Data Processing | 3 |
| ECNU 201 | Principles of Macroeconomics | 3 |
| ECNU 202 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| MATU 203 | Introduction to Statistics | 3 |
| Subtotal | 18 | |
| Upper Division Core | ||
| ACCU 360 | Financial Statement Analysis | 3 |
| COMU 410 | Organizational Communication | 3 |
| FINU 305 | Business Finance | 3 |
| MGTU 301 | Principles of Management | 3 |
| MGTU 310 | Legal Environment of Business | 3 |
| MGTU 400 | Global Environment of Business | 3 |
| MKTU 301 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| OLCU 425 | Leadership in Diverse and Multicultural Organizations | 3 |
| Subtotal | 24 | |
| Undergraduate Electives | ||
| BBA students have the opportunity to select an individualized set of electives from the following areas of study: Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Computer Science, Healthcare Administration, Human Resources, Management, Organizational Communication, Organizational Leadership, Marketing, and Information Systems Management. Alternatively, students may specialize by focusing on one of the above areas of study as an emphasis area. See credit hour BBA in this catalog for a listing of emphasis areas. | 21 | |
| Additional Core | ||
| Taken at graduate level upon admission to MBA during senior year. | ||
| BUSU 630 | Business Process Analysis and Innovation | 3 |
| BUSU 650 | Corporate Responsibility: Ethics and Sustainability | 3 |
| Subtotal | 27 | |
| BBA Capstone | ||
| MGTU 410 | Strategic Management | 3 |
| All core courses must be satisfactorily completed prior to enrolling in the BBA capstone course with one exception; one core course may be taken concurrently with the capstone. | ||
| Total Credits | 72 | |
MBA Requirements for the Accelerated BBA to MBA Degree
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Core (15 to 27 credits depending on waivers) | ||
| FINU 607 | Financial Management | 3 |
| HRCU 600 | Human Resource Foundations | 3 |
| MKTU 605 | Marketing Management | 3 |
| OLCU 615 | Leading Organizational Change | 3 |
| OLCU 632 | Leadership and Innovation | 3 |
| OLCU 613 | Seminar in Organizational Dynamics (Waivable) | 0-3 |
| ACCU 602 | Financial Reporting & Analysis (Waivable) | 0-3 |
| BUSU 610 | Data Analysis for Decision Making (Waivable) | 0-3 |
| BUSU 620 | Economic Analysis for Managers (Waivable) | 0-3 |
| Subtotal | 15-27 | |
| Graduate Electives (12 credits) | ||
| MBA students may select an individualized set of electives from the graduate courses listed in the following areas: Accounting, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Public Administration, Health Administration, Human Resources, International Business, Organizational Leadership, Marketing, and Computer Science. Instead of individualized electives, MBA students may specialize in one of the above areas of study as an emphasis area. | 12 | |
| MBA Capstone | ||
| BUSU 640 | Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage Capstone | 3 |
| Total Credits | 30-42 | |
Accelerated BBA to MBA for CPA Exam Preparation
Students interested in pursuing a CPA license with the State of California, beginning January 1st 2017, will need to complete a total of 150 credits, with 20 units in Accounting and 10 units in Ethics Study. Prospective students who wish to qualify to sit for the CPA exam must have a Bachelor’s degree and on an accelerated path may take General Education courses (48 credits), the Accelerated BBA program with an Accounting emphasis (72 credits), and the Accelerated MBA program with an Accounting emphasis (30 credits).