Professional Master of Business Administration

Bonnie Buchanan, PhD, Program Director

The professional master of business administration (MBA) program is designed to prepare graduates for leadership responsibilities in business. The program is constructed with the following goals:

Demonstrate competence for managerial decision-making
Recognize and address moral and ethical challenges, and defend a course of action
Understand, integrate, and apply relevant knowledge and skills in a global context
Display competence in communications
Establish and maintain constructive working relationships
Develop self-awareness and professional purpose

MBA courses are available at the main campus, as well as the Seattle University Eastside Education Center in Bellevue. Students may select classes from each site. Courses are scheduled in the evenings, meeting once a week.

Admission Requirements

Students seeking admission to graduate programs should contact the Albers School of Business and Economics at (206) 296-5700 or Seattle University Graduate Admissions at (206) 220-8010 for admission materials. Documents required for admission to the professional master of business administration program includes the following:

Completed Application for Graduate Admission and non-refundable $55 application fee (waived for Seattle University alumni)
Official transcripts of all post-secondary education institutions attended in the last 90 quarter/60 semester credits of the bachelor’s degree, including any transfer credits earned during this time, and any post-baccalaureate course work
Official scores from the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or Graduate Records Examination (GRE)
Current résumé showing evidence of continuous full-time work experience
If English is not the applicant’s native language, official English proficiency scores meeting the University entrance requirements are necessary. See policy 2008-01 in Admissions Policies for details.

Degree Requirements:

I. Preparatory Work

Business Calculus
Business Communications

The calculus requirement must be completed by the end of the first year in the program. The communications requirement must be completed within the first quarter.

Prerequisite Business Courses

Students must have completed satisfactorily coursework in statistics, financial accounting and managerial accounting. The alternatives may be online courses, self-paced tutorials, waiver exams, or other options deemed appropriate by department faculty. The prep work will need to be completed prior to entering the Analytical Core or quantitative elective courses.

II. Core Courses

24 credits, including:

Note: Students must complete MBA 5205, 5210, 5215, 5220, 5225, and 5230 prior to advancing to electives unless otherwise approved by the Program Director.
MBA 5205 - Teams, Creativity, and Decision Making
MBA 5210 - Building Stakeholder Relationships
MBA 5215 - Strategy & Innovation
MBA 5220 - Identifying and Accessing Markets
MBA 5225 - Delivering Growth
MBA 5230 - Managing Risk
Note: MBA 5235 should be taken in the first 25 credit hours.
MBA 5235 - Professional and Interpersonal Communications
MBA 5240 - Career Planning and Development

Capstone: Applications in Strategy

Capstone may only be taken in the last 9 credits of a student’s program. Choose one of the following 3 options:

MBA 5500 - Competitive Strategy
MGMT 5340 - Business Consulting
Independent Study manifesting appropriate depth and breadth as determined by Program Director

III. Electives

30 credits, including:

Approved Elective in Global Business (3)
General Electives (27)

Minimum credits required for degree: (54)

NOTE:

Certificate options are available for all MBA students. See catalog descriptions for more information.

Accounting Specialization

A formal specialization is available in accounting, and is noted on official transcripts. The accounting specialization requires ten elective courses. Two of the accounting electives are “extra” courses beyond those required by the MBA. The courses are as follows:

Eight electives from accounting:

ACCT 5110 - Intermediate Financial Accounting I
ACCT 5120 - Intermediate Financial Accounting II
ACCT 5130 - Managerial Cost Accounting
ACCT 5150 - Federal Taxation I
plus three additional accounting courses.

Two electives:

one international elective
one general elective

Business Valuation Specialization

A formal specialization is available in business valuation and is noted on official transcripts. To receive the specialization a student must complete 10 courses listed below. With department approval, students with previous comparable course work may be able to waive courses, in which case the specialization will be completed with fewer required courses.

Requirements

Complete the following courses:

Entrepreneurship Specialization

To receive the specialization in entrepreneurship a student must complete a minimum of 12 credits, including an entrepreneurship fundamentals course (MGMT 5360 ), 6 credits from a list of specified electives, and one practicum course. A business mentor will be assigned once MGMT 5360 has been completed and the student has made the formal change to their MBA program.

Electives for specialization:

Choose 6 credits from the following:

Practicum course options:

Choose an option:

NOTE:

The student is also required to participate in the Seattle University Annual Business Plan Competition by submitting a quality business plan for the screening round and qualify for the tradeshow/elevator pitch round.

Leadership Formation Specialization

To receive a specialization in Leadership Formation, students must complete 12 quarter credits of program requirements. Participating students must also satisfy community service requirements, and successfully lead a project involving other students. Students must complete an application process. The program is limited to 24 students per year.

Seminar requirement:

Electives for specialization:

Choose two:

Sustainability Specialization

To receive the specialization in Sustainability a student must complete a minimum of 12 credits. Students must take SUST 5300 and SUST 5310 , choose at least one class (SUST 5305 or MKTG 5335 ), and one additional elective course from specified list.