College of Business Core

Majors in the Department of Technology and Construction Management and the Department of Merchandising and Fashion Design are excluded from these admission and program requirements.

Admission requirements

All students who plan to apply for admission to the College of Business should declare a major in one of the five departments within the business unit of the College upon admission to the university and seek enrollment advice through the Business Advisement Center. Students who are uncertain at the time of admission to the University should declare a business major with the specific area undecided.

Students in good standing are eligible to be considered for admission to a specific degree program in the College of Business upon the completion of at least 54 hours including at least ten of the following preparation courses. Up to two of the twelve courses listed may be completed during the semester of admission; however, students should make every effort to complete all of the preparation courses prior to admission.

Courses required for admission

  1. Accounting: ACC 201(3) and 211(3); or ACC 206(4)
  2. Critical and Creative Thinking Using Information Technology: ITC 200(3)
  3. Public Speaking: COM 115(3)
  4. Economics: ECO 155(3) and ECO 165(3)
  5. Writing I: ENG 105(5) or ENG 110(3)
  6. Business Communications: MGT 286(3)
  7. Mathematics: MTH 134 or higher (3-5 hours) except MTH 130 (previous number for MTH 145)
  8. Psychology: PSY 121(3)
  9. Business Statistics: QBA 237(3)
  10. Legal Environment of Business: LAW 231(3)

Admission decisions will be determined by applicants’ combined (Missouri State plus transfer) grade point averages. All applicants whose combined grade point average is 2.50 or higher will be admitted. With written permission from the Business Advisement Center Director, a student may take up to, but not exceeding, 12 hours of upper level College of Business credit while working to satisfy the grade point average requirement.

Special procedural information

Students must gain admission to the College of Business by the semester in which they have earned a total of 60 semester hours of college credit (including transfer credit). Students who do not gain admission as expected are subject to being dropped as business majors and will not be permitted to register for the following semester without special permission.

Business (and undeclared) majors cannot be enrolled in upper-division business courses until their degree program has been finalized. Business (and undeclared) majors who have enrolled in upper-division business courses without having met all admission requirements (or without having met all of the specific course prerequisites) will be dropped from those courses.

Students should contact the Business Advisement Center regarding the granting of special permission to register.

Program requirements

In addition to the General Education and General Baccalaureate Degree Requirements, all Bachelor of Science candidates in the College of Business must meet the following requirements for graduation.

  1. Grade Point Average: All business majors must have a 2.50 or higher grade point average at the time of graduation for all upper-division College of Business courses attempted at Missouri State University.
  2. College of Business Core Requirements:
    1. ACC 201(3) and ACC 211(3); or ACC 206(4)
    2. ITC 201(3)
    3. ECO 155(3) and ECO 165(3). Note: ECO 155 or ECO 165 may also be used toward General Education requirements.
    4. FIN 380(3)
    5. LAW 231(3)
    6. MGT 286(3) and MGT 340(3) and MGT 487(3)
    7. MKT 350(3)
    8. PSY 121(3) Note: PSY 121 may also be used toward General Education requirements.
    9. QBA 237(3)
    10. ACC 341(3) required for Accounting majors; ITC 429(3) required for all other majors
    11. MKT 364(3) or MKT 450(3) required for Marketing majors; MKT 364(3) required for all other majors.
  3. Public Affairs Capstone Experience will be fulfilled by completion of MGT 340(3).
  4. Globalization Requirement: The College of Business requires all business majors to participate in an experience that will increase their preparation for successful careers in a globally competitive business environment. While the College of Business encourages students to achieve this goal by completing an international educational experience (see #1 below) or by completing three hours of foreign language courses (see #2 below), students may satisfy this globalization requirement by completing any one or more of the following five options:
    1. Completion of a full-semester education abroad experience, approved by the Director of International Business Programs, where the duration of the program is at least four weeks and the student passes at least three hours of course credit. This action will not result in a reduction of the total hours required toward the degree.

    2. Completion of three hours of language courses such as: ARB, CHI, FRN, GRK, GRM, HBW, HIN, ITL, JPN, KOR, LTN, PTG, RUS, SPN, SWA.
    3. Completion of an internship where the student will live and work abroad for a period of at least six weeks and earn three credit hours of course credit in one of the following: ACC 494, BUS 494, FIN 494, ITC 494, MGT 494, or MKT 494, or RMI 494. Course credit for the internship experience must be approved by the respective Department Head prior to acceptance/commencement of the internship. Prerequisites may apply. This action will not result in a reduction of the total hours required toward the degree.

    4. Completion of a COB upper-division course of at least three credit hours as part of an international short-term faculty-directed program with a COB faculty member. This action will not result in a reduction of the total hours required toward the degree.

    5. Completion of three hours from the following:
      1. Accounting: ACC 506
      2. Anthropology: ANT 100, 303, 330, 332, 334. Note: ANT 100 or GRY 100 or REL 110 may be used toward General Education requirements.
      3. Economics: ECO 346, 456, 565
      4. English: ENG 341, 361
      5. Finance: FIN 582, 586
      6. Geography: GRY 100, 305, 320, 321, 323. Note: GRY 100 or ANT 100 or REL 110 may be used toward General Education requirements.
      7. Global Studies: GBL 250
      8. History: HST 340, 350, 355, 380, 381
      9. Interdisciplinary Studies: IDS 297, 397 Note: IDS 297 may be used toward General Education requirements.
      10. Language: LLT 215, LLT 225, MCL 303
      11. Law: LAW 539
      12. Management: MGT 447
      13. Marketing: MKT 464, 474
      14. Music: MUS 239 Note: May be used toward General Education requirements.
      15. Political Science: PLS 205, 232, 544, 545, 548, 550
      16. Religious Studies: REL 110, 330, 350, 355, 360. Note: REL 110 or ANT 100 or GRY 100 may be used toward General Education requirements.
      17. Sociology: SOC 150
  5. Recommendation for Course Work Outside the College of Business: It is recommended that all business majors complete at least 50 percent of the hours required for graduation outside the College of Business. For purposes of this recommendation, the following courses may be counted as hours outside of the College of Business: QBA 237 and QBA 337, and all courses offered in the Department of Technology and Construction Management and Department of Merchandising and Fashion Design.
  6. Other Requirements:
    1. A minimum of 12 credit hours not counted as requirements on any other major or minor, and exclusive of "problems" and "readings" courses, is required for the completion of any additional major in business.
    2. A minimum of 9 credit hours not counted as requirements on any major or other minor, and exclusive of "problems" and "readings" courses, is required for the completion of any minor in business.

Transfer credit validation requirements

Students who plan to begin work at a community college or another four-year institution and later transfer to Missouri State should take only those lower-division courses in business numbered 1 through 299. Upper-division courses taught in the junior and senior years at Missouri State are numbered 300 or higher and should not be completed at a two-year college for transfer credit in the business core or major program area of specialization at Missouri State. If similar courses are taken at the lower-division level at a community college or a four-year institution, validation through additional course work or testing will be required. Validation by exam must be completed within the semester of admission. Validation by additional course work must be requested in the Business Advisement Center the semester of transfer and must be completed within one year. Courses taken at any level must be approved by the appropriate department as equivalent to an upper-division course in the College of Business.

Residence requirement for transfer students

At least 50 percent of the College of Business credit hours required for a business degree must be earned from the Missouri State University Springfield campus.

Sequencing of courses

The College of Business has established an appropriate sequencing of courses in addition to specified course prerequisites. Additional information about course prerequisites and sequencing of classes are available on the Business Advisement Center website. The sequencing of courses and course prerequisites are enforced by computerized prerequisite checks.

High school preparation

Students entering the College of Business are expected to have computer keyboarding skills and an understanding of the accounting cycle. These skills may be acquired by taking keyboarding/typewriting and accounting.

Enrollment by non-business students

Students seeking degrees outside the College of Business, Business Unit, including majors in the Department of Technology and Construction Management and Department of Merchandising and Fashion Design, cannot exceed 30 hours of business courses (25 percent of the 120 hours required for graduation) unless all admission requirements to the College of Business have been met. All exceptions must have the written approval of the Dean of the College of Business. Students found to be in violation of this policy will be dropped from all courses exceeding the maximum number of business course hours.