This accelerated program is designed for accomplished business professionals not only to complete the bachelor’s degree but also move directly into the MBA. Building upon the congruence between the existing BA in Business Administration and MBA core curricula, this option is offered to undergraduate students seeking to move efficiently into the MBA program.

Requirements for initial admission in to the accelerated program:

• 72 undergraduate credits before applying to the Accelerated BA/MBA Program (These credits must include completion of APU’s Foundational Studies.)
• 3.0 cumulative GPA
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible management experience
• Essay describing goals including the relevance of an MBA
• Personal interview

 

Advancement from the BA portion to MBA portion of the program:

To advance from the BA portion to MBA, students must complete a minimum of 104 undergraduate credtis inclusive of:  Foundational Studies, 39 credits of required BA coursework, and electives.

Once in the MBA portion, students take the MBA core requirements with the Master’s thesis option.  The thesis is required and serves as the research project for both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. 

Upon completion, the BA bachelor’s degree and MBA graduate degree are awarded at the same time.

Learning & Program Outcomes

At the undergraduate level, a student will earn an Bachelor of Arts degree with realized proficiency in APU’s Core Competencies:

1. Effective Communication [EC]:  Demonstrate the ability to get one’s point across in writing, presentations, and organizations in order to share information, teach others, and foster collaboration
2. Critical Thinking [CT]:  Demonstrate the ability to compute, analyze, make sense of information or data, and reach reasoned conclusions cognizant of possible bias or fallacies
3. Cultural & Historical Perspective [CH]:  Demonstrate the ability to effectively consider tradition and heritage in relation to decision-making in a world shaped by diverse cultures and abiding histories
4. Scientific Inquiry [SI]:  Demonstrate the ability to reach verifiable conclusions based on documented observations, findings, and recognized methods in order to know how things work in our world
5. Ethical Engagement [EE]:  Demonstrate ability to raise needed questions and apply ethical and effective problem-framing and problem-solving to make things better

 

The degree is designed to meet the following Professional Competencies:

• Manage Organizational Change (MOC): Develop competencies in the core areas of business [CT, SI]
• Leadership (L): Learn to identify different leadership strategies to motivate employees and effectively manage organizations [EC, CT, CH, SI, EE]
• Global Strategy (GS): Acquire knowledge on techniques for achieving competitive advantage in the global market environment [CH, EE]
• Written & Oral Communication (WOC): Develop written and oral communications skills for effective performance in the work place (WOC) [EC, CT, CH]
• Problem Solving (PS): Develop competencies in the methods of inquiry to solve organizational problems (PS) [EC, CT, EE]
• Financial Management (FM): Attain an understanding of business financial management including financial statement analysis, financing and investing [CT, SI, EE]
• Law & Ethics (LE): Understand the law of contracts and legal and ethical issues involved with business management  [CH, EE]
• Research & Application (R&A): Gain an understanding of the research process and its application  [EC, SI, EE]

 

Upon completion of the MBA at the graduate-level, a student will have:

• Gained an appreciation of the local, domestic, and global environments as they relate to business management
• Enhanced their business judgment and identified sound management methods including the ability to think critically and strategically
• Attained an understanding of, and ability to appropriately leverage interpersonal relationships and team work
• Developed analytical expertise and functional frameworks drawn from a broad range of managerial skills including accounting, finance, economics, marketing, management, and law
• Acquired an ability to incorporate appropriate quantitative and qualitative data, including an appreciation for the value and costs of obtaining data, into management decisions
• Established outstanding, multi-method communication skills
• Recognized the value of effective and ethical leadership so they can lead themselves, others, and organizations