Program Overview

Business Administration (BA) Program

The Business Administration (BA) program at Oregon State University offers a comprehensive education in business, preparing students for successful careers in various industries. The program provides a solid foundation in business principles, including management, finance, accounting, and marketing.

Course Descriptions

The BA program includes a wide range of courses that cover various aspects of business, including:

• BA 002: Leadership - Provides students with basic personal and interpersonal leadership skills.
• BA 004: Internship - Offers students hands-on experience in a business setting.
• BA 101: Business Now - Introduces students to the integrated view of business organizations.
• BA 140: Financial Literacy for College Life - Helps students understand personal finance and achieve long-term financial goals.
• BA 150: Exploring Entrepreneurship - Allows students to design a start-up company and learn business etiquette.
• BA 152: Exploring Social Entrepreneurship - Examines responsible business practices and social change.
• BA 153: Exploring Finance - Establishes real-world financial literacy in a business capacity.
• BA 154: Exploring Marketing - Helps students understand the process of developing and executing a marketing plan.
• BA 160: B-Engaged - Assists students in transitioning to college-level academic work and exploring OSU resources.
• BA 161: Innovation Nation--Awareness to Action - Begins a conversation on self-management and entrepreneurial knowledge.
• BA 162: Innovation Nation--Ideas to Reality - Continues the conversation on self-management and entrepreneurial knowledge.
• BA 163: B-Engaged - Equivalent to BA 160, helping students transition to college-level academic work.
• BA 167: Launch Pad I - Introduces students to entrepreneurial knowledge and gaining a competitive edge.
• BA 168: Launch Pad II - Continues the conversation on self-management and entrepreneurial knowledge.
• BA 199: Special Studies - A repeatable course for 12 credits, allowing students to explore special topics.
• BA 210: Internship - Provides planned and supervised work experience at cooperating business firms.
• BA 211: Financial Accounting - Introduces accounting information from the perspective of external users.
• BA 213: Managerial Accounting - Focuses on accounting information from the perspective of management users.
• BA 223: Principles of Marketing - Covers concepts and principles used by marketing professionals.
• BA 230: Business Law I - Examines the nature and function of law in business society.
• BA 240: Finance - Introduces basic tools of finance and applications of financial theory.
• BA 260: Introduction to Entrepreneurship - Explores topics such as evaluating entrepreneurial capabilities and business plan creation.
• BA 270: Business Process Management - Introduces and integrates core concepts from Operations Management and Business Information System disciplines.
• BA 275: Foundations of Statistical Inference - Covers introductory statistical inference with an emphasis on business applications.
• BA 280: Business Insights - Connects students with faculty and peers, exploring OSU resources for enhanced college experience and success.
• BA 281: Professional Development - Gives students an early start on career planning and development.
• BA 282: Drafting Your Career Blueprint - Part of the Blueprint series, focusing on characteristics of exemplary leadership.
• BA 283: Creativity, Culture, and the Workplace - Explores students' unique talents and understanding of diverse and inclusive communities.
• BA 284: Foundations of Personal Finance I - The first of four courses dedicated to the foundations of personal finances.
• BA 290: Introduction to Careers in Marketing - Explores marketing through the perspectives of current marketing professionals.
• BA 299: Special Topics - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to explore special topics in business administration.
• BA 311: Framing Your Career Plan - Part of the Blueprint series, helping students explore different types of business communications.
• BA 312: Foundations of Personal Finance II - The second of four courses dedicated to the foundations of personal finances.
• BA 313: The Orange and Black Case Competition - Focuses on leadership practices and business ethics case competition.
• BA 314: Sustainable Business Operations - Examines the concepts and tools employed by operations managers to provide a competitive advantage.
• BA 315: Accounting for Decision Making - Looks at how the accounting model reflects business transactions and events.
• BA 330: Legal Environment of Business - Examines the nature and function of law in business society.
• BA 347: International Business - Provides an integrated view of international business, including current patterns and socioeconomic systems.
• BA 348: International Exchange Orientation - Consists of large-group sessions and small-group break-out sessions for each country.
• BA 349: Impact of Culture on Business - Reflects on the experience of studying, living, and traveling in a foreign culture.
• BA 350: The Business of Sport - Examines the business dynamics and structure of the sports industry.
• BA 351: Managing Organizations - Takes a systems perspective to understanding the management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
• BA 352: Managing Individual and Team Performance - Diagnoses individual and small-group behavior and develops skill in improving performance.
• BA 354: Managing Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility - Introduces contemporary issues that business professionals face in making ethical and socially responsible decisions.
• BA 357: Operations and Supply Chain Management - Provides an overview of the functional activities necessary for the creation and delivery of goods and services.
• BA 360: Introduction to Financial Management - Explores the issues facing a financial manager in new business ventures, small businesses, and corporations.
• BA 361: Ideation and Creative Thinking - Focuses on the creative process applied to business and societal problems.
• BA 362: Social Entrepreneurship and Social Initiatives - Examines the core concepts of entrepreneurship, using entrepreneurship to craft innovative responses to social problems.
• BA 363: Innovation Management - Introduces students to the field of innovation in both theory and practice.
• BA 365: Family Business Management - Focuses on the opportunities and problems characteristic of family businesses.
• BA 367: Launch Academy - An incubator for student entrepreneurs, providing access to seed funding, prototyping equipment, and mentoring.
• BA 368: Advanced Launch Academy - Allows students to receive coaching and move their business ideas forward.
• BA 370: Business Information Systems Overview - Introduces students to the field of information management.
• BA 375: Applied Quantitative Methods - Introduces students to the basics of data science and data analytics for handling large-scale databases.
• BA 381: Personal and Professional Development - Helps students transition to the OSU and COB communities, identifying and employing academic success strategies.
• BA 390: Principles of Marketing - Covers concepts and principles used by marketing professionals.
• BA 399: Special Topics in Business Administration - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to explore special topics.
• BA 403: Thesis - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to work on their thesis.
• BA 405: Reading and Conference - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to engage in supervised individual work.
• BA 406: Projects - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to work on projects.
• BA 407: Seminar - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to participate in seminars.
• BA 410: Business Internship - A repeatable course for 16 credits, providing planned and supervised work experience.
• BA 411: Navigating Your Workplace - Part of the Blueprint series, focusing on analyzing job offers and benefits packages.
• BA 412: Financial Planning I - Part of the Blueprint series, continuing to build a foundation of financial planning.
• BA 413: Financial Planning II - The fourth of four courses dedicated to the foundations of professional financial planning.
• BA 432: Environmental Law, Sustainability, and Business - Explores fundamental business, legal, and policy issues raised by environmental law and sustainable business practices.
• BA 447: Topics in International Business - Analyzes current topics in international business.
• BA 458: Innovation and New Product Development - Examines the strategic management of an organization's system and technologies in support of innovation and new product development.
• BA 460: Venture Management - Applies entrepreneurial and innovation processes to new business start-ups, existing small businesses, and new ventures within larger organizations.
• BA 463: Family Enterprise Governance - Explores and analyzes family enterprise governance practices.
• BA 464: New Venture Finance - Explores issues facing entrepreneurial business ventures, including financial statement forecasting and funding options.
• BA 466: Integrative Strategic Experience - Provides students with an overview of the basic concepts in strategic management.
• BA 467: New Venture Laboratory - Develops a complete business plan, including product specs with prototype, financial analysis, market analysis, and management structure.
• BA 468: Technology Commercialization - A "hands-on" class exercising commercialization concepts on recently awarded OSU patents or individual commercialization projects.
• BA 499: Special Topics in Business Administration - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to explore special topics.
• BA 501: Research - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to engage in research.
• BA 502: Independent Study - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to work on independent study projects.
• BA 503: Thesis/Dissertation - A repeatable course for 999 credits, allowing students to work on their thesis or dissertation.
• BA 505: Reading and Conference - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to engage in supervised individual work.
• BA 506: Projects - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to work on projects.
• BA 507: Seminar - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to participate in seminars.
• BA 510: Business Internship - A repeatable course for 16 credits, providing planned and supervised work experience.
• BA 512: Business Analysis and Communication - Guides students through a process of determining business issues or challenges.
• BA 513: Business Legal Environment - Provides the essential legal foundation for business managers in companies operating in the U.S.
• BA 514: Operations Management - Provides a foundation for business managers in statistics and operations management.
• BA 515: Managerial Decision Tools - Develops business management skills by learning the principles of managerial and financial accounting.
• BA 516: Creating Value in Exchange - A graduate-level survey course providing a foundation for business managers in the concepts of marketing.
• BA 517: Markets and Valuation - Introduces students to the basic questions facing a financial manager and the tools used to find answers.
• BA 518: Adopting the Entrepreneurial Mindset - Introduces the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and innovation.
• BA 528: Financial and Cost Analysis - Analyzes the balance sheet and income statement to determine profitability, risk, and rate of return.
• BA 540: Corporate Finance - Emphasizes analytical tools to measure and manage firm value through corporate strategies.
• BA 550: Leadership and Teams in Organizations - Explores classical and modern theories and evidence-based research in leadership.
• BA 555: Practical Business Analysis - Surveys quantitative business methods useful for aiding management decisions.
• BA 561: Supply Chain Management - Covers tools and concepts needed to manage the entire supply chain effectively.
• BA 562: Managing Projects - Covers tools and concepts used by managers to plan and initiate business projects.
• BA 563: Family Enterprise Governance - Builds on the introductory family business management course to examine the required elements of a successful enterprise.
• BA 564: New Venture Finance - Explores issues facing entrepreneurial business ventures, including financial statement forecasting and funding options.
• BA 568: Integrated Business Project - Requires students to complete a business plan, directing the development of a business.
• BA 569: Advanced Strategic Management - An advanced integrative case-based course on the process of systematically developing and managing firm strategies.
• BA 571: Healthcare and Biomedical Innovation - Provides an understanding of the full range of strategic issues associated with innovation management and new product development in healthcare.
• BA 572: Advanced Information Systems - Addresses the development, implementation, and management of information technology applications.
• BA 590: Marketing Management - Provides an understanding of how a market-orientation can help firms profitably deliver value to their targeted customers.
• BA 599: Special Topics in Business Administration - A repeatable course for 16 credits, allowing students to explore special topics.
• BA 601: Research and Scholarship - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to engage in research and scholarship.
• BA 602: Independent Study - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to work on independent study projects.
• BA 603: Thesis/Dissertation - A repeatable course for 999 credits, allowing students to work on their thesis or dissertation.
• BA 605: Reading and Conference - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to engage in supervised individual work.
• BA 607: Seminar - A repeatable course for 32 credits, allowing students to participate in seminars.
• BA 611: Teaching Effectiveness - Provides an overview of effective teaching techniques and common issues associated with teaching at the college level.
• BA 612: Foundations of Business Research - Introduces first-year business doctoral students to concepts fundamental to conducting research in business as a social science.
• BA 613: Seminar in Business Research Methods - Provides first-year business PhD students with an in-depth introduction to the most common research methodologies used by current business faculty.
• BA 660: Foundations of Entrepreneurship Research - Provides a broad overview of the foundations of entrepreneurship research.
• BA 661: Doctoral Seminar in Organizational Theory - Surveys research on classic and contemporary developments in basic organizational theory.
• BA 662: Corporate Entrepreneurship and New Ventures - Surveys research in the area of corporate entrepreneurship and venturing.
• BA 663: Strategic Management - Surveys research exploring the central question in strategy: Why do some firms outperform others?
• BA 664: Technology and Innovation Management - Surveys research on the management of innovation and technology in organizations.
• BA 808: Workshops - Workshops aimed at practicing professionals in the discipline, with topics varying.

Program Requirements

The BA program requires students to complete a minimum of 180 credits, including:

• General Education Courses: 60-70 credits
• Business Core Courses: 50-60 credits
• Elective Courses: 20-30 credits
• Internship or Capstone Project: 1-3 credits

Admission Criteria

To be admitted to the BA program, students must meet the following requirements:

• GPA: 3.0 or higher
• SAT or ACT Scores: 1200 or higher (SAT) or 25 or higher (ACT)
• Letters of Recommendation: 2-3 letters from academic or professional references
• Personal Statement: A 1-2 page essay outlining career goals and motivations for pursuing a BA degree

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for the BA program vary depending on the student's residency status and the number of credits taken per term. The estimated tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year are:

• In-state tuition: $10,000 - $15,000 per year
• Out-of-state tuition: $20,000 - $30,000 per year

Research Areas

The BA program offers research opportunities in various areas, including:

• Entrepreneurship: The study of new venture creation, innovation, and small business management.
• Finance: The study of financial markets, instruments, and institutions.
• Marketing: The study of consumer behavior, market research, and marketing strategy.
• Operations Management: The study of supply chain management, logistics, and quality control.
• Organizational Behavior: The study of human behavior in organizations, including leadership, motivation, and teamwork.

Career Opportunities

The BA program prepares students for a wide range of career opportunities, including:

• Management: Students can pursue careers in management, including human resources, operations, and marketing.
• Entrepreneurship: Students can start their own businesses or work for small businesses and startups.
• Finance: Students can pursue careers in finance, including banking, investments, and financial planning.
• Marketing: Students can pursue careers in marketing, including advertising, brand management, and market research.
• Operations Management: Students can pursue careers in operations management, including supply chain management, logistics, and quality control.