Professional undergraduate business education at Marquette University provides students with an educational foundation that makes them effective and responsible business leaders. This requires a focus on preparing individuals for responsibility in all aspects of their lives in an era of constant change. It implies that we will strive to graduate men and women who not only will become highly competent professionals but whose careers will be built on integrity and the highest values of professional and personal conduct.

ELEMENTS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION

The College of Business Administration stresses three elements of business education: perspectives, knowledge, and skills. The first is grounded in the liberal arts traditions of Marquette University and builds on the Core of Common Studies taken by all of our students. It is built on the premise that an effective business leader will develop a deep understanding of the religious, cultural, social, political, economic, international, scientific and technical environments in which individuals and organizations exist. This helps our students develop their own internalized value systems and prepares them to apply these values broadly throughout their lives. It also enables them to place business decisions in a larger context, developing an understanding of the potential impact of business actions more broadly in society. We believe that a liberal education is a necessary part of a professional education, and our curriculum is structured on this premise.

CORE OF COMMON STUDIES

The College of Business Administration builds on the foundational educational experience provided by Marquette's Core of Common Studies. It does this through a college curriculum that amplifies and deepens the knowledge, skills and values imparted to students in the nine knowledge areas of the Common Core, and by offering students the opportunity to develop specialized knowledge and skills in a variety of undergraduate majors and minors. The College of Business Administration extends the student's core experiences, and focuses on further learning in pursuit of a specialized degree.

BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE

The second element focuses on knowledge of businesses and how they work. Initially, this portion of the curriculum focuses on business knowledge required of all College of Business Administration graduates. This provides the foundation for a career as a business leader. It provides each student with an introduction to the various functions generic to an organization such as marketing, finance, manufacturing and service operations. It also stresses development of a clear understanding of the dynamics of the firm and the economy, the basic managerial and organizational concepts necessary to function in an organization, the interaction between a firm and its environment, and an overall view of policy making within an organization. Building on this core, the curriculum provides students an opportunity to major in a specific business area, such as accounting, information technology, human resources or international business. This prepares graduates for entry-level business positions -- the start of their business careers.

SKILL BUILDING

Third, the curriculum stresses skill building, helping students develop their personal potential and allowing them to grow professionally as their careers progress. The building of skills in areas such as communication, quantitative analysis, team building, leadership and critical thinking is an integral part of the curriculum throughout a student's program of study. The development of these skills prepares graduates to continue to grow and develop in a rapidly changing work environment.

View our Undergraduate Majors.