International Business

Recognizing the role of the United States in world affairs and the importance of international operations to American business enterprise, this major offers a combination of basic business knowledge with an interdisciplinary study of international policies and practices. The curriculum is designed to develop competency to function effectively in a specific region of the world and to prepare students for positions in global business operations, government, or international agencies in the fields of economic development and/or international trade.

The requirements of this program are:

1. The Core Curriculum requirements and the BBA Degree Requirements
2. Twelve semester hours of coursework in a foreign language associated with the area studies specialization used to fulfill requirement 6 below. A minimum of six of the 12 required hours must be at the upper-division level
3. International Business 350 (may fulfill the independent inquiry flag) or 350S, and 378 (certain sections may fulfill the writing, independent inquiry, and global cultures flags)
4. Six semester hours chosen from the following courses: Finance 376, International Business 340S, 372, and Marketing 372 (Topic 4: Global Marketing). Other courses on the global dimensions of key business areas (e.g. “International Accounting and Taxation” or "Intercultural Management") may also be used for this I B elective requirement when available, as approved by the international business faculty adviser.
5. Three semester hours of business electives
6. Nine semester hours of upper-division coursework focused on a specific geographic region. Examples of acceptable fields of study are Latin American studies; Middle Eastern studies; Asian studies; Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies; and specific countries within western Europe (e.g., France, Spain, Germany and others) or other areas related to the student's geographic region. All area study coursework must be approved by the international business faculty adviser.
7. All international business majors must study abroad or have an approved international experiential learning program (i.e. foreign internship) for at least one semester or summer session of no less than six weeks. Ideally, the study abroad experience should be in an immersion program that includes courses taken with local students.
   
   Any McCombs School program is acceptable if occurring in a country in which English is not the dominant language, with the exception of faculty-led summer study abroad programs or Maymesters, which may not be used for study abroad credit by International Business majors. In addition, most affiliated study abroad programs available through the University’s Study Abroad Office are acceptable, depending on the course of study.  The international business faculty adviser must approve all study abroad programs and area studies courses in advance.
   
   Students must earn credit for the equivalent of at least six semester hours during their study abroad period. Credit earned abroad may be used to fulfill other degree requirements if appropriate. 
   
   An international experiential learning program in the appropriate geographic region which meets the basic experiential learning requirements for all business majors may be used in place of the study abroad requirement with satisfactory documentation and faculty adviser approval.
   
   Note that a student's chosen area of language study, the geographic location of their study abroad and/or experiential learning program, and the focus of the area studies coursework must be in the same geographic region.  Those studying Spanish may select either Spain or Latin America for their focus, but not both.
8. Additional elective coursework, if necessary, to provide a total of at least 120 semester hours.

International business majors should note that each student must submit information using the IB Planner for approval of language courses, area studies courses, and study abroad experience.