Degrees and Programs
Degree requirements are listed below under BBA Degree Requirements and under Program Degree Requirements. For a complete list of requirements for a degree, the student should combine the degree requirements in these two sections with the University's minimum General Requirements for graduation and the Special Requirements of the School.
The Minor
While a minor is not required as part of the BBA degree program, the student may choose to complete a minor in either a second business field or a field outside the school. A student may complete only one minor. The minor consists of at least twelve semester hours in a single field, including at least nine hours of upper-division coursework. Students who minor in management information systems may count six hours of lower-division and six hours of upper-division coursework. Students who minor in any area of finance must take Finance 367 as three of the required twelve hours.
Six of the required hours must be completed in residence. A course used to fulfill the requirements of a minor may not be taken on the pass/fail basis unless the course is offered only on that basis. Only one business core course or one course counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree requirements in BBA Degree Requirements may also be counted toward the minor. The internship course may not be counted toward the minor.
The McCombs School allows the student to minor in any field in which the University offers a major. However, prerequisites and other enrollment restrictions may prevent the student from minoring in some fields.
Applicability of Certain Courses
Physical Activity Courses
Physical activity (PED) courses are offered by the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. They may not be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. However, they are counted among courses for which the student is enrolled, and the grades are included in the grade point average.
ROTC Courses
No more than twelve semester hours of air force science, military science, or naval science coursework may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. ROTC courses may be used only as nonbusiness electives and may be counted toward the degree only by students who complete the third and fourth years of the ROTC program and accept a commission in the service.
Courses Taken on the Pass/Fail Basis
A business student may count toward the degree up to four one-semester courses in elective subjects outside the major taken on the pass/fail basis; only electives, nonbusiness electives, and upper-division nonbusiness electives may be taken on the pass/fail basis. Credit earned by examination is not counted toward the total of four courses that the student may take pass/fail.
If a student decides to major in a subject in which he or she has taken a course on the pass/fail basis, it is generally the prerogative of the major department to decide whether the course will be counted toward degree requirements; in the McCombs School of Business, such courses may not be counted toward the major. Complete rules on registration on the pass/fail basis are given in General Information.
Correspondence and Extension Courses
Students planning to take correspondence or extension courses should consult with the Undergraduate Program Office before doing so to ensure compliance with the following restrictions.
- Credit that a University student in residence earns simultaneously by correspondence or extension from the University or elsewhere will not be counted toward a business degree unless it is specifically approved in advance by the dean. A student may not be enrolled concurrently for correspondence courses from the University or for correspondence or extension courses from another institution during his or her last semester.
- Correspondence instruction in the required business core courses may not be counted toward the degree unless specifically approved in advance by the dean.
- No more than 30 percent of the semester hours required for any degree may be completed by correspondence, extension, or a combination of the two methods.
- With regard to registration on the pass/fail basis, correspondence and extension courses are subject to the same restrictions as courses taken in residence; these restrictions are given in the section Courses Taken on the Pass/Fail Basis.
Concurrent Enrollment
To ensure degree applicability, students are urged to consult with their academic advisor before registering concurrently at another institution, either for resident coursework or for a distance education course, and before enrolling in correspondence or extension coursework at the University. A student may not be enrolled concurrently during his or her last semester in any course to be counted toward the degree.
Certificate Programs
Certificate programs in the McCombs School are designed to allow undergraduate students to develop an area of expertise in addition to their major program. The required number of hours to earn any certificate may vary but may not be fewer than 18 and may not exceed 24. Undergraduates who complete certificate requirements in conjunction with their degree requirements or within one year after earning the degree receive recognition on the University transcript. At least half of the required certificate coursework must be completed in residence at the University.
A student may not earn any transcript-recognized certificate in the same field as his or her major, and at least one certificate course must be outside the requirements of the major. However, certificate courses outside the major may be counted toward other degree requirements.
The Business Foundations Program
The Business Foundations Program (BFP) is designed to provide a foundation in business concepts and practice for students in other majors. Any nonbusiness student with a University grade point average of at least 2.00 may take any BFP courses for which he or she meets the prerequisite. No admission process is required.
Students who complete the certificate requirements in either the general track or the global track must also submit a request to the BFP director for a certificate and a letter verifying completion of the program.
The certificate program requires eighteen semester hours of coursework as described below; students must also complete the following prerequisite courses: Economics 304K or 304L or the equivalent, and an introductory statistics course chosen from the list of approved courses available on the BFP Web site.
General Track
The certification requirements are:
- The following courses completed in residence:
- Accounting 310F; or both Accounting 311 and 312.
- Management Information Systems 301, 302F, or 310.
- Finance 320F.
- Three of the following four courses: International Business 320F, Legal Environment of Business 320F, Management 320F, Marketing 320F.
- Two of the four courses taken to fulfill requirements 2 and 3 above, with the exception of Legal Environment of Business 320F, may be taken in an approved study abroad program. A list of approved programs is available in the Study Abroad offices.
- The student must complete the prerequisite courses and the courses used to fulfill requirements 1 through 3 on the letter-grade basis. He or she must earn a grade point average of at least 2.00 in these courses. Credit by exam is allowed for Economics.
- The student must complete at least two long-session semesters in residence.
Global Track
The certification requirements are:
- Proficiency in a modern foreign language, demonstrated by earning nine semester hours of credit beyond course 507 or the equivalent in the language. Three of these hours must be in an upper-division course in grammar and composition.
- Completion of at least one semester in an approved study abroad program. A list of approved programs is available in the business Study Abroad offices.
- The following courses, completed in residence:
- Accounting 310F; or both Accounting 311 and 312.
- Management Information Systems 301, 302F, or 310.
- International Business 320F. This course is required to complete the Global Track.
- Finance 320F.
- Two of the following three courses: Legal Environment of Business 320F, Management 320F, Marketing 320F.
- Two of the three courses taken to fulfill requirements 5 and 6 above, with the exception of Legal Environment of Business 320F, may be taken in an approved study abroad program. A list of approved programs is available in the Study Abroad offices.
- The student must complete the prerequisite courses and the courses listed in requirements 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 on the letter-grade basis. He or she must earn a grade point average of at least 2.00 in these courses.
- The student must complete at least two long-session semesters in residence.
Apply online to request your BFP certificate at the beginning of the semester you will complete the program. http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/BBA/Business-Foundations
Real Estate Certificate
The Real Estate Certificate Program requires eighteen semester hours of coursework as described below; students must also complete the following prerequisite courses: for nonbusiness students, Accounting 310F and Finance 320F; for business students, Finance 357. In addition, nonbusiness students are strongly urged to complete Economics 301, or Economics 304K and 304L. Upon completion of the designated prerequisite course(s), a student with upper-division standing may formally apply to the Certificate Program. Admission to the program is based on students’ overall academic record and their performance in the required prerequisite course(s). To gain admission the following semester, students must apply by April 1 for fall and by November 1 for spring.
The certification requirements are:
- Real Estate 358 and 378K; for finance majors, also Accounting 326 or 378 (approved topics in real estate accounting)
- Real Estate 376G or Legal Environment of Business 363
- Three of the following (for finance majors, two of the following):
- Accounting 378 (approved topics in real estate accounting)
- Architectural Engineering 323K, 358, or 366
- Architecture 308, 318K, 318L, 350R (For Architecture 350R, may be repeated where topics vary. Credit for topics is subject to approval.), or 368R (Topics: History and Theory of Landscape Architecture I; History and Theory of Landscape Architecture II)
- Community and Regional Planning 369K
- Economics 330T, 334K, or 334L
- Finance 377 (Topic 3: Security Analysis) (for finance majors in the REIT Fund Program or the Financial Analysis Program only)
- Geography 310C, 337, 337, 356T (Topic 1: The Culture of Cities), or 360G
- Legal Environment of Business 363 (for non-finance majors only)
- Urban Studies 301 (for urban studies majors only), or 305 (Topic: Experiencing the City)
- Real Estate 376G (for non-finance majors only)
Supply Logistics Optimization Certificate
The following four courses for business and nonbusiness students are prerequisites for application to the Supply Logistics Optimization Certificate Program:
- Mathematics 408C and 408D (for business and nonbusiness students)
- Mechanical Engineering 205 and 335, or the equivalent (for nonbusiness students)
- Statistics 309 and Management Information Systems 301 (for business students)
Upon completion of these courses, a student with upper-division standing may formally apply to the certificate program. Admission to the program is based on students’ overall academic record and their performance in the four prerequisite courses. To gain admission the following semester students must apply by April 1 for fall and by November 1 for spring.
The certification requirements are twenty-one semester hours of coursework as described below:
- Operations Management 335, 337 (Topic 3: Procurement and Supplier Management), and 368
- Nine semester hours chosen from Mechanical Engineering 366L, 367S, 373K, 375K
- Three semester hours chosen from Operations Management 337 (Topic 1: Total Quality Management; Topic 2: Supply Chain Modeling and Optimization; Topic 4: Supply Chain Design, Planning, and Control; Topic 5: Project Management), 366P
Core Curriculum
All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum and the following specific requirements for the BBA, including the requirements of a major. In some cases, a course that is required for the BBA or for a major may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below.
BBA Degree Requirements
Each student must complete the University’s Core Curriculum. In the process of completing core curriculum and BBA degree requirements, students must earn credit for one flag in cultural diversity in the United States, one flag in ethics and leadership, one flag in quantitative reasoning, and two flags in writing. Courses may simultaneously satisfy flag and other degree requirements. Except for the cultural diversity in the United States flag, all other required flags are attached to the business core and major courses students must complete to earn a BBA degree. As applicable, students are advised to fulfill the cultural diversity flag requirement that meets another requirement of the core curriculum such as the first-year signature course, American history, or visual and performing arts requirements of the core curriculum. Courses with flags are identified in the Course Schedule, available at registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/. More information is available in the section on Skills and Experience Flags.
- A grade point average of at least 2.00 is required on all work undertaken at the University for which a grade or symbol other than Q, W, X, or CR is recorded. In addition, a grade point average of at least 2.00 in business courses is required.
The official grade in a course is the last one made; however, if a student repeats a course and has two or more grades, all grades and all semester hours are used to calculate the University grade point average and to determine the student’s scholastic eligibility to remain in the University and his or her academic standing in the McCombs School of Business.
A student may not repeat for credit or grade points any course in which he or she has earned a grade of C or higher (or the symbol CR, if the course was taken on the pass/fail basis).
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A candidate for the BBA degree must be enrolled in the McCombs School in the semester or summer session in which the degree is awarded.
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Each student is expected to complete the courses required for his or her major and to meet the curriculum requirements described in items 4 through 7 below in the year specified.
- During their freshman and sophomore years, students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum requirements.
- Students must complete the following BBA degree requirements during the freshman year:
- Mathematics 408C and 408D, or 408K and 408L, or the equivalent. This coursework may also be used to fulfill the mathematics requirement of the core curriculum.
- Economics 304K and 304L. Economics 304K may also be used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences requirement of the core curriculum.
- Management Information Systems 301, a business core course.
- Three semester hours of coursework in anthropology, psychology, or sociology, chosen from approved courses; courses dealing primarily with statistics or data processing may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
- Business Administration 101H, 101S, or 101T. Entering freshmen take Business Administration 101S, entering transfer students take Business Administration 101T, and entering business honors students take Business Administration 101H. Because each course is offered only once a year, failure to take the course in the proper semester will prevent the student from declaring a major and progressing toward the degree.
- Students must complete the following business core courses during the sophomore year:
- Eighteen semester hours beyond the first two years are specified as follows:
- Business core courses:
- Legal Environment of Business 323.
- Finance 357.
- Marketing 337.
- Operations Management 335 or Management 336.
- Statistics 371G. Finance majors pursuing the quantitative finance track take Statistics 375 or 375H to fulfill this requirement.
- A professional, business-related internship or practicum course chosen from the following: Accounting 353J, 366P, Business Administration 353H, Finance 353, 366P, Management 353, 366P, Management Information Systems 353, 366P, Marketing 353, 366P, Operations Management 353, 366P. Only one internship course may be counted toward the degree.
- Business core courses:
- The following requirements apply in addition to those in items 4 through 7 above:
- Additional coursework to provide a total of at least sixty semester hours outside the McCombs School. At least six of these hours must be at the upper-division level. Students should consult the requirements of their major department for additional information about coursework to be taken outside the school.
- Completion of the requirements of one of the majors listed in the section Program Degree Requirements. In no event is a degree of Bachelor of Business Administration awarded to a student with fewer than forty-eight semester hours in business, at least twenty-four of which have been completed in residence on the letter-grade basis at the University. At least twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in the major must be completed in residence at the University on the letter-grade basis. For additional residence requirements, see the University's minimum General Requirements for graduation given in The University section.
- Proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to that shown by the completion of the first two semesters taught at the University. This requirement may be fulfilled either by completion of the two high school units in a single foreign language that are required for admission to the University as a freshman or by the demonstration of proficiency at the second-semester level. Credit earned at the college level to achieve the proficiency may not be counted toward the degree. It may be earned on the pass/fail basis.