Business Foundation Requirements for the MBA

1. The foundation course requirements to enter the MBA degree program ensure that students have acquired a common body of knowledge in business administration.
   1. Candidates for admission to the MBA degree program must have earned an undergraduate degree in business administration or accounting from a school holding ACBSP or AACSB specialized accreditation for its business degree program within eight years of enrolling in the MBA program.
      
      OR
      
      
   2. Before attempting 5000-level course work, the student will have successfully completed, within eight years of enrolling in the MBA program, all courses or their equivalent in the following subject areas from a school holding ACBSP or AACSB specialized accreditation for its degree program:
      ••• Principles of Management
      ••• Principles of Marketing
      ••• Managerial Finance
      ••• Accounting (principles of financial and managerial accounting or their equivalent)
      ••• Legal Environment
      ••• Economics
      ••• Statistics
      ••• Global Business Issues
      ••• Information Systems (or documented completion of an MS Office workshop/certification,      minimally in Word and Excel)
      
2. If the foundation course requirement is not satisfied by either paragraphs 1.a or 1.b above, to include the restrictions related to currency (i.e., within eight years of initial enrollment in the MBA program) and specialized accreditation, then unless specifically waived by the MBA Program Director based upon relevancy of professional business experience subsequent to the award of a four-year business degree, the following MBA foundation courses must be successfully completed with a “B” grade or better through Troy prior to enrolling in 5000-level courses for which they are identified as prerequisite courses.
   
   

   MBA 5502	3	Fundamentals of Accounting and Finance
   MBA 5503	3	Fundamentals of Economic Analysis and Business Law
   MBA 5504	3	Fundamentals of Management and Marketing
   MBA 5505	3	Fundamentals of Information Systems and Quantitative Methods

3. If the content of the MBA foundation course work has been completed and, (1) the content is more than eight years old, or (2) the content of the foundation courses was completed at a school without ACBSP or AACSB specialized accreditation for its business degree programs, the student may attempt to qualify for a waiver of these two requirements by achieving a satisfactory score on the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business (Undergraduate). A satisfactory score is defined as no less than one-half standard error of the mean below the national average reported at the time the exam is attempted. For this catalog year a score of 146 is acceptable.
4. Along with the MBA foundation courses above, students entering the accounting option must have completed a degree in accounting or, minimally, the following courses based on accounting standards, auditing standards, and tax laws that are prevalent in the United States:
   
   

   ACT 3391	3	Intermediate Accounting I
   ACT 3392	3	Intermediate Accounting II
   ACT 3394	3	Governmental Accounting
   ACT 4494	3	Income Tax Accounting I
   ACT 4495	3	Income Tax Accounting II
   ACT 4497	3	Auditing

Admission Requirements for the Master of Business Administration

Unconditional Admission

1. Students applying for admission must provide official transcripts from all universities attended.
2. Applicants who have completed a master’s or higher degree from a regionally accredited university may be admitted unconditionally. (No graduate admission test scores are required.) Official transcripts from all universities attended must be submitted, to include an official transcript showing completion of a master’s or higher degree.
3. A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university is required. (Students with a baccalaureate degree from an unaccredited or otherwise accredited institution should see Unaccredited or Otherwise Accredited Student Admissions.)
4. Applicants must have achieved at least a 2.5 GPA in all undergraduate work or at least a 3.0 GPA in the last 30 semester hours.
5. Official graduate admission exam results (GMAT, GRE (verbal and quantitative), MAT) must be on file (except for applicants with a previous master’s or higher degree; see #2 above).
6. A letter of recommendation is required with all applications for the MBA program. The individual’s potential for success in the MBA program, his/her professional, managerial or administrative experience, as well as his/her written and oral communication skills must be addressed.

Conditional Admission
Students not satisfying the minimum graduate admission test score and GPA requirements for unconditional admission may be conditionally admitted to the program. After the student completes the first three graduate (5000 or 5000 level) courses with a ‘‘B’’ or better average, the student will be granted unconditional admission. Students not satisfying conditional admission requirements will be dropped from the program for one calendar year, after which time the student must petition for readmission. A letter of recommendation is required with all applications for the MBA program. The letter should address the individual’s potential for success in the MBA program as well as his/her written and oral communication skills.

Curriculum

All courses offer three semester hours credit except MBA 6625, 6626, and 6627, which may vary from one to three semester hours each.

Transfer Credit

A maximum of four courses (12 semester hours) taken at another regionally accredited institution, each with a ‘‘B’’ grade or better, can be applied toward the degree. Credit accepted for transfer into the MBA core, or to satisfy specified concentration courses, is limited to institutions holding ACBSP or AACSB specialized accreditation for their business programs. Exceptions to the “specialized accreditation” condition may be granted by the Dean based upon a review of the institution and the course content. These courses must be comparable in catalog description, level, and content to Troy courses and must be approved by the appropriate Troy dean/department chair. No more than two courses (six semester hours) may be transferred in from a completed master’s degree program. Professional military education courses are not accepted for credit in the MBA program.

Requirements for Admission to Candidacy

1. To be admitted to candidacy, students must have a 3.0 GPA on all work attempted.
   
2. Unconditionally admitted graduate students may apply for admission to candidacy after completing six semester graduate hours and requirements as outlined for the specific degree program. A student will be admitted to candidacy the term following completion of 12 semester hours.

Degree Requirements

Successful completion of the courses listed below with an overall grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) is necessary to fulfill requirements for the degree. If the student makes a "D" or "F" in a core course, the course must be retaken. If the student earns a "D" or "F" in an elective course, the course may be retaken, or another elective taken in its place. The student can satisfy the research component requirement by successfully completing MBA 6610, IS 6674, or ACT 6695 with a grade of "B" or better. The capstone course, MBA 6611, must be completed with a grade of “B” or better.

The MBA degree offers four, 36-semester-hour options: accounting, information systems, and general management. All options require six core courses and six option courses as follows:

There are no cross-listings with other Troy graduate degree programs for this program. All transfer credits must be processed through normal academic approval procedures. All authorizations for MBA students to be a transient student at another institution must be approved before the course is attempted. Professional military education courses are not accepted for credit in the MBA program.