Master of Arts in International Relations & Master of Business Administration

This dual degree program is offered to meet the needs of students seeking careers in administrative management, international affairs, consulting, international banking or finance.

Admission into the dual degree Master of Arts in International Relations & Master of Business Administration (IR/MBA) program requires separate admissions decisions by the IR Department and the Graduate School of Management (GSM). These decisions are based on one complete application to GSM. Students who are admitted by GSM but not IR have the option to pursue an MBA degree. Applicants not admitted by GSM will not be considered by IR. See the admissions section of this website or go to the Graduate School of Management admissions page for further information on admissions.

Requirements

Completion of this dual degree program requires a total of 80 credits. Students must complete all of the IR core requirements, including the General Core Course, Foreign Language, Statistics, and MA Paper requirements. Students also take five IR elective courses (20 credits), for a total of 32 credits of IR classes. Full-time IR/MBA students will fulfill the IR statistics requirement with the GSM core class QM 716, so there is no need to take any other class to fulfill that component of the degree.

Students complete at least 40 credits in GSM, including the core MBA courses (34 credits) and at least six credits of elective coursework. The remaining eight credits required for the degree are free electives and can be chosen from the graduate level course offerings of either the IR Department or GSM. A progress report for IR/MBA students can be found on the forms page.

Students spend their first semester, and most or all of their second semester, taking management courses. The GSM Advising Office can help students to understand which courses should be taken during those two semesters.

Students may undertake the IR/MBA program in either full-time or part-time status. The requirements indicated below are for full-time students; part-time students have similar, but significantly different, requirements for the MBA portion of the degree (the IR portion remains the same). Click here for information on requirements for part-time students.

Core MBA Course Requirement

All IR/MBA students must complete the MBA core course requirements. The course list that follows details the 34 credit core for full-time students. Part-time IR/MBA students complete a similar, but distinct, course list. These courses must be completed in a specific order; students should talk with the GSM Advising Office when choosing their course schedule.

  • GSM AC 710 Financial Reporting & Control (3 credits)
  • GSM ES 700 Executive Presentations (1 credit)
  • GSM ES 701 Executive Written Communication (1 credit)
  • GSM ES 704 Career Toolkit (2 credits)
  • GSM ES 705 Career Portfolio Program (1 credit)
  • GSM FE 721 Financial Management (3 credits)
  • GSM FE 727 Economics & Management Decisions (3 credits)
  • GSM IS 710 IT Strategies for a Networked Economy (3 credits)
  • GSM MK 723 Marketing Management (3 credits)
  • GSM OB 713 Managing Organizations & People (3 credits)
  • GSM OM 725 Creating Value through Operations & Technology (3 credits)
  • GSM PL 700 Business Law and Ethics (2 credits)
  • GSM QM 716 Data Analysis for Managerial Decision-Making (3 credits)
  • GSM SI 751 Competition, Innovation & Strategy (3 credits)

Elective MBA Course Requirement

Full-time students must take at least six credits of elective coursework through the Graduate School of Management in order to fulfill the 40 credit residency requirement for GSM.

Free Electives

Students choose eight credits worth of courses from the graduate level offerings of either the IR Department or GSM.

IR Elective Coursework

A total of 20 credits of IR elective coursework is required for the degree. Of these 20 credits, 12 must be fulfilled through courses in the IR Department. Up to eight credits may be fulfilled through GSM classes that have an international orientation. These courses may be selected from the following list.

  • GSM FE 827 International Financial Management
  • GSM FE 882 Analysis of Political Economies
  • GSM IM 830 International Business Environment
  • GSM IM 848 Fundamental Business Functions in International Operations
  • GSM IM 849 Fundamental Business Functions in International Operations II
  • GSM IM 859 International Strategic Alliance
  • GSM IM 860 International Business Strategies
  • GSM MK 853 Global Strategic Marketing
  • GSM SP 856 International Entrepreneurship

The course offerings of GSM are continually evolving. If there is a GSM course with an international orientation that is not on this list, students are welcome to petition the IR Director of Graduate Studies for approval to take it for IR credit.

Please note that because GSM electives are normally worth three credits, students can not simply take two GSM courses in place of two IR courses. Students must take a total of at least twenty credits of IR elective coursework. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. One option that may assist students in reaching this credit requirement is to take a two credit IR Directed Study (e.g., two 3-credit GSM electives plus one 2-credit IR Directed Study would amount to eight credits total). Students are also welcome to take more than 20 credits worth of IR coursework if they wish.