IR/MBA Requirements for Part-time Students

Students may choose to undertake the IR/MBA program in part-time, rather than full-time, status. As with full-time students, admissions are handled through the Graduate School of Management (GSM). Admission requires separate decisions by the IR Department and 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. The admission process is slightly different for part-time applicants than for full-time applicants. Students should talk with the GSM Admissions Office about the fact that they intend to pursue the program on a part-time basis.

Requirements

Completion of this dual degree program requires a total of 80 credits. Students must complete all of the IR core requirements, including the 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. Part-time IR/MBA students will fulfill the IR statistics requirement with the GSM core class QM 717, so there is no need to take any other class to fulfill that component of the degree.

Students also complete the part-time core MBA course cycle (40 credits). 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. Part-time IR/MBA students are not required to take GSM elective courses if they do not wish to do so. To see a progress report for part-time IR/MBA students, go to the forms page.

Part-Time Core MBA Course Requirement

All IR/MBA students must complete the 40 credit part-time MBA core course requirement. The course list that follows details the core for part-time students.

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 20 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 coursework if they wish.