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Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA)

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For contact information, please visit the Questrom UDC website.

Students who begin Questrom in their first BU year complete, alongside their other degree requirements, two required business courses: Business, Ethics, and the Creation of Value, and Measuring Financial Value. The intent of these two courses, taken with a cohorted and cohesive linkage, is to provide a philosophical, economic, and applied foundation for ethical decisionmaking in finance and business. Collectively, the courses are designed to launch the development of the student’s writing, presentation, and team skills along with their understanding of the complexities of business.

Generally, in the sophomore year, students develop the analytical tools of financial and managerial accounting, management information systems, and statistics; study management and organizations; develop their business communication skills; and learn the institutional realities of business law. Informed by their first-year experience, students more readily comprehend the importance of these analytical tools, see the need to extend their team skills, and recognize the practical importance of the institutional perspective of business law.

Upper-level students at Questrom devote an entire semester to QST SM 323 The Cross-Functional Core. The Core is one of the key elements differentiating Questrom’s undergraduate curriculum. The unit consists of four courses—Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Analytics—which are integrated into a unique one-semester sequence through a common semester-long team project focused on new product or service development.

During the senior year, students take the remaining business requirement—a course in strategy, innovation, and global competition—and business electives. To graduate, students must take their remaining business electives, along with any remaining non-business electives.

Students engage in a variety of careers after graduating, ranging from highly quantitative and analytical roles—like financial analyst, data analyst, market researcher, and equity researcher—to positions in rotational development and leadership programs that provide a wholistic business experience and exposure to advanced internal and client projects. Questrom’s undergraduate students have access to opportunities across all industries and work in areas including banking, CPG, healthcare consulting, and technology.

Learning Outcomes

Responsible Business Leadership. Students will:

  • Understand classic and contemporary perspectives on the purpose and responsibilities of business and its impact on the world.
  • Identify and evaluate ethical issues and give voice to their values in personal and/or business contexts.
  • Develop awareness of blind spots and biases in decisionmaking and learn to remedy these risks.

Broad Business Knowledge. Students will:

  • Understand and apply core business function concepts.

Analytical Competencies. Students will:

  • Gather, organize, and analyze data to make business decisions.

Effective Communication. Students will:

  • Develop and deliver cogent and concise oral presentations to diverse audiences.
  • Write clear, concise, and complete summaries or analyses for diverse audiences.
  • Structure persuasive inductive and deductive arguments.

Career Development Strategy. Students will:

  • Use self-assessment and professional exploration frameworks to develop specific, personal, career development strategies.

Collaboration. Students will:

  • Collaborate effectively and efficiently in cross-functional and multicultural teams.
  • Be able to support and/or assume leadership responsibilities.
  • Give and receive constructive feedback to enhance collaboration and team performance.

Global Perspective. Students will:

  • Adapt to and/or leverage global, cultural, regulatory, managerial, and ethical issues when developing solutions to business problems or challenges.

Innovative Approach. Students will:

  • Recognize the importance of innovation in value creation and its impact on the firm and industry.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. Students will:

  • Develop an understanding of systemic problems regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion and learn strategies to address these societal, business, and everyday concerns.
  • Learn how diversity within an organization impacts culture and performance.

Requirements

All BU undergraduate students, including both entering first-year and transfer students, will pursue coursework in the BU Hub, the University’s general education program that is integrated into the entire undergraduate experience. BU Hub requirements can be satisfied in a number of ways, including coursework in and beyond the major as well as through cocurricular activities. Students majoring in Business Administration will ordinarily, through coursework in the major, satisfy BU Hub requirements in Quantitative Reasoning and the Intellectual Toolkit as well as some of the requirements in Scientific and Social Inquiry; Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship; and Communication. Remaining BU Hub requirements will be satisfied by selecting from a wide range of available courses outside the major or, in some cases, cocurricular experiences.

The following requirements apply to students who enter their first year at Questrom School of Business beginning in or after the fall 2018 academic year. Students who entered the school prior to fall 2018 should see the Bulletin archive for the specific policies and curriculum requirements pertaining to them.

The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) requires that students complete coursework in business and the liberal arts, as well as seminars in career development, and that they complete no fewer than 133 credits while also meeting all requirements of the BU Hub. Students normally take four academic courses each semester. Though there are many ways to progress through the Questrom Undergraduate curriculum, ultimately every student must complete the same graduation requirements. These courses are distributed as follows:

  • 16 required courses in the Questrom School of Business:
    • QST AC 221 Financial Accounting
    • QST AC 222 Managerial Accounting
    • QST FE 323 Introduction to Corporate Finance
    • QST IS 223 Introduction to Information Systems
    • QST LA 245 Introduction to Law
    • QST MK 323 Marketing Management
    • QST MO 221 The Dynamics of Leading Organizations
    • QST OM 323 Operations and Supply Chain Management
    • QST QM 221 Probabilistic and Statistical Decision Making for Management
    • QST QM 222 Modeling Business Decisions and Market Outcomes or BA 222 Modeling Business Decisions and Market Outcomes with Spreadsheets and Statistical Programming (students may only take one of these courses for credit)
    • QST QM 323 Analytics
    • QST SI 422 Strategy, Innovation, and Global Competition
    • QST SM 131 Business, Society & Ethics
    • QST SM 132 Measuring Financial Value (2 cr)
    • QST SM 275 Management Communications
    • QST SM 303 Cross-Functional Core (0 cr)
  • Three required courses in career development:
    • QST ES 110 Explore Your Career (1 cr)
    • QST ES 210 Build Your Career Toolkit (1 cr) [or QST ES 215 (2 cr) to replace ES 110 and 210 if student did not enter in their first year]
    • QST ES 310 Implement Your Career Plan (1 cr)
  • Four business electives (used in fulfillment of a concentration)
  • Four required liberal arts courses:
    • CAS EC 101 Introductory Microeconomic Analysis
    • CAS EC 102 Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis
    • CAS MA 121 Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences I or CAS MA 123 Calculus I
    • CAS WR 120 (or equivalent) First-Year Writing Seminar (or other level of writing course as determined by the CAS Writing Program)
  • 20 credits from the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
  • 12 credits from outside of Questrom
  • 8 credits from any school/college within Boston University (except MET)
  • In some cases, additional electives to ensure the minimum 133 credits necessary to graduate or to meet remaining BU Hub requirements

Note: Students must successfully earn a minimum grade of “C” in five of the following courses, and no less than “C–” in the sixth course, in order to apply these courses toward their BSBA major and advance into 300-level Questrom courses:

  • CAS EC 101 (4 cr)
  • CAS EC 102 (4 cr)
  • CAS MA 121 or MA 123 (4 cr)
  • CAS WR 120 (or equivalent) First-Year Writing Seminar (4 cr)
  • QST SM 131 (4 cr)
  • QST SM 132 (2 cr)

Concentrations

The Questrom School of Business offers flexibility in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program, allowing students to customize the degree by choosing from concentration options from within and across a number of disciplines.

Questrom students must all complete at least one concentration. Concentrations present a deep exploration of a specific functional area in the study and practice of business. Concentrations include:

  • Accounting
  • Business Analytics
  • Finance
  • Global Business
  • Independent Concentration
  • Information Systems
  • Innovation & Entrepreneurship
  • Law
  • Management & Organizations
  • Marketing
  • Operations & Supply Chain Management
  • Real Estate
  • Strategy

    Note that a student can count no more than one course, one time, toward multiple concentrations.

    Concentration requirements are in addition to the courses required as part of the basic program of study. Students use their four business electives to fulfill the concentration requirements. Students may also use their free electives to fulfill concentration requirements. See concentration sections below for those concentrations also having CAS requirements.

    CONCENTRATIONS

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