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BSBA Program Overview
The MSU Denver BS in Business Administration (BSBA) lets you create a customized business major to meet your specific career goals. It can be completed as a 100% online business degree, on campus, or as a mix of online and in-person.
You’ll complete our rigorous business core. You’ll also choose 21 upper-division credits of courses across business disciplines—no more than 9 credits in each—that help you build highly specialized, cross-functional expertise.
The major capstone course, MGT 4910 Strategic Leadership, ensures that you’re ready to use this expertise to lead your team to success.
We have great financial aid. Most of our students receive financial aid, and 30% of our undergrads get free college tuition. We even have a $1,000 renewable scholarship for online college for new students or those who are returning after two or more years.
Who Is This For?
The BS in Business Administration may be the right business major if some of the following apply to you:
- Ready to advance in your current company, but you need a degree, and other business majors (like Management, Accounting, or Marketing) don’t fit
- Have 5+ years of professional work experience—or 3+ years and 30+ college credits—with a specialized vision for what you want to do next
- Have 60+ college credits, and no one business major includes what you want to learn
- Have substantial upper-division college credits in business, but these don’t fit neatly into an existing business major or you no longer want to complete that major
If you’re an incoming freshman or transfer student who is interested in business, without significant, relevant professional experience, we urge you to pick one of our existing business majors focused in a specialized field within business.
We offer several 100% online business degrees.
What Can I Do With This Degree?
Because the online BS in Business Administration is a fully customized major, the possibilities are endless.
Here are just a few of the potential examples where this degree could help your career. These suggestions were developed in consultation with alumni, recruiters from major corporations, and faculty.
These are just examples of how you could complete this major; what matters most is how we can help you achieve your specific career goals.
Top Tier Classes:
- MKT 3010 Marketing Research
- MKT 3330 Marketing and Sales Metrics
- CIS 3350 Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining
- CIS 4410* Management Information Systems
- MGT 4350* Enterprise Planning
- ECO 3500 Managerial Economics
Other Beneficial Classes:
- CIS 3490* Managing Business Information with Enterprise Systems
- MGT 4550 Project Management
- MKT 3310 Consumer Behavior
*Earn a SAP Certificate of Completion by successfully completing CIS 2010 (required business core class), CIS 4410, and one of the following: ACC 3300, CIS 3490, MGT 4350.
Top Tier Classes:
- MKT 3910 New Product Development
- MKT 3010 Marketing Research
- MKT 4110 Brand Management OR MKT 3610 Business to Business Marketing
- CIS 3350 Data Warehouse and Mining
- ACC 3400 Cost Accounting
- MGT 4550 Project Management
- MGT 4910 Strategic Leadership
Other Beneficial Classes:
- MKT 3330 Marketing and Sales Metrics
- MGT 4530 Organizational Behavior
- FIN 3850 Intermediate Finance
- CIS 3050 Fundamentals of System Analysis and Design (CIS 2110)
- MGT 4050 Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
- MKT 3250 Personal Selling OR MKT 3160 Sales Leadership
Top Tier Classes:
- MGT 4530 Organizational Behavior
- MGT 3530 Human Resources Management
- MKT 3310 Consumer Behavior OR MKT 3610 Business to Business Marketing
- CIS 3350 Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
- ACC 3400 Cost Accounting
- MKT 3750 Multicultural Marketing
- MKT 1260 Customer Service (general elective)
Other Beneficial Classes:
- MGT 4620 Performance Management and Rewards Systems (MGT 3530)
- MKT 3250 Personal Selling
Top Tier Classes:
- CIS 3490* Managing Business Information with Enterprise Systems
- CIS 4410* Management Information Systems
- CIS 3060 Database Management Systems
- MGT 3550 Operations Management
- MGT 4550 Project Management
- ECO 3500 Managerial Economics
- MKT 3330 Marketing and Sales Metrics
Other Beneficial Classes:
- MGT 3260 Managing Business Risk
- MKT 3010 Marketing Research
- MGT 4350* Enterprise Planning
- MGT 3720 The Conscious Business: Sustainable Business Strategies
- MGT 4530 Organizational Behavior
*Earn a SAP Certificate of Completion by successfully completing CIS 2010 (required business core class), CIS 4410, and one of the following: ACC 3300, CIS 3490, MGT 4350.
Get More Information
Many of our students are best served with one of our discipline-specific business majors. But if you think the individually tailored major in Business Administration is right for you:
- Make an appointment with one of our faculty advisors:
- If you’re an existing MSU Denver student, click here to make an appointment.
- Choose Appointments, then Schedule an Appointment
- Choose Academic Advising, then Declaring/Changing Major
- Under Major/Department, choose Business Administration
- If you’re a prospective or incoming student, email us or call 303-615-1212 to set up an appointment.
- If you’re an existing MSU Denver student, click here to make an appointment.
Ready to declare this major? Apply for admission to MSU Denver and declare your major as Business Administration, then email us or call 303-615-1212 to set up an appointment.
Elective Options
The BSBA requires seven business electives for a total of 21 credits. Electives can be any upper-division business classes, but you can only take three classes (9 credits) in any given prefix. The purpose of providing these elective groups is to give guidance to help you choose electives related to your career interests.
Still need more options? Please email Dr. Clay Daughtrey at [email protected] with information about what industry you are interested in and he will work with you to find and suggest electives that fit your goals.
Business Elective Pathways
Enterprise Systems: If you complete these two classes, you can get a certificate of completion for SAP. Really useful!
Must finish these classes by Fall of 2026 to get certification.
CIS 3490 – Managing Business Information Systems (Prereq CIS 2010, which you should have already)
CIS 4410 – CIS 4410 – Management Information Systems(Prereq CIS 2010)
Business Analytics:
CIS 3350 – Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (Prereq CIS 2320 or CIS 3300)
CIS 3360 – Advanced Machine Learning for Business (Prereq CIS 3350)
Banking:
FIN 2700 – Introduction to banking
FIN 3500 – Management of Banking Operations (FIN 2700 Prereq)
FIN 3010-Financial Markets and Institutions (ACC 2010, ECO 2010, ECO 2020 prereqs)
or
FIN 4620 -Risk Analysis for Financial Service Organizations (FIN 3500 Prereq)
ECO 3100 – Money and Banking
MKT 3250 -Professional Selling (Jr. Standing)
MKT 3300 – Marketing of Services (MKT 3000 prereq)
Digital Marketing:
MKT 3200 – Digital Marketing Fundamentals (Jr. Standing)
MKT 4200 – Content Marketing (MKT 3000 prereq and Jr. Standing)
MKT 4300 – Social Media Marketing (MKT 3000 prereq and Jr. Standing)
or
MKT 4540 – Digital Marketing Science (MKT 3000, MKT 3200, + 3 additional MKT upper-division credits)
Database Administration:
CIS 2110 – Structured Problem Solving in Information Systems (CIS 2010 prereq)
CIS 3060 – Database Management Systems (Prereq CIS 2110).
CIS 4260 – Database Administration (Prereq CIS 3060).
CIS 3145 – Business Application Development (CIS 2110 prereq)
Cyber Security:
CIS 2110 – Structured Problem Solving in Information Systems (CIS 2010 prereq)
CIS 3230 – Telecommunications Systems and Networking (Prereq CIS 2110).
CIS 3500 – Information Systems Security (Prereq CIS 3230).
Non-Profit Administration:
MGT 3510- The People of Nonprofits: Staff, Board, Volunteers, Clients, and You (HSP 2010)
MGT 3860 – Social Entrepreneurship (Jr. Standing)
MKT 3190-Marketing for Social Good (Jr. Standing)
MKT 3820- Fundraising Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations (Jr. Standing)
FIN 4450-Nonprofit Financial Management and Financing (HSP 2010)
Interested in Completing the Nonprofit Administration Certificate?
You will also need to take:
HSP 2010 – Introduction to High-Impact Nonprofit Organizations, which will count as a general elective, not a BSBA elective.)
Professional Selling:
MKT 3250 – Professional Selling (Jr. Standing)
MKT 4350 – Advanced Selling (Prereq MKT 3250 and Sr. Standing))
MKT 3320 – Inside Sales (Jr. Standing),
or
MKT 3350- Social Selling (Jr. Standing),
or
MKT 3160- Sales Leadership (Jr. Standing),
or
MKT 3330 – Marketing and Sales Metrics (MKT 3000 prereq and Jr. Standing)