Strategic Leadership (MBA)

MBA Requirements:

Candidates for the UD MBA degree must complete 44 credit hours, divided into Business Core courses (27 credits), elective courses (15 credits), and professional development seminars (two credits). The UD MBA committee specifies specialized courses beyond the core and required curriculum for the on-site UD MBA programs.

Full-time MBA students can normally complete the program in 21 months. Part-time students normally take 3-4 years to earn their degrees. Students may accelerate their program by taking courses in the winter and summer sessions.

Professional Development Seminars:

BUEC 601 - Building Emotional Intelligence and Critical Thinking Credit(s): 1
BUEC 603 - Communicating, Branding and Career Networking Credit(s): 1

Business Core:

ACCT 800 - Financial Reporting and Analysis Credit(s): 3
BUAD 620 - Fundamentals of Analytics Credit(s): 3
BUAD 631 - Operations Management and Management Science Credit(s): 3
BUAD 640 - Ethical Issues in Domestic and Global Business Environments Credit(s): 3
BUAD 670 - Managing People, Teams, and Organizations Credit(s): 3
BUAD 680 - Marketing Management Credit(s): 3
BUAD 690 - Corporate Strategy Credit(s): 3
ECON 603 - Economic Analysis for Business Policy Credit(s): 3
FINC 650 - Financial Management Credit(s): 3

Elective Courses:

Fifteen credit hours of additional graduate-level coursework must be completed either within the Lerner College or across the University in other areas appropriate to the student’s academic or professional interests. Students who intend to complete a Major or a Concentration will achieve this requirement through specified coursework.

Majors and Concentrations:

Although not required, it is possible for students to obtain a major within the MBA by completing 15 credits of elective course work in one of the following five areas: Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Finance, Healthcare Management, or Strategic Leadership.

Students may instead choose to complete one or more of the following concentrations by choosing nine hours of prescribed elective course work in: Accounting, Finance, Healthcare Management, Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, Information Technology, International Business, Marketing Analytics, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Museum Leadership, Strategic Leadership, and Sports Management. The remaining six credits of electives can be taken in any academic field offered by the University.

Students interested in a general-interest MBA need not pursue a major or concentration, and may instead select 15 credits of electives from a wide variety of academic interests.

Notes:

Dual Degrees:

There are many dual degrees options with the MBA, including:

MBA/MS: Accounting
MBA/MAS: Civil Engineering
MBA/Master of Chemical Engineering
MBA/MA: Economics
MBA/MS: Electrical and Computer Engineering
MBA/MS: Entrepreneurship & Design
MBA/MS: Finance
MBA/MS: Hospitality Business Management
MBA/MS: Information Systems & Technology Management
MBA/MS: International Business
MBA/MS: Mechanical Engineering
MBA/ME: Mechanical Engineering
MBA/Master of Materials Science & Engineering
MD/MBA (in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University - Jefferson Medical College)
PhD Biological Sciences/MBA

Most dual degrees generally require at least 60 graduate credits and follow a very structured curriculum.

A dual degree requires 32 credits in the MBA curriculum. The 32 credits for MBA will consist of 27 credits of the Business Core requirements plus two one credit professional development seminars: BUEC 601 and BUEC 603, plus one international business course. Students interested in pursuing a dual degree should contact the MBA Program Manager to discuss the specific courses required to complete the degrees.

Course Waivers and Transfers:

A total of up to 12 credits may be waived and/or transferred. Course waivers should be assessed upon application to the UD MBA program. It is possible to finish the UD MBA degree at an accelerated pace in one year with a minimum 36 credits with sufficient course waivers/transfers. Students entering the UD MBA program with a BS, BA, or equivalent degree from an AACSB-accredited school may substitute additional elective coursework for up to six credits from the Business Core requirement. Thus, the students on this faster track will need to take a minimum of 36 credit hours instead of 44 hours.

Students in the UD MBA programs (part-time and full-time) may waive up to 12 credits of the 24 credits in Business Core if they have completed applicable courses in that subject area at the undergraduate level at an AACSB-accredited institution during the last five years with grades of B or better in each course. In general, two courses in a subject area are required to waive a Business Core course; one of those two undergraduate courses must be at the intermediate level. Some subjects require more than two courses. Students should contact the MBA Program Manager to determine if their courses meet the requirements. Coursework from related graduate degrees may also qualify as the basis of a course waiver, but only in a related academic field. For instance, a student who already holds an MS in Accounting from an AACSB-accredited institution may request a course waiver for ACCT 620; similarly, a holder of an MA in Economics may request a course waiver for ECON 503.

It is possible to transfer graduate-level coursework to the UD MBA from other AACSB-accredited schools. A maximum of nine credits may be transferred. Graduate courses are eligible for transfer only if earned at a school fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. Per University regulations, courses must have been completed within the past five years and earned grades of B or better. Course transfers are not official until the student has completed at least nine credit hours as a matriculated MBA student at the University of Delaware.

Electronic Communications Requirement:

All MBA students are provided with electronic addresses and e-mailboxes and are expected to utilize email, the Internet, and electronic scholarly resources on a regular basis. The UD MBA program provides basic instruction in electronic communications for new students. Other instruction is available in short, non-credit classes that are offered by the University‚ Information Technologies staff, and the business reference librarian at Morris Library. Students wishing to use their private e-mail MUST forward their University e-mail accounts to this address. Electronic mail is the primary method of administrative information dissemination, and students are responsible for monitoring their University e-mail accounts.

Major Requirements:

BUAD 672 - Strategic Leadership and Change Credit(s): 3
BUAD 673 - Advanced Topics in Leadership and Teams Credit(s): 3

Three of the following:

Only one of BUAD 641 or BUAD 678 can be used towards this requirement:

BUAD 641 - Managing the Global Enterprise Credit(s): 3
or
BUAD 678 - Leading Across Boundaries Credit(s): 3
BUAD 674 - Selected Topics in Management and Leadership Credit(s): 1-3
BUAD 677 - Skills for Change Agents Credit(s): 3
BUAD 679 - Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Credit(s): 3
MISY 640 - Project Management and Costing Credit(s): 3