Business Advising & Registration Central
Understanding Your Graduation Checklist and Requirements
Information for business students
How to find and understand your graduation checklist:
Reviewing Your Graduation Checklist
- Credit Requirement: A minimum total credit hours of 129. A student may graduate with total credit hours of 122-129 if completion of the following occurs: 1) Dual application of up to two business courses (6 credits) within the Marquette Core Curriculum Discovery Tier Themes for business core and major requirements, 2) Waiving the one-credit BUAD 1060 Business Applications: Basic Business Analytic Tools course through passing a waiver exam provided by the college. Both of these options can reduce overall credit totals, but need to be submitted in advance – see College and University & Registration Forms. These are the only pathways for a student to graduate with less than 129 credits and earn a B.S. in Business Administration degree.
- GPA requirements for the college and university: A minimum GPA of 2.000 must be earned in all courses taken at Marquette University. A minimum GPA of 2.000 must be earned in all College of Business Administration courses taken at Marquette University (2.500 for accounting majors).
- GPA requirements for a major in the college: A grade of C or higher must be earned in each of a student’s major requirements and electives including the core courses introducing the major (i.e. ECON 1103/1104 for Economics majors and MARK 3001 for Marketing majors).
- Study Abroad: Studying abroad during the Spring semester of a student’s sophomore year or the Fall semester of a student’s junior year provides the most options for course selection at study abroad host institutions.
- Planning courses in advance: Save nine (9) Non-Business Elective credits until their study abroad term and nine (9) Upper Division Business Elective credits where possible. Courses that should be taken during the first three (or four) semesters at Marquette to position a student for study abroad include: ACCO 1030, ACCO 1031, BUAD 1001, BUAD 1060, BUAD 1560, ECON 1103, LEAD 1050, and LEAD 2000. If a student is majoring in Economics, ECON 1104 should also be taken at Marquette before departure.
- Unless studying abroad at a U.S. institution’s program, students majoring in Finance or Marketing should complete the 3001 introductory course for their major(s) and for any disciplines in which they want to take upper division business electives when studying abroad. With 75 possible partners, no one set of rules applies to everyone. Visit the Office of International Business Programs for specific advising.
Areas of the Graduation Checklist
Marquette Core Curriculum
Bulletin: Marquette Core Curriculum Requirements OR University updates to the Marquette Core Curriculum
Discovery Tier Theme Requirements:
Learn more about Discovery Tier Themes and business coursework:
- Students must declare a Discovery Tier Theme no later than the term in which a student reaches sixty credits. Students can change a declared theme anytime.
- Students can dual apply Discovery Tier Theme courses when possible to business core, major requirements, upper division business electives, non-business major/minor requirements. The only place a Discovery Tier Theme course cannot dual apply is within required non-business electives.
- Students can dual apply up to two business courses across Discovery Tier Theme requirements AND 2) Business core, major requirements or upper division business electives to reduce overall credits. This reduction of credit requirements will not automatically happen, and once a class is taken that could dual apply, this form should be submitted to the college Dean's Office. This process reduce the overall number of credits a student needs to graduate by a maximum of 6 credits. Courses that are used for business requirements but are not business, like MATH 1400 or CNEN 3810, cannot reduce overall credits.
- MCC Business Courses: Discovery Tier, WRIT & ESSV2
WRIT and ESSV2 Requirements
Writing Intensive (WRIT) and Engaging Social Systems and Values 2 (ESSV2) courses are satisfaction requirements and will not require additional credits if taken within the Discovery Tier course options, business core, major requirements, upper division business electives, non-business major/minor requirements, or non-business electives.
Business Core Curriculum
Business Introductory Course and MANA 4101 Strategic Management course prerequisite list Note: Prerequisites are in place for many business courses, please review in advance of registration
Structured Elective Requirements: Within the business core curriculum a student will need to complete three structured elective requirements, each with multiple course offerings:
- Business Ethics Structured Elective: Select one course from BULA 3001 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business (Required for ACCO majors), FINA 4370 Sustainable Finance (Required for AIM-CFA Concentration majors), FINA 4191 Private Equity, Ethics and Society, MANA 3002 Business and Its Environment, OSCM 4035 Supply Chain Sustainability, PHIL 4330 Business Ethics, or AIIM/AIM 4470 (AIM majors only).
- Core Enhancement Structured Elective: Select one course from ENTP 3001 Understanding Entrepreneurship (ENTP majors), HURE 3001 Management of Human Resources (HURE majors), or REAL 3001 Introduction to Commercial Real Estate (REAL majors).
- Analytics Structured Elective: Select one course from ACCO 4060 Accounting Analytics, AIIM/AIM 4320 Identifying, Valuing and Communicating Investment Opportunities (AIM majors only), AIIM/AIM 4420 Automating, Programming, Forecasting, and Generating Disruptive FinTech Intelligence (AIM majors only), BUAN 3065 Business Analytics 1: Data Definition, Preparation, Descriptive Analytics, ECON 4060 Introduction to Econometrics, FINA 4050 Applied Financial Modeling, INSY 4052 Database Management Systems, MARK 4060 Marketing Research, MARK 4065 Marketing Analytics, OSCM 4060 Supply Chain Analytics, REAL 4061 Real Estate Modeling, or REAL 4210 Real Estate Asset Program - Applied Real Estate Modeling (REAP students only).
If a course is taken to complete the Business Ethics, Core Enhancement and Analytics structured electives, it can dual apply to both the business core and a major requirement if eligible. Note: additional coursework may be required to meet credit requirements if a structured elective is used to dual apply to two academic areas.
International Business Course Requirement: At least one International Business elective must be completed by taking an international business course through major requirements, upper division business electives or through an approved study abroad program course. Only business courses are applicable, not non-business offerings part of the International Business (INBU) major's Experiential and Global Perspective course options: Select one business course.
MATH 1400 and all business courses must be taken at Marquette University; exceptions are made for students studying abroad. See Registration Information section for more information about transfer coursework.
Non-Business Electives
Non-Business electives: are courses outside the offerings of the College of Business. Students either have 12 credits required (Accounting majors) or 18 credits required (Non-Accounting majors).
Open Elective Course within Non-Business Electives: All students are required to complete non-business elective courses. ACCO majors must complete 12 credits and all other majors must complete 18 credits. Up to 3 credits of non-business coursework are considered an “Open Elective”. The open elective can be used for a non-business elective or a business elective outside of a declared major, including internship for credit (even within a declared major), or a study abroad course. If a business course is selected for these 3 credits, it will not automatically populate, and the course selection must be requested with the college Dean's Office with this form.
Business Major Coursework
See Major Contacts in "Course Planning" tab
Declaring a major: Each business student is encouraged to declare a major prior to registration for the junior year. All students should declare their major(s) prior to advising and registration for the senior year. Students will need to formally declare a major for it to appear on a graduation checklist.
Major in Business Administration (BUAD), what is it? Many students choose to major in one or more of the college’s eleven other majors, however a student who wishes to major in only Business Administration can complete the major with 9 upper division business electives. Business Administration (BUAD) is a single major only for students, it cannot be paired with a second major.
Taking a Course to Satisfy Requirements or Electives for two different Business Majors: Students can dual apply one course to two business majors' requirements or electives when possible. The only major excluded from this option is International Business (INBU), but not all other business majors have courses that can apply to multiple majors. This dual application does not change the minimum credit requirement to graduate and may require a student to take an additional course to meet credit requirements.
Program Concentrations in the College: The college has five major program concentrations: 1) Accelerating Ingenuity in Markets - CFA Investments, 2) Accelerating Ingenuity in Markets - FinTech (AIM Program), 3) Finance - Commercial Banking Program, 4) Marketing - Professional Selling Program, and 5) Real Estate - Real Estate Asset Program (REAP). Each program has unique requirements, please consult with each program coordinator to determine needs.
Upper Division Business Electives: are courses numbered 3000-4999 and are generally taken by sophomores through seniors.
Internship for Credit: Students often pursue internship for credit opportunities. In some majors, this for-credit option does count towards a major elective course. Review major requirements in the Bulletin to determine if an internship for credit course will be beneficial to your requirement needs. The program is managed by the Business Career Center, more information here.
