MBA Curriculum

Specializations are highlighted below and are described further through the MBA specializations website.

Business Essentials (9 credits)

Business Essentials (BE) Courses are 1.5 credit courses in the areas of accounting, finance, economics, information systems, marketing and supply chain management and provide important foundational learning for MBA strategy and elective courses.  Business Essentials courses may be waived for students who have completed comparable prior learning through earning a B or better in transcript-documented coursework completed within the past ten years. 

Business Essentials waivers will be evaluated within the admissions process and are further described within the admissions website

Decision Making (4.5 credits)

Decision Making courses include Quantitative Analysis and Business Analytics.  Quantitative Analysis provides the statistical foundations, and Business Analytics focuses on predictive and prescriptive analytics and enables business leaders to structure and develop models that accurately depict a decision problem.  Quantitative Analysis may be waived based on prior transcript-documented statistics coursework.

Strategy (6 credits)

The strategy courses prepare business leaders to identify and analyze sources of competitive advantage, optimize decision-making processes, and evaluate strategic management.  Courses include strategic management, enterprise risk management, and the MBA capstone course. 

Leadership (4.5 credits)

Leadership courses prepare students to lead people and change, innovation, and creativity, and to bring self-awareness and leadership frameworks to projects, teams, and management.

Ethics (3 credits)

Through courses in corporate social responsibility and ethical business practices, MBA students learn to apply theories of ethics and an understanding of how business, government and society interact to the effects of business on people, organizations, communities, and the environment.

Electives (15 credits)

Students may pursue electives across Graduate School of Management subjects including leadership, management, finance, marketing, supply chain, information systems, and marketing.  Students may pursue a MBA specialization by completing 12 credits in a specific area of study.  Specializations are highlighted below and are described further through the MBA specializations website.

• Business and Managerial Analytics
• Leadership
• Finance
• Health Systems Leadership
• International Business
• Marketing
• Supply Chain Management
• Economics

With advisor approval and pre-requisite eligibility, MBA students may also pursue courses throughout Marquette University graduate offerings.  MBA students most often select courses in data science, communications, and health systems leadership. 

MBA courses course formats include:

• In-person courses.  Classes are typically scheduled for a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening with a class meeting time of 5:30-8:15pm.
• Blended courses: Class meetings are a combination of in-person and online learning.  Online learning could be scheduled for synchronous or asynchronous class meetings.  Synchronous class meetings occur within the same day of the week and class time as the in-person sessions, using Microsoft Teams to host the class.
• Online Synchronous: Classes are hosted using MS Teams within a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening from 5:30-8:15pm.
• Online Asynchronous: Faculty post course materials (readings, lectures, case studies, videos, etc.) to the course website.  Students review information and complete assignments according to course deadlines.  Often, courses will have one or two deadline dates within the week.
• Online Synchronous and Asynchronous: Similar to a blended course format, class meetings alternate weekly between a scheduled class time using MS Teams and asynchronous content.

• Business Essentials, Quantitative Analysis, and Enterprise Risk Management are offered with an online asynchronous format.  These courses are offered each fall and spring semester.  The majority of Business Essentials courses are also offered within the summer semester.
• Business Analytics, Ethics, Leadership, Strategic Management Introduction and Strategic Management Capstone are offered with in-person or blended formats within fall and spring semesters and online within fall, spring, and summer semesters.
• Electives tend to be offered on an annual schedule to allow for the greatest variety of elective offerings each year. 

The Graduate School of Management offers a diverse range of MBA elective courses.  Electives offered within the past year include:

Character Driven Leadership Negotiations Contemporary Leadership: Theory, Research and Application Project Management Design and Management of Database Systems Diversity and Inclusion Managing and Leading in Turbulent Times Managing Behavior in Organizations Organizational Development Managerial Accounting for Decision Making Advanced Financial Management Behavioral Finance FinTech: Foundations & Applications Fixed Income Markets

Investments Brand Management Consumer Behavior Sales Management Global Marketing Strategy Marketing Analytics Marketing Research Marketing for Management Decision Making Intro to Sports Leadership Sport Management Sports Communication SQL Python Programming R Programming

Students may also pursue Health Systems Leadership courses in Health Care Advocacy, Managing Populations and Access, Quality Improvement and Workforce Solutions

With advisor approval, MBA students may request course enrollment within additional Marquette University Colleges and departments such as Communications, Data Science and Health Systems Leadership.