Business Degree Requirements | Portland State University

Lower Division Business Requirements / Pre-Business Requirements

Students must complete the prerequisite courses below with a grade of "C-" or better. Pass/No Pass (P/NP) grades are not accepted.

• BA 101 – Introduction to Business & World Affairs (4)  
• BA 205  – Business Communications using Technology (4)*
• BA 216 – Applied Excel for Business (2)**
• BA 211 – Fundamentals of Financial Accounting (4)
• BA 213 – Decision Making with Accounting Information (4)
• COMM 111Z: Public Speaking (4) (previously COMM 220: Public Speaking) 
• EC 201, 202 – Principles of Economics (8) (Micro and Macro)
• STAT 241 - Applied Statistics for Business (4)***
• WR 121 – English Composition (4) OR Freshman Inquiry (UNST 100 level, 5, 5, 5)

*This course is only required for students using a catalog year before Fall 2022. If you have questions about your catalog year, please contact your academic advisor.

**This course is only required for students using a catalog year starting in Fall 2022, If you have questions about your catalog year, please contact your academic advisor.

***STAT 243 is an acceptable alternative to STAT 241

Business Core Courses

All business majors are required to take all of the following 300 and 400-level core courses with a grade of "C-" or better. 

The 300 and 400-level BA courses are restricted to students who have opted into The School of Business AND have completed their "pre-business" courses (listed above) with a C- or better. BA 495 requires successful completion of all 300-level core courses and Senior or Post-Bac Class Standing (earned 135 credits or more or completed a regionally accredited bachelor's degree).

All BA 300 level courses are offered every term: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.

The business core courses are as follows:

• BA 300 – Business and Professional Communication (2)*
• BA 301 - Research and Analysis of Business Problems (4)
• BA 302 - Organizational Behavior (4)
• BA 303 - Business Finance (4)
• BA 311 - Marketing Management (4)
• BA 325 - Competing with Information Technology (4)
• BA 327 - Data Analysis and Visualization (2)
• BA 339 - Operations and Quality Management (4)
• BA 385 - Business Environment (4)
• BA 495 - Business Strategy - Senior Capstone (6)

**This course is only required for students using a catalog year starting in Fall 2022, If you have questions about your catalog year, please contact your academic advisor.

Undergraduate Business Concentrations

All business majors must choose one area of concentration. These are also called options. 

Course Sequence Sheets

Course Sequence Sheets include prerequisites, a suggested sequence, and the terms courses are usually offered.

• Accounting
• Advertising Management
• Business Technology & Analytics
• Finance
• Human Resource Management
• Management & Leadership
• Marketing
• Supply & Logistics Management

Electives

Your degree will consist of a minimum of 82 business credits. You may need to take business electives to meet this minimum credit requirements.

Non-Business Requirements

All business students who are completing their first degree at PSU must complete the following requirements outside of The School of Business.

• Bachelor of Arts/Science requirements
• University Studies requirements

Registration

The School of Business strictly enforces prerequisites for business courses. Course prerequisites are published in the university catalog (PSU Bulletin). Successful completion of a prerequisite requires a letter grade of C- or better to continue the sequence. Students that continue with the next course in a sequence without successfully completing the prerequisite will fulfill the course requirement but lose the credits associated with the course towards graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to drop the next course in a sequence and then repeat the prerequisite course until the required C- or better grade is achieved prior to moving forward. The School of Business reserves the right to administratively drop students who have not completed the required prerequisites.

Course Information

• Prior to each academic year (Fall through Summer quarters), PSU produces the PSU Bulletin, a catalog of general university requirements, program and course descriptions, prerequisites and other such information.
• It is important that students choose the correct PSU Bulletin to follow for graduation. To do this they will need to know two basic rules. These rules apply to a first bachelor's degree, second bachelor's degree, and to certificates which may be earned by undergraduates and by post-baccalaureates. The Office of Degree Requirements makes the formal determination of the catalog under which a student is graduated at the time the student files an Application for the Degree.
  • No Bulletin is good for more than seven academic years. For example, the 2020-2021 Bulletin expires at the end of summer term 2027. If a student is not graduated by the end of the summer term when the Bulletin expires, the student will be required to meet the requirements of a later Bulletin.
  • Students may always choose to graduate under a later Bulletin than the one in force when they first attended an accredited U.S. institution of higher education (after high school graduation). For example, if they entered PSU or some other accredited institution of higher education as a freshman in fall 2019, they may graduate according to the 19/20 requirements or choose to be graduated under 2020/21 or later Bulletins.
• The Course Projection Guide is a tool provided to assist you in projecting which courses will be available and help plan your academic careers.
• Undergraduate Registration Forms & Waitlist Policies

Remember, you need to opt into The School of Business below in order to take 200, 300 and 400 level business classes.

How to Opt-In to The School of Business

Business students are granted automatic admission into The School of Business by opting in to the business major upon admission to PSU. Students need to opt-in in order to take 200-level business courses including BA 211 and BA 213.