Mar 28, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

International Business, B.B.A.


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Degree and Major Requirements


The B.B.A. degree in international business requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of undergraduate work. Fifty percent of this work, 60 credit hours, must be taken outside of the College of Business . In counting the 60 credit hours of nonbusiness courses, B.B.A. students may include all hours taken in general education (usually 41), up to a total of nine hours in economics and three hours of COB 191. Business Analytics I . The remaining hours, to bring the total to 60, must be taken from any department outside the College of Business . Students should purposefully select these non-business electives to help them gain additional knowledge and expertise for their careers and personal lives.

Degree Requirements


International Business Required Courses


  • General Education  courses 41 Credit Hours 1,2
  • B.B.A. core courses 45 Credit Hours
  • International business major requirements 24 Credit Hours 1,3
  • Nonbusiness major requirements 12-15 Credit Hours

Total: 122-125 Credit Hours


Footnotes


1 Students are encouraged to choose general education courses having a foreign or international content. The program office has a list of these courses. The General Education  program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.

2 Some language and general education courses may be completed during the semester abroad.

3 Students are required to spend the equivalent of a semester abroad. See below for details.

Additional Information


Students planning to major in international business must complete the 27 to 28 hour, lower-level B.B.A. curriculum prior to enrolling in upper-level core courses, normally taken in the first semester of the junior year. It is expected that the lower-level core curriculum along with the university general education curriculum will be completed during the first two years of study. Failing to complete all lower-level core requirements on time will delay enrollment in upper-level core and major courses until at least the second semester of the junior year.

The foreign language requirements of the major begin at the advanced level. Consequently, students with little or no foreign language training must use elective credits to obtain proficiency through the intermediate level.

Major Requirements


Students majoring in international business must carefully plan their individual course work because not all required courses are offered each semester and because each student in the major is required to study or work abroad. The study/work abroad requirement is for a minimum of six weeks outside of the United States, unless express permission is granted by the program director for another option. The primary language spoken in the country chosen by each student for the study/work abroad requirement is not to be English and must be the language chosen by the student to meet the IB language requirement. Approval of the study/work abroad requirement must be obtained from the program director (approval forms are available online or outside Zane Showker Hall, room 436). International students should see the program director to determine appropriate requirements for this aspect of the curriculum.

International business majors must select a world region on which to concentrate that coincides with their selected language. For example, an international business major who selects French as his/her second language could choose Europe, Africa or Asia as a world region. Also, a student who selects Spanish as the second language could select either Europe or the Americas. The acceptable world regions are Africa/Middle East, Americas, Asia and Europe.

As part of the JMU assessment program, graduating seniors are required to participate in assessment activities. Assessment information is used to assist the COB faculty in modifying curricula and co-curricular events.

Required Courses


Footnotes

1 Offered fall semester only.
2 Offered spring semester only.
3 Students choosing Spanish to meet the IB language requirement should take either SPAN 485  or SPAN 486  to fulfill this requirement.


The remaining courses will depend upon which of the following three concentrations the student selects:

  • General
  • Marketing
  • Finance

The requirements for each of the three concentrations are outlined below.

B.B.A. Core Component


B.B.A. Lower-Level Core Component


B.B.A. majors must complete all of the B.B.A. core components as part of their degree program. The following courses comprise the B.B.A. Lower-Level Core Component:

Footnotes


1 MATH 220  may be substituted for COB 191 .
2 COB 191  or equivalent and MATH 205  or equivalent are prerequisites for COB 291 .
3 Calculus is required but not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA. MATH 235  is preferred for Finance majors. 
4 COB 241  must be taken before COB 242 .
5 COB 242  is a prerequisite or corequisite for COB 300 and is not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA. COB 242  is a prerequisite for COB 300 for students taking COB 300 in Antwerp.
6 All four COB 300 courses must be taken during the same semester.
7 COB 300 is a prerequisite or corequisite for COB 318 . COB 318  is a prerequisite for COB 487 .
8 COB 487  must be taken during the senior year.

Recommended Schedule for Majors, International Business


Total: 30 Credit Hours


Footnotes


1 International business major requirement.
2 International business major requirement. Students with a finance concentration must take ECON 370   in place of ECON 270 . ECON 370  is offered fall semester only.

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