Our Bachelor of Business Administration curriculum combines core education courses with specialized business classes and electives. Developed by academic and industry professionals with first-hand experience in business, this is a program that focuses on real-world skills. Learn online at your convenience, balance your studies with your busy life, and graduate ready to advance your career.
OR110 - Achieving Academic Excellence
Achieve your true potential! This course will help you sharpen existing skills, build on your strengths, and discover the best ways to learn. You'll identify your learning styles, learn new behaviors to ensure college success, and maximize your learning as you complete your program of study.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Identify personal strengths and traits used to succeed in motivating and setting goals to complete higher education.
Describe the requirements for successful online learning.
Discuss the value of goal setting and time management.
Explain methods to achieve effective reading comprehension and note-taking.
Recognize effective academic writing and types of plagiarism.
Describe strategies for online testing.
Explain the role of critical thinking in problem solving.
Identify the necessary skills for successful online research.
Credit Hours: 3
C10 - Introduction to Computers
Introduction to Computers provides you with foundational skills and knowledge needed for today's technology-based careers. You'll learn the components of systems—from the CPU and memory to input devices and peripherals—and how these components interact with an operating system to perform critical tasks. Keeping current with fast-changing computer technologies, this course will discuss the computer technologies today that are allowing the creation of a virtualized mobile workforce. It will explore how computers connect to the internet, what services can be found online, and what dangers exist in the form of viruses, Trojans, and other malware. The course will also familiarize you with the basics of today's office productivity applications and help to establish a foundation for working with these different types of applications, including spreadsheets and presentation-creation tools.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Identify all of the major types of computing devices and their internal and external components.
Compile a list of the various computer operating systems that are utilized today and identify characteristics about each one.
Relate the various cloud-based technologies to the virtual and remote abilities that are utilized in a professional environment.
Describe modern office productivity suite applications.
Illustrate basic office software tasks using Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
Characterize the role computer networking plays in society and identify current networking technologies.
List the hardware components, software applications, and IT protocols that make the internet possible today.
Apply basic maintenance tasks on your computer to combat viruses, malware, and computing inefficiencies.
Credit Hours: 3
EN120 - English Composition I
This course offers an introduction to basic writing skills that are especially relevant to academic assignments. The course focuses on APA paragraph development and organization in conjunction with a review of basic grammar and mechanics. The course also covers basic techniques for critically editing and revising one's work.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Use appropriate style, grammar, and mechanics in writing assignments.
Compose a strong paragraph with attention to the following: topic sentences; and effective use of transitions.
Identify and use a variety of essay structures, including expository, descriptive, narrative, comparison and contrast, and persuasion/argumentative.
Organize, develop, and produce a fully developed five-paragraph essay.
Differentiate and apply correct techniques for prewriting, writing, and proofreading using a variety of styles.
Correctly apply the rules of APA for use in direct or indirect quotations and reference citations.
Credit Hours: 3
SO245 - Social Impact of Technology
This course provides an overview of technological advances over the span of human history. Topics include the interrelationship of technology and culture; ethics and morals as they relate to technological progress; energy; ecology; demography; war and politics; and the unintended consequences of globalization, including social inequality, climate change, and global warming.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Explain how technology and culture are interrelated, and outline technological advances from ancient times to the present.
Discuss different perspectives on ethics and morals as they relate to technological applications.
Explain basic concepts related to energy, including the pros and cons of nonrenewable and renewable sources of energy.
Discuss basic concepts of ecology, including the environmental challenges of global warming and climate change.
Explain basic concepts of demography, especially as they apply to population growth.
Describe how war and politics have affected nations as they adapted to advances in technologies.
Explain the origins of global inequality, including colonialism and capitalism.
Discuss different approaches to measuring the evolution of technologies, the unintended consequences of globalization, and the prospects of a paradigm shift.
Credit Hours: 3
C15 - Principles of Management
Principles of Management is designed to help you understand the major functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, and controlling) and the significance of each function in relationship to the existence of the company. This course describes how companies use management to set and accomplish goals through individuals, groups, and other types of resources. It also analyzes communication and ethics in the organization. Other topics include decision making, change, employee development, organizational structures, management control, leadership, conflict resolution, information security, and globalization.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Describe the management role and its importance within an organization.
Discuss the role that social responsibility and ethics has on managing.
Describe decision-making as it relates to management.
Describe the role of strategic management and project planning in managing an organization or team.
Examine the role that structure and human resources play in managing an organization.
Discuss how managers can impact individual and team behavior.
Explain theories of and approaches to leadership and motivation.
Explain how managers control operations and performance.
Credit Hours: 3
EN130 - English Composition II
The ability to communicate well is essential to success in any professional environment. English Composition II is organized to provide you with a broad understanding of multiple types of written communication. Far from being just academic exercises, formal writing skills allow you to relate to the world in ever-increasing ways. Simply put, good writing is good thinking. As you master various techniques of effective writing, you'll note a change in the way you process information, and those around you (including your employer) will also note the transformation.
English Composition II begins with the assumption that you've attained basic writing skills through completion of English Composition I. So, in fact, English Composition II is a continuation of English Composition I. In that light, you'll be expected to access and review basic concepts covered in English Composition I and, in particular, the sections on grammar and mechanics.
English Composition II begins by offering you tips on college writing, active reading, and study strategies at the college level. Next, you'll explore the framework for drafting a college essay, including elaborate explorations for finding a topic, assessing your audience, and determining the purpose of your essay as you identify its thesis and craft a thesis statement.
Next, because college essays often require research, you'll be introduced to strategies for finding and using sources. Based on this preparatory foundation, you'll be challenged to analyze essays in all of the various rhetorical modes, which, in turn, will prepare you to write college-level essays for these different patterns of development.
The balance of this online text is devoted to the specifics of reading, analyzing, and writing college-level essays, including description, narration, illustration, process analysis, comparison and Contrast, classification and Division, definition, cause and Effect, argument, and business applications.
By the end of EN130, you'll be able to do the following:
Describe the nature of academic writing at the college level.
Understand and apply the principles of active reading.
Comprehend and apply the structure of a college essay.
Develop an essay thesis that's supported by facts, authorities, and examples.
Apply the principles of revision and editing.
Write an academic essay supported by relevant and credible sources.
Critically evaluate essays in all of these patterns of development:
Narrative, Descriptive, Illustration, Process, Comparison and contrast, Definition, Classification and division, Cause and effect, Argument.
Create effective, engaging, and informative essays in all of these patterns of discourse through the following:
A deep understanding of the writing process; Organizing an essay in terms of space order, time order, or order of importance; Creating attention-getting introductions and memorable conclusions; Using facts, logical reasoning, examples, and authorities to support your thesis; Identifying and avoiding logical fallacies; Effectively applying the techniques of persuasion; Blending two or more patterns of development in a single essay.
Credit Hours: 3
General Education Elective (Science 100-200 Level)
C06 - Business Ethics
This course will introduce you to the types of ethical issues you may encounter in your professional life and provide you with ways of considering what the best response to an issue might be. First, you'll be introduced to different schools of thought about how to determine the "right" course of action—philosophical approaches such as utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and character-based philosophies. Second, in addition to these personal ethics perspectives, you'll be introduced to various business-related approaches to ethical issues in a professional setting. Third, you'll be introduced to a process for decision making to balance the personal, professional, and societal considerations to help you make good decisions in your business life. Finally, you'll be given an overview of selected areas of business that may require particular attention to ethical and social responsibility issues.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Categorize ethics and perspectives pertaining to business and decision making.
Distinguish between the norms of corporate culture and the corporate social responsibilities.
Analyze the various employer and employee responsibilities, the issues of technological capabilities, and ethical marketing.
Point out the impact of ethical corporate governance on corporate sustainability and conflicts of interest.
Prepare a report on business ethical decisions in veterinary practice by utilizing your findings.
Credit Hours: 3
A01 - Introduction to Accounting
Introduction to Accounting introduces basic concepts of accounting using a balance of theory and practice. Topics covered include double entry bookkeeping, the accounting cycle for service and merchandising enterprises, notes and interest, bad debts, merchandise inventory, and accounting for fixed assets.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Apply accounting principles to the accounting equation and balance sheets.
Explain the expanded accounting equation and the financial documents involved.
Demonstrate the use of a T-Account in recording transactions.
Apply accounting principles to the trial balance and financial statements.
Apply accounting principles to the processes of journalizing and posting.
Apply accounting principles to the adjusting process.
Apply accounting principles to the completion of the accounting cycle.
Apply accounting principles to banking.
Credit Hours: 3
General Education Elective (Behavioral/Social Science 100-200 Level)
General Education Elective (Humanities/Fine Arts 100-200 Level)
C09 - Principles of Finance
Principles of Finance offers a broad overview of corporate finance, including the goals of financial management. You'll examine how the information contained in financial statements is used in analysis and forecasting. The topic of valuation is introduced, with a focus on valuing stocks and bonds. You'll review the financial manager's role in estimating risk and return, computing cost of capital, evaluating capital structure policies, making investment decisions, and raising capital. Other topics include financial securities and derivatives, long-term and short-term planning, and innovations in corporate finance.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Describe the financial markets and the roles played by their participants.
Analyze financial statements.
Apply time value of money tools.
Apply the principles of risk and return relationships.
Apply the tools and processes of capital budgeting.
Interpret the types of financing available to a company, their components, and issues associated with them.
Explain the models and tools that help manage the flow of funds.
Describe how capital structure, dividend policy, and international issues impact the firm.
Credit Hours: 3
MA240 - College Algebra
This course is a graphical and numerical approach to algebra that incorporates the use of technology. Emphasis is placed on solving algebraic application problems, and results are solutions-oriented. The concept of a function as a tool to model real-world data will play a central role. Emphasis will also be placed on the study of equations and inequalities, graphs, matrices and determinants, quadratics, sequences, inductive reasoning, and probability.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Solve equations using the addition principle.
Solve equations using the multiplication principle.
Solve problems using applications of percentages.
Solve inequalities.
Identify functions.
Graph linear functions.
Find the domain & range of a graph or equation.
Find equations of lines.
Use and simplify integers as exponents.
Evaluate exponents and scientific notation.
Add and subtract polynomials.
Multiply polynomials.
Factor and expand differences of squares.
Evaluate and simplify exponential functions.
Recognize, create, and simplify composite functions.
Create and simplify inverse functions.
Evaluate and simplify logarithmic functions.
Apply properties of logarithms to expand or simplify logarithmic expressions.
Recognize mathematical modeling.
Complete matrix arithmetic operations.
Solve systems of equations with Cramer's Rule.
Solve systems of equations with inverses.
Identify and apply sequence notation.
Identify and apply formulas to arithmetic sequences and series.
Identify and apply formulas to geometric sequences and series.
Use the counting principle to determine the number of possible outcomes.
Calculate and interpret probability.
Solve quadratic equations using the quadratic formula or factoring.
Graph quadratics.
Solve mathematic modeling problems using quadratics.
Credit Hours: 3
SP180 - Principles of Public Speaking
This course is designed to provide you with basic theories and skills that are essential to effective public speaking. Topics include audience analysis, organization, persuasion, credibility, and delivery. Ideally, you should be able to apply these skills in a variety of public speaking situations, whether in future college courses or in nonacademic settings. As a member of the class, you'll also become an active listener and learn to analyze, critique, and evaluate the speaking of others.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Demonstrate and apply knowledge of public speaking principles and concepts.
Relate knowledge and skills needed for effective listening and doing speech criticism.
Recognize the process of selecting and narrowing a speech topic and audience analysis.
Identify and state purposes and central ideas for a speech.
Specify sources and uses of supporting materials and presentation aids in speech preparation.
Construct speech outlines applying organizational methods.
Prepare a formal speech demonstrating skills in speech composition.
Demonstrate knowledge of speech delivery techniques.
Credit Hours: 3
C12 - Business Law
Business Law is designed to familiarize you with various kinds of laws, key elements of the American Constitution, and the concepts of the various schools of jurisprudence. Ethics, values, morality, law, and the various ethical theories are compared and contrasted, and the need for promoting corporate social responsibility is discussed. The elements of tort law, the basic elements of a contract, the sources of laws governing contracts, and the conditions for an offer to be valid are examined. Topics include reality of consent, the capacity of minors, consequences of illegal agreements, assignment of rights, transfer of title, and the rights of third parties. Delivery of goods, right to inspection, acceptance and revocation of a contract, the remedies available to buyers and sellers, and the nature of property are also discussed.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Explain the legal environment within which United States businesses operate.
Describe tort, criminal, and intellectual property law as it applies to business.
Explain how contracts and negotiable instruments are used in business transactions.
Analyze the legal types and roles of employment relationships.
Discuss the organizational types and responsibilities of businesses in the United States.
Discuss the role of government in regulating business.
Explain how personal and real property law impacts business.
Explain the impact that international law has on global business.
Credit Hours: 3
Electives (100-200 Level)
Electives (100-200 Level)
*If students expect to complete a bachelor's degree, C09 is required, MA240 is required. Students must take a Business Ethics course to complete a bachelor's degree in business administration.
MA260 - Statistical Analysis I
This course is an introduction to basic statistics, including descriptive and inferential statistics. This course will place emphasis on understanding statistical calculations as well as interpreting statistics to understand the meaning behind the number. This course will use Excel to aid in statistical calculations. Topics include principles of experimental design; graphical and numerical methods for summarizing data; describing, exploring, and analyzing data; probability; confidence intervals; and hypothesis testing.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Apply statistical terminology and relevant statistical measurements.
Utilize various visual data displays to understand simple and complex statistical relationships.
Develop an understanding of basic statistical functions, distribution patterns, and variation measurements.
Identify normal distribution patterns and apply the central limit theorem.
Calculate statistical probability and apply its significance.
Relate differences of correlation and causality and their strengths and limitations on projecting results from sample to population with varying confidence levels.
Construct hypothesis testing for means and proportions and interpret results applicability.
Develop hypothesis testing further with the use of t-test, tables, and analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Credit Hours: 3
BM350 - Marketing Management
Marketing Management reviews the bedrock principles and theories of marketing, including strategic planning, marketing research, the marketing mix, building brands, and communicating value. Specialized fields such as service marketing and business marketing are presented.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Present the essentials of marketing and marketing management theories, concepts, and models.
Identify and discuss the tools and methodologies used to solve marketing management problems.
Compare and contrast the processes that influence buying behavior in business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets.
Explain the concept of branding, key ingredients of brand equity, and the strategic brand management process.
Examine the role competition plays in expanding and defending market share.
Discuss the classifications of products, elements of product design, and how to manage a product mix and product lines.
Analyze pricing and demonstrate the psychology of pricing of products and services.
Describe the elements of the promotional mix and determine which are the most favorable for certain products and services.
Credit Hours: 3
General Education Elective (300-400 Level)
Electives (100-200 Level)
BZ420 - Human Resources Management
This course is designed to familiarize you with the basic principles of human resources management. The course begins with an overview and legal aspects. Work analysis and workforce planning, recruiting, staffing, training, and performance management are also evaluated. This foundation is used to synthesize how the human resources professional manages careers, compensation, labor relations, safety and health of employees, and discipline and procedural justice. The course concludes by evaluating related concepts in a global context.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Evaluate a strategic HR plan for an organization and the role of the HR manager.
Interpret the role played by HR in personnel planning, recruiting, and creating job requirements.
Design an employee training and development program that addresses key deficits in these areas.
Synthesize performance appraisal criteria for multiple positions in an organization.
Delineate the methods used to create an employee benefit and incentive plan.
Critically interpret employment discrimination and labor laws to deal effectively with employment issues on the job.
Evaluate the methods for managing legal, health, safety, and ethical issues in the workplace.
Assess the need for global HR expansion, including a hiring strategy that best suits the new business environment.
Credit Hours: 3
BU330 - Accounting for Managers
Welcome to the world of Accounting for Managers! It's a practical world of analysis interpretation and problem-solving. You'll have to work through transactions, complete calculations and financial statements, and analyze and interpret your results to answer the questions. You'll also need to keep your eye on the goal of sound decision-making. Understanding how to apply what you learn in this Accounting for Managers course to everyday business situations can help make you a more effective decision-maker. May your judgment be sound, and your choices lead you to success.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Demonstrate effective written and interpersonal skills.
Demonstrate job-specific technical and professional skills.
Demonstrate effective quantitative skills.
Demonstrate a high level of inquiry, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
Analyze the various concepts related to managerial accounting and cost accounting.
Explain the different tools of management used for the decision-making process.
Identify the various budget analysis processes and the performance measurements for decision making.
Analyze the various components of capital budgeting, cash flow statements, and ratio analysis.
Solve examples of real-world accounting problems using knowledge of accounting forms and equations.
Credit Hours: 3
General Education Elective (300-400 Level)
Electives (100-200 Level)
BU340 - Managerial Finance I
Financial management integrates concepts from economics, accounting, management, and other business disciplines to forge a sound basis on which the firm can predict risk, return, and cash flows for operating and strategic decisions. This enables financial managers to manage the firm's resources and maximize return to the firm's shareholders, a central goal of most corporations. Topics include financial management, the time value of money, interest, stocks, and bonds.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Outline the effects of financial planning on strategy.
Measure risk and calculate the risk-adjusted discount rate.
Calculate the value of money at different points in time.
Evaluate bonds and calculate bond yields.
Determine the price of common and preferred stock.
Assess investments using net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return methods.
Compute a firm's cash flow components.
Explain how financial institutions determine discount and investment rates.
Credit Hours: 3
Elective (300-400 Level)
Elective (300-400 Level)
BU470 - Strategic Management
Strategic management may sound uninteresting on the surface, but as you'll see in this course, there are many interesting aspects to strategic management and knowing how a firm can have a competitive advantage in the marketplace! This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the concepts, models, and theories of strategic management by looking at case analyses, analyzing external environments, evaluating internal capabilities, and exploring useful strategies. The emphasis of the course is on the successful implementation of strategies in different types of firms across industries to gain an advantage over all their competitors.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Define strategy and the strategic management process.
Describe external environment and how it affects the decisions and performance of a firm.
Describe how a firm analyzes its internal capabilities and why it is essential to an organization.
Explain cost leadership and the benefits of the cost leadership strategy.
Define product differentiation and explain how it can create economic value.
Discuss the strategies of flexibility and real options and how they benefit a firm.
Summarize explicit and tacit collusion and the issues associated with the decision to collude.
Credit Hours: 3
BZ440 - Quality Control
This course presents a study of quality management processes from teams to organization-wide systems, including the behavioral and analytical tools that support fully integrated quality management. Emphasis is given to the commitment of management and the organization to the cultural changes necessary to implement quality improvements throughout the organization to ensure long-term competitiveness.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Evaluate quality and how an organization achieves excellence through the total quality approach.
Appraise the impact organizational behavior can have on the implementation of total quality and how managers can control behavior within an organization.
Formulate an understanding of partnering with suppliers and customers, both internal and external, as a benefit to total quality in a competitive marketplace.
Analyze examples of how management is making substantial changes in organizations to implement a better focus on TQ and performance excellence.
Determine the principles of successful leadership, empowerment, and teamwork.
Discuss the implementation of total quality management and the future of ISO 9000.
Evaluate the various tools and techniques used for problem solving and process improvement in a total quality environment.
Synthesize commonly used continual improvement systems and methods.
Credit Hours: 3
BZ400 - Strategic Information Technology
This course will improve your decision making about technology. You'll learn to identify major technologies that can increase competitive advantage. You'll learn how to avoid some of the implementation traps that can lead to failed projects with careful planning. After completing this course, you'll be able to diagnose choice technologies, organize your thinking about technology in helpful ways, and then analyze them in ways to help make technology a valuable strategic differentiator. You'll learn how laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley are forcing organizations to align business processes with technology.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to do the following:
Summarize how information systems have evolved utilizing various strategies.
Synthesize management of information system infrastructure and electronic commerce.
Relate the use of social media in the business environment for communication.
Support the use of business intelligence, its components, and its integration with databases.
Describe core business processes and implementation of enterprise resource planning systems.
Evaluate the impact of supply chain management and customer relationship management on organizations.
Explain how companies invest in technology and the processes used in securing technology.
Appraise how information security is threatened, controlled, and managed.
Credit Hours: 3
Elective (300-400 Level)
Elective (300-400 Level)
*If students expect to complete a bachelor's degree, C09 is required, MA240 is required. Students must take a Business Ethics course to complete a bachelor's degree in business administration.
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program is designed for students seeking to acquire a high level of knowledge from a broad base of business concepts to create solutions to contemporary business problems. You’ll acquire the skills needed to integrate management, marketing, accounting, and finance concepts to develop strategies to improve short, medium, and long-term organizational performance.
Whether you're earning your Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration so you can take your first step or make a step up in the working world, Ashworth College integrates job search tools into your studies to better prepare you to reach your goals. Plus, you can access these helpful tools as soon as you enroll and after you graduate, too. Learn more at our Career Services page.
