Small Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts
To help launch a new business, you will learn how to assess market opportunities, conduct a risk assessment, and distinguish the options for doing business, such as freelancing, working from home, franchising, or running a business online or in a brick-and-mortar. You will also explore financial options and strategies to navigate the legal environment, as these steps are key to initiating a successful new business. Once your enterprise is off the ground and running, this program will show you how to successfully manage and grow a business by exploring proven operational, marketing, financial, and human resource strategies for the small business.
This major will provide you with knowledge, skills, and resources to start, manage, and grow a small business. Specifically, this program will help turn an initial business idea into a reality through a series of 'must-do' actions and learning activities. This program includes placement in an internship, where you will gain real-world experience in small business management. As a capstone project, you will synthesize all of the program's learning experiences by completing a thorough and well-written business plan for a business idea.
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Career Accordion Open
Career opportunities that might be pursued:
- Small Business Entrepreneurship/Self-employment
- Research & Development
- Supply Chain Management
- Marketing
- Finance
- New Product Development
- Business Operations Management
With further education, one of these paths is possible:
- Human Resources Manager
- Master in Business Administration-Specialization Areas in Business
- Bookkeeping/Accounting & Auditor
- Certified Management Accountant
- Business Analyst
- Market Research Analyst
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University Requirements
- To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the liberal studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.
- All of Northern Arizona University's requirements.
- All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
- At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
- At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
- A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.
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Overview
In addition to University Requirements:
- Complete individual plan requirements.
| Minimum Units for Completion | 120 |
| Highest Mathematics Required | MATH 115 |
| Additional Admission Requirements | Required |
| Foreign Language | Required |
| Some online/blended coursework | Required |
| AZ Transfer Students complete AGEC-A | Recommended |
| Progression Plan Link | Not Available |
Purpose Statement
The mission of the NAU Personalized Learning Bachelor of Small Business Administration will be a lead provider of personalized and customized undergraduate online business education that will promote and encourage participation of partnerships within the business industry and global community as well as a variety of governing agencies and trade associations.
Our primary goal is to prepare NAU students to sustain valuable contributions in their communities and create a culture of inclusion that contributes to a rich foundation of engaged social responsiveness and professional excellence in a local, national and global environment.
Our vision for the SBA Personalized Learning Program is driven by our principle to provide high-quality, competency-based business and entrepreneurial training, as measured by the critical performance indicators for effective entrepreneurship education and a skill set essential to the success of the local and global community of learners. The PL competency model provides entrepreneurial skills that optimize worker’s technical and professional skills.
In pursuit of these goals and vision we are committed in fostering a sense of community and to uphold the values of:
- Excellence in Education, driven by high-quality, rigorous and customized individual educational plans.
- Civility to support and engage student learning within their communities, and foster innovative, effective, and accountable practices.
- Sustainable long-term partnerships to nurture multicultural understanding and community leadership.
- Advanced technologies into the curriculum and create innovative and personalized delivery of service and mentoring of our students.
Student Learning Outcomes
The SBA program is dedicated to the mission and goals of the university and the sustainability of continuing business education and industry collaboration, to integrate four major areas in business:
- Business Functions – Examine, synthesize and apply Management & Administration, Finance, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service and strategic planning to the aspect of entrepreneurial real-life applications and essential for business success and performance.
- Readiness Skills – Understand and critically apply a collection of competencies/performance principles in business for personal self-exploration, knowledge and skills that are prerequisites or co-requisites for the study of entrepreneurship.
- Entrepreneurial Skills-the processes and traits/behaviors applicable to new ventures and ongoing ventures that create/drive/change economic activity - new markets, new products, new businesses within the limitations of environmental global economies, social, and cultural and dynamic community engagement.
- Workplace Diversity & Sustainability- Explore and understand the importance of workplace functions as essential for personal, academic, general workplace and entrepreneurial competencies and the sustainable interconnectedness of an increasingly complex global world.
PL students will examine in-depth competencies-based in a variety of business areas, including foundational development skills associated with key entrepreneurship performance indicators, emerging trend in postsecondary entrepreneurial education and direct skills assessments as related to industry specific standards.
Small Business Administration Personalized Learning Graduates will be able to:
- Analyze current trends and processes associated with successful entrepreneurial performance.
- Explore fundamental business theory and practices
- Apply comprehensive and foundational business knowledge and skills in context of related applications in ethics, group work relations and conflict resolution in the business workplace.
- Demonstrate the economic principles and concepts fundamental to entrepreneurship competencies, management principles and small business ownership.
- Integrate and examine application of basic business theory to real-world case study experience
- Examine cost-profit relationships, economic indicators/global trends and business financial principles in context of real-life business case study.
- Explore and apply strategic planning for personal professional development, career exploration, development and growth in context of real-life business functions
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Details
Major Requirements
Personalized Learning Competencies for the Bachelor of Arts in Small Business Administration
Completion of the competencies will result in the awarding of credit for NAU classes.
C.1 Demonstrate concepts and processes associated with successful entrepreneurial performance
C.2 Examine the personal traits/behaviors associated with successful entrepreneurial performance
C.3 Examine fundamental business concepts that affect business decision making
C.4 Employ concepts, strategies, and systems needed to interact effectively with others to ensure high performance in the workplace
C.5 Acquire concepts and procedures needed for basic computer operations in a small business setting
C.6 Evaluate the economic principles and concepts fundamental to entrepreneurship/small business ownership
C.7 Analyze personal money management concepts, procedures, and strategies
C.8 Explore concepts and strategies needed for career exploration, development for corequisites for becoming a successful entrepreneur
C.9 Examine the financial concepts and tools used in making business decisions
C.10 Investigate the concepts, systems and strategies needed to acquire, motivate, develop and terminate staff
C.11 Break down the concepts, systems and tools needed to access, process, maintain, evaluate, and disseminate information for business decision making
C.12 Explore the concepts, processes, and systems needed to determine and satisfy customer needs/wants/expectations, meet business goals/objectives, and create new product/service ideas
C.13 Employ and audit the processes and systems implemented to facilitate daily business operations
C.14 Examine and integrate the concepts, strategies, and systems that businesses implement and enforce to minimize loss
C.15 Understands the processes, strategies, and systems needed to guide the overall business organization
Course Credit Earned (54 - 57 units)
- BBA 290 Managerial Accounting and Financial Analysis (3 units)
- BBA 291 Economic Analysis and Business Law (3 units)
- BBA 300 Principles of Management in a Global Economy (3 units)
- BBA 320 Managerial Finance (3 units)
- BBA 330 Supply Chain Management (3 units)
- BBA 405 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management (3 units)
- BBA 335 Human Resource Management (3 units)
- ENTY 240 Introduction to Entrepreneurship (3 units)
- ENTY 320 Innovation and Creativity (3 units)
- ENTY 360 New Venture, Creation, Growth and Strategy (3 units)
- ENTY 380 Entrepreneurial Funding and Plan Development (3 units)
- ENTY 430 Entrepreneurial and New Media Marketing (3 units)
- ENTY 440 Project Management (3 units)
- NAUY 300W Dynamic Organizations (3 units)
- LEA 310 Leadership in the 21st Century (3 units)
- PLD 450 Applied Project (3 units)
- PLD 491C Applying Knowledge and Skills, Capstone (3 units)
- STAT 272 Applied Business Statistics (3 units)
** Students transferring in an applicable statistics course are not required to complete STAT 272. Work with an advisor to determine applicability of transfer course work.
Please note that you may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your faculty mentor for details.
Foreign Language Requirement
General Electives
Additional coursework is required, if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.
We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you. (Please note that you may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or liberal studies requirements.)
Additional Information
Some courses may have departmental prerequisites required by students in other majors. Any prerequisites not fulfilled with transfer credit may be met by successfully completing a pretest; however, credit will not be granted for the completion.
This degree is offered only through the Personalized Learning program. Work with a faculty mentor for any questions regarding the applicability of coursework completed through Personalized Learning to any other plan of study at NAU.
See the following sites for additional information.
Grading and Transcripts
Definition of a Term