Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a widely recognized and valued graduate degree. The MBA program at United States University combines theory and practice—allowing students to apply what they have learned. Students will gain a broad understanding of the functional areas of business (finance, accounting, marketing, human resources, information technology), as well as develop their leadership skills through courses in organizational behavior, project management, international/global management, strategic planning, organizational change and innovation. Also, the curriculum facilitates the development of leadership skills and core competencies in critical thinking and problem solving, project management, communication, teamwork, and ethics.
Tuition Rate:
$14,200
(including fees)
Monthly Payment Plan:
$415 per month
This program provides working adults the opportunity to learn without interrupting their careers, having to relocate or commute to classes. Course materials are available 24/7, and since class participation is required, students have the opportunity to interact with and learn from faculty and one another.
Admission requirements can be found here.
Please refer to the University Catalog for Tuition and Fees.
3 semesters/10 months approximate*
5 semesters/20 months approximate**
*If taking two courses at a time
** If taking one course at a time
All students in the Master of Business Administration program are required to complete core courses with the choice of three elective courses from any of the following areas: Business Analytics, Finance, Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, International Business, Marketing, or Project Management.
More information can be found in the University Catalog.
Core Requirements: 21 Credits
Elective Requirements: 9 Credits
Master of Business Administration Total: 30 Credits
Curriculum Requirements:
Use of accounting data in corporate planning and control. Cost-volume-profit analysis, budgeting, pricing decisions and cost data, transfer pricing, activity-based management, performance measures, and standard costing.
This course emphasizes the business and organizational aspects of Information Systems (IS) to provide a competitive advantage, combining the knowledge of business technology. The course includes important topics related to IS, such as Foundations of IS, Data Analytics and Information Management, Enterprise Architecture, Systems Analysis and Design, Knowledge Management and the types of IT Infrastructure used in organizations.
This core course focuses on levers for structuring, managing, and improving a firm’s recurring business operations processes to achieve competitive advantage in customer responsiveness, price, quality, and variety of products and services. Critical to effective management of operations is the ability to model decisions. Successful decision making requires the ability to structure complex problems, critically analyze options in a constantly changing world of work, and making the best decision given the information available. Students learn how to evaluate and apply analytical tools including optimization, simulation, and decision trees to examine and implement managerial decision models. Business applications include resource allocation, risk analysis and sequential decision-making through time.
Basic microeconomic principles used by firms, including supply and demand, elasticities, costs, productivity, pricing, market structure and competitive implications of alternative market structures. Market failures and government intervention. Public policy processes affecting business operations.
The financial management of an organization is critical to its long-term viability. In this course students are introduced to financial management concepts. Students will develop graduate level math skills and learn how financial analysis is used to make decisions. Topics covered include: ratio analysis, risk assessment, ROI, cost of capital, and the time value of money.
Human Resources, Performance Management and Organizational Behavior are critical to organizational performance. These three areas are triangulated in this course to help business managers and leaders understand and apply “talent” related concepts that support organizational goals. The changing role of the Human Resources function is examined in relation to organizational strategy, talent acquisition, developing and managing team member performance, and promoting a positive, results-oriented culture. Organizational Behavior theories and concepts are analyzed to increase understanding of individual and organizational behavior. Other essential topics covered include the role Human Resources and organizational leadership plays in promoting and supporting diversity, ethics in the workplace, and legal compliance related to complex employment issues.
In today’s workplace, organizational change is a constant. It is essential that leaders are intentional about how change is designed and implemented to maximize organizational potential while being attentive to individuals and teams within the environment. In addition to analyzing principles and practices of organizational change, students will develop implementable organizational change strategies applying an innovative mindset that ultimately enhances organizational performance.
In this course, students will analyze the opportunities and challenges facing organizations as they operate in international markets. The course will also address how to lead organizations, whether domestic or internationally-based, that involves different languages, societal norms, business practices, and legal, political and economic systems.
This course examines the nature and complexities of international business and the most important international organizations and agreements. It addresses the multiple dimensions that determine the international environment (political, economic, social-cultural, environmental, and legal) and fosters students to assess and the methods that can be used by business to effectively and ethically deal with these factors. The course provides an opportunity for in-depth review and analysis of the latest theories and practices related to international business, always keeping the focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making based on relevant research, information literacy, applied technology, integration, ethical and diversity concerns.
Project Management Essentials introduces and provides an overview to the fundamental elements of effective project management, including the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) five processes and ten knowledge areas. Tools, methodologies, and sample questions, exercises, quizzes, and assignments are included in the modules of this class. The reading materials required for this class include a significant amount of information, however, our goal is to expose you to all the areas of project management and not expect you to be advanced project manager learners at the end of the course. As such, material you read and research should be understood to the level that you are capable of thoroughly answering the discussion questions, quizzes/exercises, and written assignments.
The primary responsibility of marketing management is to create a mutually beneficial exchange between a company and its customers and to sustain that exchange in a competitive marketplace. This course provides the opportunity for an in-depth review and analysis of the latest theories from psychology and behavioral decision-making, economics and industrial organization, statistics and management science that make up the basis of any marketing strategy that drives this mutually beneficial exchange. Building on the foundational concepts of marketing, students gain increased knowledge on the evolving field of practice related to all areas of organizational marketing.
MGT699 is the final course in the 36-credit Master of Business Administration program. It is designed to have F-1 students demonstrate their understanding of western culture and American organizations while synthesizing business concepts and showcasing the knowledge they’ve gathered along their journey. Informed by their practical training experience in their program, students will recommend solutions to contemporary issues in their field and discipline.
This course provides practical learning experience and application for qualified graduate students and links to the 36-credit hour Master of Business Administration program learning outcomes. Students will submit updates of work performed and hours of work in the field. Also, students will explore contemporary issues in their field of study and specialized discipline to prepare for MGT699 Capstone.
Core Requirements:
Use of accounting data in corporate planning and control. Cost-volume-profit analysis, budgeting, pricing decisions and cost data, transfer pricing, activity-based management, performance measures, and standard costing.
This course emphasizes the business and organizational aspects of Information Systems (IS) to provide a competitive advantage, combining the knowledge of business technology. The course includes important topics related to IS, such as Foundations of IS, Data Analytics and Information Management, Enterprise Architecture, Systems Analysis and Design, Knowledge Management and the types of IT Infrastructure used in organizations.
This core course focuses on levers for structuring, managing, and improving a firm’s recurring business operations processes to achieve competitive advantage in customer responsiveness, price, quality, and variety of products and services. Critical to effective management of operations is the ability to model decisions. Successful decision making requires the ability to structure complex problems, critically analyze options in a constantly changing world of work, and making the best decision given the information available. Students learn how to evaluate and apply analytical tools including optimization, simulation, and decision trees to examine and implement managerial decision models. Business applications include resource allocation, risk analysis and sequential decision-making through time.
The financial management of an organization is critical to its long-term viability. In this course students are introduced to financial management concepts. Students will develop graduate level math skills and learn how financial analysis is used to make decisions. Topics covered include: ratio analysis, risk assessment, ROI, cost of capital, and the time value of money.
The primary responsibility of marketing management is to create a mutually beneficial exchange between a company and its customers and to sustain that exchange in a competitive marketplace. This course provides the opportunity for an in-depth review and analysis of the latest theories from psychology and behavioral decision-making, economics and industrial organization, statistics and management science that make up the basis of any marketing strategy that drives this mutually beneficial exchange. Building on the foundational concepts of marketing, students gain increased knowledge on the evolving field of practice related to all areas of organizational marketing.
Human Resources, Performance Management and Organizational Behavior are critical to organizational performance. These three areas are triangulated in this course to help business managers and leaders understand and apply “talent” related concepts that support organizational goals. The changing role of the Human Resources function is examined in relation to organizational strategy, talent acquisition, developing and managing team member performance, and promoting a positive, results-oriented culture. Organizational Behavior theories and concepts are analyzed to increase understanding of individual and organizational behavior. Other essential topics covered include the role Human Resources and organizational leadership plays in promoting and supporting diversity, ethics in the workplace, and legal compliance related to complex employment issues.
This is the final course in the MBA program. It is designed to have students demonstrate their understanding through a culminating experience promoting synthesis and application of business concepts and theories from all of their coursework. The United States University MBA core provides students with the essential foundation to build their business mastery: accounting and finance, talent acquisition and development, economics, marketing, operations, information systems, and business policy. The learning experience across the curriculum included principles and application of strategy and execution, ethical and legal considerations in the workplace, diversity, and change management.
Elective Courses:
This course provides an introduction to the concepts of business process modeling. The concepts covered include encompassing the definition of a process, characteristics of a process-oriented application, business process
analysis, basic design patterns for process control flow used to assemble tasks, and standard graphical representations used to model a process. The course focuses on the strategic role of information technology and information systems in today’s society. Other relevant and related issues include the identification of the challenges faced by managers of modern firms, the understanding of the technologies that will help them meet these challenges, the design of the business processes to take advantage of the technologies, and the development of managerial procedures and policies to protect these assets.
This course discusses the regulatory context and the ethical implications in which the digital enterprise operates. Students investigate the context in which professionals work, the laws and the processes and procedures used to create them, human aspects of running a company, software contracts and liability, intellectual property rights,
and the legislation that affects the way in which computers are used or misused. The course provides student with an opportunity to sharpen their understanding of social, legal, financial, organizational and ethical issues in the context of today’s business environment, as well as the role of professional codes of conduct and ethics, and regulatory requirements.
This course provides an overview of widely used techniques for the design and improvement of information systems and the systems development life cycle. It introduces tools and methods for the analysis and design of information systems and the management and organizational skills needed for their implementation. Information analysis in entity-relationship modeling and process modeling in dataflow diagrams will be covered as the key skills in structured system analysis and design.
This course provides students with the opportunity to learn to apply and evaluate descriptive and predictive analytic techniques, with an emphasis on data warehousing, forecasting and effective business communication of analytical insights. It also addresses data/text/Web/Media mining for well-defined business problems, opportunities and accurate projections of the future states and conditions.
This course explores the topics of prescriptive analytics and modeling for business decision-making. The course helps students to develop the necessary skills to master techniques that are at the heart of the competitive stance of many successful organizations by addressing situations where uncertainty is an important factor. The course includes a thorough discussion of topics such as optimization, simulation, decision modeling and expert systems, along with application for best possible business decisions and transactions.
The advent of BIG DATA has had a significant impact on all business. The ability to capture a vast amount of data and expeditiously turn that data into actionable insight. This data has empowered companies to get closer to their customers, discover challenges and opportunities previously hidden and formulate more dynamic and responsive strategies to improve their competitive position through a more agile and connected execution. This course provides the technical knowledge and problem-solving skills to make sense of massive volumes of data. Students explore conceptual architectures for Big Data Solutions along with big data technologies, stream and location based Analytics.
This course addresses tools that are used by decision-makers to develop a better understanding of their businesses and customers. Student have the opportunity to assess a broad field of decision support systems, which includes a thorough discussion of SAS Visual Analytics, Business Intelligence (BI) Reports, Data Visualization for Problem Solving and other technologies for multidimensional analysis, basic Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) for BI, and SQL with OLAP extensions.
The objective of this course is to provide an understanding of financial accounting fundamentals for prospective consumers of corporate financial information, such as managers, stockholders, financial analysts, and creditors. An overview of accounting theory provides a foundation for applying financial accounting concepts and principles to real business issues. This foundation will help students develop the technical skills needed to analyze corporate financial statements and disclosures for use in financial analysis, and to interpret how accounting standards and managerial incentives affect the financial reporting process. Students learn how the FASB creates new GAAP, how to research the FASB Accounting Standards Codification system, and how to prepare and analyze financial statements including the Income Statement, Comprehensive Statement of Income, Balance Sheet, Statement of Shareholder’s Equity, and Statement of Cash Flows in compliance with the SEC, and in conformity with FASB and GAAP.
This course is primarily for those who may be involved in an entrepreneurial venture at some point in their careers, whether in a large organization, a turnaround situation, a management buyout, or a startup. The course addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of the company; and how should funding, employment contracts and exit decisions be structured. It aims to prepare students for these decisions, both as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. In addition, the course includes an in-depth analysis of the structure of the private equity industry.
Entrepreneurs often cite finance as being the most essential skill they lack. This course is not only applicable to entrepreneurs, but also to anyone considering a career in commercial banks, investment banks, private equity firms, venture capital firms, as well as corporate venture investments. Access to funding (such as borrowing from banks, issuing bonds, or issuing liquid equities) for larger or publicly-traded companies is not accessible to smaller and newer companies. This course provides students with the understanding of various aspects and processes in financial planning and financial management of new ventures or younger companies, as well as investment analysis and considerations for investors providing funding to such companies.
Attracting and retaining talent with today’s workforce takes a combination of experience, tenacity and knowledge of evolving social psychology with a multi-generation workforce. This course examines how Human Resources partners with senior management to develop and implement strategic talent planning initiatives. Other essential topics within the discipline are examined, including: social media (recruiting and use in the workplace), employee onboarding, culture development and change, and compensation implications on the employment lifecycle.
This course takes a just-in-time look at the essential role Human Resources plays in supporting, guiding and leading organization development and planning initiatives. In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, it is more
important than ever that HR quickly assess and accurately guide organizational leadership when responding to trends and emerging practices related to globalization, employment law and regulations, safety, decentralized and remote workers, workforce diversity, changing skill requirements, designing innovative initiatives, the contingent workforce, negotiation and conflict, employee relations, and financial readiness.
Human resources (HR) data analytics are a critical part of developing strategic business decisions. This course provides practical application of HR analytics and how they add value to organizational decision making. Examines resources that enable alignment with the organization’s mission and goals with key metrics and benchmarks. Explores a set of techniques that support organizing, analyzing, and presenting HR data in a compelling way. The course includes how to examine and explore a total-rewards view to compensation that aligns with their organization’s strategic goals and operations. The course explores how to develop compensation calculations that present a method of job comparison that incorporates the total rewards view.
Building an organizational strategy is one of the key activities of any organizational board and/or leadership team. This course does a deep dive into the dynamics of how leaders scan the marketplace and develop organizational goals with the HR team, with a specific focus on alignment of organizational behavior to achieve goals.
In today’s workplace, organizational change is a constant. It is essential that leaders are intentional about how change is designed and implemented to maximize organizational potential while being attentive to individuals and teams within the environment. In addition to analyzing principles and practices of organizational change, students will develop implementable organizational change strategies applying an innovative mindset that ultimately enhances organizational performance.
In this course, students will analyze the opportunities and challenges facing organizations as they operate in international markets. The course will also address how to lead organizations, whether domestic or internationally-based, that involves different languages, societal norms, business practices, and legal, political and economic systems.
This course examines the nature and complexities of international business and the most important international organizations and agreements. It addresses the multiple dimensions that determine the international environment (political, economic, social-cultural, environmental, and legal) and fosters students to assess and the methods that can be used by business to effectively and ethically deal with these factors. The course provides an opportunity for in-depth review and analysis of the latest theories and practices related to international business, always keeping the focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making based on relevant research, information literacy, applied technology, integration, ethical and diversity concerns.
This course provides an in-depth review and analysis of the latest theories and research on in the field of human behavior apply to leadership in global and multicultural organizations and the global workplace. It provides students with the opportunity to develop multiple interpersonal skills, so that international businesses can be effectively led in a multicultural environment. The course also addresses various issues related to complexity of culture, cultural orientation of different organizations and individuals and the mapping of world cultures, mitigating the probability of failures due to cultural blunders.
In a globalized world in which companies and organizations confront multinational competition and have opportunities in an increasing number of markets, it is crucial to develop a good understanding of locations for key activities, outsourcing and ownership modes, and organization and processes for managing across borders. This course provides students with the concepts and tools necessary to individually succeed and be capable to develop the strategies that will help their companies to perform effectively in the global reality of the 21st Century.
Project Management Essentials introduces and provides an overview to the fundamental elements of effective project management, including the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) five processes and ten knowledge areas. Tools, methodologies, and sample questions, exercises, quizzes, and assignments are included in the modules of this class. The reading materials required for this class include a significant amount of information, however, our goal is to expose you to all the areas of project management and not expect you to be advanced project manager learners at the end of the course. As such, material you read and research should be understood to the level that you are capable of thoroughly answering the discussion questions, quizzes/exercises, and written assignments.
This course introduces students to the Initiating and Planning processes of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE) by means of a real-world project scenario. Students develop the work products and sub-plans described in the ten knowledge areas represented in the Initiating and Planning process groups. The course culminates with a course project that includes a project schedule featuring developed using open-source project management software.
PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
Project Management Integration Framework completes the topics presented in the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE) and Project Management Organizational Framework. The processes covered are: execution, controlling, and closing. Continuing the work from Project Management Essentials and Project Management Organizational Framework provides students with additional opportunities to apply these concepts using real-life exercises and examples. The project initiated during Project Management Organizational Framework is completed in this course.
PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
In today’s fast-paced and dynamic environment, innovative information technology and system development projects are critical to many companies’ success. The emphasis on such projects creates greater demand from senior management to deliver quality information technology projects on time, within budget, and which add functionality and value to their customers and clients. IT Project Management will teach the project manager how to integrate sound project management principles in the information technology project’s development profile in order to assure every aspect of the project is under control and delivers the technical objectives. This course will also cover the IT project’s life cycle from initiation through closeout and address all the components of project management as they relate to IT projects, based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE) as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI).Students taking the project management specialization also develop a breadth of management skills by beginning the program with foundational courses that include important topics such as information systems, cross-cultural management, and strategic management and analysis.
PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
This course provides practical techniques for measuring everything from brand equity to social media, market share to email performance. For each metric, students gain insight into the real-world pros, cons, and tradeoffs and help learners understand what the numbers really mean. Students learn how to design and interpret marketing dashboards to identify emerging opportunities and risks, and use powerful modeling techniques to optimize every decision made. This course provides students with the opportunity for a rigorous and comprehensive discussion of the latest web, online, social, and email metrics, helping marketing professionals navigate today’s many new metrics to gain usable and trustworthy information.
This course provides students an inside view of Internet marketing strategically, bring together marketing, sales and operations functions that were previously separate and siloed, and systematically capture and apply data to drive dramatic improvements in performance. Students will explore ways to implement a more iterative, measurable, and repeatable approach to Internet marketing, gain better information about which online strategies are working best, deliver better-qualified leads to sales, build an “online sales engine” to track every customer relationship from the very outset – and, above all, grow profits. Students learn how to use metrics and data analysis far more effectively to inform adjustments in both long-term strategy and short-term tactics.
This course builds on theory to provide students with a usable, strategic understanding of consumer behavior that acknowledges recent changes in internal and external influences, global marketing environments, and the discipline overall. Students explore an in-depth introduction to theories and models of how individual consumers, family units, and companies make buying decisions. Each step in the continuous decision cycle is covered in detail, in such models of consumer behavior as the high and low involvement models, information processing and attitude formation and change. Relevant psychological concepts related to behavioral economics, personality and lifestyle, self-concept, cognition and classical vs. operant conditioning are also covered. Students also gain valuable perspective on how purchase decisions are made in their own households.
This course is an overview of the unique aspects of marketing in the global economy, emphasizing the development of strategies for markets in diverse cultural, political, and economic situations. It examines the methods companies use to organize their international versus domestic markets, and the complex aspects of exporting and foreign market entry-mode, creating a framework for foreign market analysis and the formulation/adaptation of a global marketing strategy.