Business Administration (General Business) BSBA
Program Overview
Explore the corporate world with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) from Online at Southern Miss. In an ever-changing economy, the opportunities to excel in the business world are limitless. USM’s online business administration degree will provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to work in various arenas within the business industry, and allow you to obtain your BS degree at your convenience.
This General Business emphasis is a broad degree preparing students for careers in a wide range of business settings. This emphasis is appropriate for students who wish to obtain a business degree but who do not wish to specialize in a specific area of emphasis. The General Business emphasis also allows students the most flexibility to custom design their program of study.
Through this affordable online program, you will earn an online Business Administration degree that will advance your career and open the door to more opportunities in the workforce. Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Join USM and Online at Southern Miss today.
Interested?
Your Future
Check out some of the jobs our graduates of the online business administration degree landed after earning this degree.
- Branch/Store Manager
- Customer Service Manager
- General Manager
- Project Manager
- Purchasing Manager
- Human Resource Administrator
- Logistics Analyst
- Business Analyst
- Business Operations Specialist
- Business Continuity Planner
- Consultant
- Executive Assistant
- Insurance Sales Agent
Your future starts at Southern Miss!
Degree Requirements
ENG 101
ENG 102
Science Requirement (8 hours minimum)
Select 2 courses with labs:
- BSC 103/L****
- BSC 110/L****
- BSC 111/L****
- CHE 104/L
- CHE 106/L
- CHE 107/L
- PHY 111/L
- PHY 112/L
Mathematics Requirement (3 hours)
- 02. Select 1 course:
- MAT 100***
- MAT 101**
- Higher-level MAT course*
- ENG 203 – World Literature 3 hrs.
Select 2 courses, 1 History required:
- HIS 101 – World Civilizations: Beginnings to 1500 C.E. 3 hrs.
- HIS 102 – World Civilizations: 1500 to the present 3 hrs.
- PHI 151 – Introduction to Philosophy 3 hrs.
- REL 131 – Comparative Religion 3 hrs.
Select 1 course:
- ART 130 – Art Appreciation 3 hrs.
- DAN 130 – Dance Appreciation 3 hrs.
- MUS 165 – The Enjoyment of Music 3 hrs.
Select 2 courses:
- ANT 101 – The Human Experience: A Global Perspective on Human Diversity 3 hrs.
- ECO 101 – Basic Economics 3 hrs.
- GHY 101 – World Geography: Dynamics of a Changing Earth 3 hrs.
- PS 101 – American Government 3 hrs.
- PSY 110 – General Psychology 3 hrs.
- SOC 101 – Understanding Society: Principles of Sociology 3 hrs
MIS 300 – Management Information Systems 3 hrs.
Select 1 course:
- ENG 333 – Technical Writing 3 hrs. (WI)
- ENG 101 & ENG 102 prerequisites
Select 1 course:
- CMS 111 – Oral Communication 3 hrs. (SI)
- MGT 400 – Global Managerial Policy and Strategy 3 hrs. (Capstone)
- Must be taken Senior Year; ENG 101 & ENG 102 prerequisites
Note:
*This course satisfies both the GEC requirement and a program requirement for this major.
**This particular GEC course is recommended by this major.
***This course does not satisfy prerequisites for any other math course.
GEC 06 – GEC 09 courses are specific to this major.
-
Select 21 hours of 300 or 400 level College of Business courses beyond the College of Business Core with no more than 15 hours from any one discipline.
The following courses have been approved for online delivery and satisfy the requirements above.
- FIN 380 – Financial Analysis 3 hrs.
- MGT 482 – Small Business Consulting 3 hrs.
- MGT 495 – International Management 3 hrs.
- MKT 495 – International Marketing 3 hrs.
- TM 345 – Customer Services Management 3 hrs.
- TM 368 – Hotel Operations 3 hrs.
- TM 378 – Casino and Resort Operations 3 hrs.
- TM 472 – Casino and Resort Marketing 3 hrs.
College of Business Core Courses
- ACC 200 – Introduction to Financial Accounting 3 hrs.
- ACC 220 – Managerial Accounting 3 hrs.
- BA 200 – The Legal Environment of Business 3 hrs.
- BA 201 – Managerial Statistics I 3 hrs.
- BA 250 – Introduction to Business Analytics 1 hr.
- ECO 201 – Principles of Macroeconomics 3 hrs.
- ECO 202 – Principles of Microeconomics 3 hrs.
- Select any approved College of Business international course
- FIN 300 – Principles of Finance 3 hrs.
- MGT 300 – Management for Organizations 3 hrs.
- MGT 325 – Operations Management 3 hrs.
- MGT 400 – Global Managerial Policy and Strategy 3 hrs. (Capstone)
- MIS 300 – Management Information Systems 3 hrs.
- MKT 300 – Principles of Marketing 3 hrs.
Select 1:
- BA 310 – Professional Ethics 3 hrs.
- PHI 300 – Business Ethics 3 hrs.
Additional BSBA Requirements
Select 1 course:
- ENG 333 – Technical Writing 3 hrs. (WI)
Select 1 course:
- IT 361 – Computer Applications in Business Technology I 3 hrs.
- Single foreign language course
Select 1 course:
-
- Single foreign language course not used in BSBA Requirement #17
Select 2 courses, MAT 102 required
- MAT 101 – College Algebra 3 hrs. **
- MAT 102 – Brief Applied Calculus 3 hrs. *
- Approved higher-level MAT course
Choose electives as needed with adviser’s approval. Non-business courses recommended. (See Hours to Degree below.)
Hours to Degree
120 hours are needed to graduate with a BSBA in Business Administration with an emphasis in General Business. At least 50 percent of the hours applied to a degree at The University of Southern Mississippi must be earned from a senior college, and 45 of these hours must be in courses numbered 300 or above. The student must earn at least 21 of the last 30 hours of course work and at least 12 hours in the major area of study from Southern Miss. See Residence Hour Requirements for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, there are lab fees which range from $20 – $50 for this online Business Administration degree.
The Undergraduate Admissions website will provide information for the steps you’ll need to complete in order to be admitted to Southern Miss.
As an online student, you may complete an online application to Southern Miss and do not have to make an in-person visit to the campus. The online student academic adviser for the College of Business will advise you via e-mail, fax, phone, Skype or by other mutually agreeable methods. Once you’ve been advised and cleared to register for classes, you may add classes via SOAR (Southern’s Online Accessible Records).
For pricing information, click here. For financial aid information, click here. For detailed tuition information, click here. Financial aid is also available on a part-time basis for those students who work full-time.
Follow this link and choose the term that applies to view the costs associated with part-time enrollment.
What is the deadline for paying tuition and fees?
How do I get advised if I am an online student?
Contact the online Business Administration degree academic adviser, Linda Jordan, at linda.jordan@usm.edu or 228.214.3433. In your correspondence please include your USM student ID# and the semester for which you are seeking advisement as well as the number of classes or credit hours you want to take.
Why won’t SOAR (Southern’s Online Accessible Records) let me enroll in a course?
You may not be able to enroll in a online Business Administration degree course if you do not have the necessary pre-requisite(s), all sections of the class are full, or the class is not offered that semester.
How do I know if my credits from another school will count towards my degree?
An online academic adviser from the College of Business can perform an Unofficial Transfer Evaluation if you email (linda.jordan@usm.edu) or fax (228.214.3475) a copy of all college-level courses completed at other institutions. However, the evaluation is only an estimate of possible transfer of classes and only the official Southern Miss transcript reflects the courses that the university accepts.
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Are there any job placement programs available that could help me start my career after earning my degree?
Yes, the College of Business has a career services office that assists students in finding career positions after earning your online Business Administration degree.
How do I get permission to register for courses in my SOAR (Southern’s Online Accessible Records) account?
All students in the College of Business are encouraged to be advised prior to enrolling in classes for the next semester. Please contact your academic adviser, Linda Jordan, at linda.jordan@usm.edu or 228.214.3433. Once you have been advised you will be given access to register for courses in SOAR (Southern’s Online Accessible Records).
What is the deadline for registering for classes?
Follow this link and choose the term that applies.
What is the minimum number of classes that I can take to be considered full time?
You must enroll in at least 12 credit hours in order to have full-time status in the spring and fall semesters and at least 9 credit hours in order to have full-time status in the summer semester.
Does enrollment in the online program follow the standard academic calendar?
Yes, you’ll start and end classes on the same dates as face-to-face students.
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Can the degree in General Business be earned completely online?
Yes, the major specific courses (business courses) required for the degree are offered in an on-line format as are a growing number of other required courses. The General Business program has an alliance with Mississippi Virtual Community College (MSVCC) that offers additional on-line core courses (English, History, Psychology, etc.).
After I complete a semester at Southern Miss, can I take classes at a different college?
Once you’ve transferred to Southern Miss, you can complete a “Permission to Transfer Credit” form prior to taking a class offered at another institution if you want to use the class to satisfy the requirements of the General Business degree at Southern Miss. Completing this form ensures that the course you take somewhere else will be an acceptable substitute for the Southern Miss class. A few rules must be noted related to this process:
- Earn at least 25% of the credit hours needed for the degree from Southern Miss.
- Earn at least 21 of the last 30 hours of course work from Southern Miss.
- 50% of credit hours must be from a senior university.
- Earn at least 50% of all business courses at Southern Miss, including the capstone course (MGT 400)
Will there be any courses that have face-to-face requirements?
No, you will not be required to conduct face-to-face meetings. However, in an on-line course an instructor may also require synchronous meetings (often in the form of chats or web cam real-time meetings).
If the General Business degree can be earned online, how are labs conducted?
The instructor of the course determines how he/she sets up the labs. You may be asked to perform job site visits and observations or a course lab may involve the use of simulation or Virtual Reality to learn concepts and perform lab assignments.
Are the exams required to be proctored?
It is up to the instructor of a course if exams require a proctor. You should always read the content in the syllabus and on-line course site to determine if a proctor is needed. There is an application that must be completed at least 15 days prior to taking an exam. For information about proctoring click here.
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Will other classes besides the ones listed in degree requirements count towards my degree?
Other classes that aren’t listed may count towards your degree once your transcript has been evaluated and posted.
Are you a military veteran or service member?
If yes, visit online.usm.edu/military for more information on how Southern Miss can serve you and your needs. We will help you with funding and scholarship information, admissions and course enrollment.
What other online degrees are offered by Online at Southern Miss?
Please visit our programs page here: https://online.usm.edu/programs/