Business Administration, Finance Concentration, MBA

Program Information

The GGU Master of Business Administration (MBA) program will advance your leadership skills and business knowledge using an activity-based learning approach. Our faculty members are seasoned professionals in their respective fields and will prepare you to lead in today’s complex business environment.

The GGU MBA builds leadership skills throughout the program, provides an integrated perspective of management and allows you to tailor your program with one of several concentrations to meet your interests and goals. These concentrations include business data analytics, entrepreneurship, project management and even the option to design your own.

Since the founding of its MBA program over half a century ago, GGU has pioneered evening and online programs for working professionals to achieve their career objectives. You will proceed at your own pace in deciding how many courses to take in a given trimester and study fully in-person, completely online or a combination of both.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Master of Business Administration program will have the knowledge and skills to:

Demonstrate a general management “holistic” perspective.
Demonstrate managerial and leadership skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving, communications and presentations, self-awareness.
Master and apply general management analytic processes and tools for decision making.
Integrate strategic business objectives within competitive industry dynamics.
Integrate strategic business objectives within the socio-political-economic-ecological-global context.
Understand functional areas’ impact on business and departmental interaction issues.
Demonstrate integrated business level planning.
Demonstrate an understanding and ability to identify the ethical, environmental, and social implications of business issues and formulate appropriate responses.

Declaring Program Concentrations

Students may declare up to two concentrations in a given degree program. Students seeking to declare more than two concentrations will be required to appeal to the dean for approval. Students’ diplomas will list the concentrations that they had successfully completed at the time their degrees were conferred. Students may not declare additional concentrations after their degrees have been conferred.

Students may select from the following concentrations:

Requirements for the Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) requires completion of 6 units in the foundation program, 30 units in the core program, and 9-12 units in the concentration area, with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 or better in courses taken at Golden Gate University that are applicable to the program’s requirements. For further information regarding graduation requirements, see Academic Requirements for Graduate Programs .

GMAT/GRE Requirement

The GMAT/GRE is NOT required. A statement of purpose and Resume are required for applicants with an undergraduate GPA below 3.0. For all exceptions to the GMAT/GRE requirement, please view our Graduate Admission information.

Graduate Writing Proficiency Requirement

Students are expected to possess proficiency in writing to ensure they can be successful in their course of study. Students may meet this requirement by satisfying one of the screening criteria listed under the Graduate Writing Proficiency Requirement .

Graduate Mathematics Proficiency Requirement

Students are expected to possess a level of mathematical proficiency at least equivalent to MATH 20 Applied Intermediate Algebra . Students may meet this requirement by satisfying one of the screening criteria listed under the Graduate Mathematics Proficiency Requirement .

Foundation Program - 6 units

The two-course foundation program provides the groundwork for the core program and concentration courses. Both of the foundation courses may be waived if students have previously completed comparable undergraduate courses at regionally accredited colleges or universities with grades of “C” or better. Students may enroll in core program courses before completion of the entire foundation program, but they must complete the foundation program by the time they have earned twelve units in the core program.

BUS 202 Fundamentals of Business 3 unit(s)
BUS 240 Data Analysis for Managers 3 unit(s)

Core Program - 30 units

The core program courses are taken by all MBA students. This ensures that all MBA graduates have an understanding of the important skills for effective management and an integrative knowledge of the core area of business, regardless of their area of concentration. Although they are required to choose either a concentration or a general concentration when they apply for admission, the common core allows students to rethink their concentration (or general concentration) decision, and to change it with minimum course penalty.

Business Core - 21 units

Students are strongly encouraged to complete the courses in the order below. It is also recommended that students take BUS 202 with LEAD 300 in their first semesters.

LEAD 300 Management and Leadership 3 unit(s)
LEAD 303 Teamwork in Organizations 3 unit(s)
FI 300 Corporate Finance 3 unit(s)
MBA 323 Information Technology 3 unit(s)
MSBA 300 Foundations of Business Analytics 3 unit(s)
MKT 300 Marketing Management 3 unit(s)
OP 300 Operations and Supply Chain Management 3 unit(s)

Strategic Courses and Capstone Course - 9 units

MGT 345 Context of Business 3 unit(s)
MBA 311 Strategic Analysis and Design 3 unit(s)
MBA 350 Business Planning 3 unit(s) (Capstone course, to be taken in final semester.)

Concentration - 9-12 units

The three concentration courses allow students to develop expertise in specialized areas of business. The concentrations may include required and elective courses. Courses listed carry three semester units of academic credit unless otherwise noted.

Students may select from the following concentrations:

Students wishing to develop on-the-job experience can obtain hands-on experience by taking three units of an internship course in the student’s field of interest. For three months, under the supervision of GGU faculty, students will work for a business or nonprofit organization, applying their Golden Gate education to real-life circumstances.

Finance Concentration - 9 units

An analytical graduate concentration designed to prepare MBA students for a finance specialty.

Whatever goal students have in the world of business, from corporate management to consulting and entrepreneurship, the study of finance gives them the grounding in decision-making techniques that will help ensure the financial health of their enterprise in the competitive global market. Students learn capital budgeting, capital structure, investment management, and short-term capital management.

Our unique method; combining a theoretical knowledge of finance with extensive hands-on learning, using real-life case studies and our state-of-the art computer labs, gives students the abilities to be an effective and competent manager in any organization.

Required Courses - 9 units

Select any three FI or ECON 300/400-level courses, excluding FI 300 , which is an MBA program functional course requirement.