Program Information
GGU provides students the opportunity to simultaneously pursue both the MBA and JD degrees. Students interested in the joint program should first apply to and be admitted to the School of Law. Matriculated full-time JD students may apply to participate in this program after the completion of two semesters of law school, and part-time JD students may apply after three terms. Students’ LSAT scores will be accepted in lieu of the GMAT and Writing Proficiency Requirement in order to gain admission to the MBA program. All other admission requirements of our traditional MBA program will apply. Students’ Law School grades will also be considered in admission decisions. See the Juris Doctor (Joint Degree Program), JD/MBA for more information.
For the MBA program, students complete the same foundation program courses and advanced program courses as required in our traditional MBA program. However, joint program students complete the Law concentration using 12 units of their second and third year law classes. However, these 12 units are not formally applied to the MBA program’s requirements until the student has successfully completed the JD program requirements.
Additionally, 12 units from the MBA program are used to satisfy the elective requirement of the JD program. In all, the program allows students to complete both the JD and MBA degrees in as few as 109 units, compared to 121 units if pursued separately. The total number of business school units may be higher if students have not already completed coursework equivalent to the MBA foundation program at an accredited undergraduate college or university (with a grade of “C-“or better).
Student Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the MBA program will be able to:
- Work effectively in teams.
- Sell their ideas.
- Apply theory to understand real practical situations.
- Think “outside the box” and develop novel solutions.
- Integrate the functional department issues into a coherent strategic whole.
- Analyze and synthesize problems.
And will be knowledgeable about:
- Current international and global issues.
- Ethical and diversity issues.
- Current technology and environmental issues.
- Leading change in an organization.
- Current management trends.
Graduates of the JD program will demonstrate knowledge of:
- Legal rules, principles, and theories in the core substantive areas of law (i.e., criminal law and procedure, constitutional law, tort law, contracts law, civil procedure, property law, wills and trusts, business law, evidence and professional responsibility).
And be proficient in the following:
- Problem solving
- Legal analysis and reasoning
- Legal research
- Factual investigation
- Oral and written communication
- Counseling
- Negotiation
- Litigation and alternative dispute resolution procedures
- Organization and management of legal work
- Recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas
And demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the value of:
- Provision of competent representation.
- Justice, fairness, and morality.
- Improving the legal profession.
- Engaging in professional self-development.
Attention Law School JD Graduates
If a student has already earned his/her JD degree, he/she can use 12 units of course credit from the JD program toward the completion of the MBA degree with Law concentration. Plus, if the student has already completed the business subjects in the foundation program at an accredited undergraduate college or university (with a grade of “C-” or better), he/she can transfer these courses to satisfy the foundation requirements, and reduce the course requirement to the eleven advanced program graduate core courses (33 units).
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 our 13 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
By the end of the program, students should be able 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
Declaring Program Concentrations
Students may declare concentrations when they have completed the coursework required for their desired concentrations, or after the “Last Day to Drop Course without Tuition Charge” (per the Academic Calendar) for their final terms, if they will be able to complete their concentrations in their final terms.
To be eligible to declare concentrations, students must have already completed the required concentration coursework, or be able to complete it in their final terms without requiring waivers, substitutions, or directed study courses, unless they are approved in advance by the department chair, program director, or dean.
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 or vice president of academic affairs 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.
The following concentrations are available:
Requirements for the Master of Business Administration
GMAT/GRE Requirement
The GMAT/GRE is NOT required if you have more than 5 years of professional work experience and hold an earned bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US institution or the equivalent from a recognized foreign (outside the US) institution. If you have less than 5 years of work experience, you may need to take the GMAT or GRE. For all exceptions to the GMAT/GRE requirement, please view our Graduate Admission information.
Graduate Writing Proficiency Requirement
Students are expected to possess a level of writing skill and knowledge equivalent to ENGL 201 . Students may meet this requirement by satisfying one of the screening criteria. See Graduate Writing Proficiency Requirement for more information.
Graduate Mathematics Proficiency Requirement
Students admitted to this program are expected to possess a level of mathematical skill at least equivalent to College Algebra (MATH 30 ). Students may meet this requirement by satisfying one of the screening criteria listed under Graduate Mathematics Proficiency Requirement .
Foundation Program - 9 Units
The three-course foundation program provides the groundwork for the advanced program core and concentration courses. Some, or all, of the foundation course requirements may be waived if they have previously completed comparable undergraduate courses at a regionally accredited college or university with a grade of “C” or better. Students may be admitted to advanced program courses before completion of the entire foundation program, but they must complete the foundation program by the time twelve units have been earned in the advanced program.
Advanced Program - 45 Units
The core courses in the advanced program 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.
Skills Courses - 12 units
Contextual Courses - 6 units
Functional Courses - 12 units
Capstone Course - 3 Units
Concentration - 12 units
The four concentration courses in the advanced program allow the student to develop expertise in a specialized area of business. The concentrations may include required and elective courses. Currently, GGU offers several MBA concentrations, including a general concentration. Courses listed carry three semester units of credit unless otherwise noted.
For those students who wish to develop on-the-job experience in the program, they can develop hands-on experience through an internship program 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.
