Business Administration Major
To succeed in a business or nonprofit organization, you need a clear understanding of how business works. You also need management, technical, and financial skills. Majoring in Business Administration in the School of Business, Government, and Economics at SPU allows you to develop these skills in a unique Christian environment that emphasizes values and ethics. You'll learn how to use business as a tool to serve.
About the Business Administration Major
The Business Administration major provides you with a broad-based education in the fundamental theories, principles, and practices of modern business. You also learn standards of professional and ethical behavior, along with the technical expertise and leadership attributes necessary to attain entry-level positions in business.
As a Business Administration major, you attend core classes focused on the fundamental theories and practices of modern business. You may also choose to pursue one of the following areas of emphasis:
- An Economics emphasis will help prepare you for a career in analyzing public policy or forecasting economic conditions. Includes macroeconomics, managerial economics, and an approved economic elective.
- A Finance emphasis teaches you how to develop budgets for capital projects or work in the financial markets. Includes courses in investment, corporate finance, and the practice of finance.
- The Information Systems emphasis includes problem solving and programming, computer networks, and information and database systems — critical information in this age of technology.
- With an International Business emphasis, you participate in a study abroad program with SPU faculty and take specialized courses at a foreign university.
- The Management emphasis teaches you how to manage structures, systems, and people. It includes courses in human resource management, entrepreneurship, and managing systems.
- A Marketing emphasis prepares you to step into the world of customer service, advertising, sales, or product management. This emphasis includes market research, marketing management, and an approved marketing elective.
- The Social Enterprise emphasis is our newest Business Administration concentration. It draws upon the unique strengths of the School of Business, Government, and Economics in areas such as social venture, management, and microfinance.
Benefits
As a Business Administration major, you’ll learn from professors with decades of practical business and industry success, in an environment that emphasizes both competence and integrity within the context of Christian faith and values. You’ll benefit from a unique approach that integrates the practical applications of business principles and the tools to put these principles into practice.
Career Opportunities
Review "What can you do with a degree in Business Administration." (PDF)
Graduates with a Business Administration degree have also gone on to graduate programs around the country.
Internships
All Business Administration majors gain industry experience through internships, and an SPU career counselor is available to help you find just the right internship fit. Seattle Pacific students have held internships at leading local businesses and industries such as Starbucks, Boeing, Microsoft, the Seattle Mariners, and Merrill Lynch.
Christina McCracken is the Business Internship instructor/sponsor, and she will make the final decision about the approval of your internship. If you have questions, contact her at 206-281-2270 or mccrac@spu.edu. You can also call the Center for Career and Calling at 206-281-2485 to schedule an appointment with Ms. McCracken, or you can do a walk-in appointment Mondays, 2–4 p.m.
Internships are routed through the Center for Career and Calling, which updates an online job/internship website and posts a weekly printout of open positions in McKenna Hall. Contact the CCC at 206-281-2485 or spucareercenter@spu.edu.
Students and employers also use SPU's internship and job-posting system, JobLink, which is updated weekly.
Read these important requirements and prerequisites about your Business Administration major Internship.
Why I Teach at SPU
Denise Daniels, Professor of Management
"There is nothing more inspiring than seeing students better understand themselves and the world through the application of course material to their lives. I love hearing from students – sometimes years later – who tell me how concepts from my classes have changed their personal study habits, or their relationships with friends and family, or their careers. We have a particularly rich opportunity here at SPU to examine how God’s purposes for business can change the world."
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Financing Your Education
Seattle Pacific has awarded more than $86 million in financial aid for 2013–14. See how we can design a financial aid package for you.
