Arkansas State University

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Staff
Updated August 6, 2020

Located on Crowley's Ridge in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Arkansas State University is a public research college. It is the second largest university in the state by enrollment and was established in 1909 as the First District Agricultural School. Notable ASU alumni include several members of the National Football League, 1990 Miss America Debbye Turner, former Arkansas governor Mike Beebe and a number of Republican and Democrat members of the Arkansas State Senate and the Arkansas House of Representatives.

Arkansas State University Accreditation Details

Arkansas State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission North Central Association. The ASU College of Business and its bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Arkansas State University Application Requirements

All applicants into the online Master of Business Administration degree program must first apply online to the graduate school. Traditional MBA applicants must choose the "Graduate Non-Doctoral" option, and online MBA applicants must choose the "A-State Online Graduate" option. Students must provide an official transcript from each university and college attended since high school graduation, including all prior graduate studies, night school programs and summer sessions. Applicants must take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and arrange for scores to be directly sent to the school. No applicant will gain admission without a satsifactory GMAT or GRE score. For any applicant with a native language other than English, the school requires the successful completion of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Tuition and Financial Aid

Students pursuing an online MBA from Arkansas State University can expect to pay $587 per credit hour excluding books. In-state on-campus graduate students can expect to pay $3,947 per 12 hours, and tuition for graduate out-of-state residents is $7,031. Arkansas State University offers a number of types of financial aid for both undergraduate and graduate students, including scholarships administered by the ASU Foundation and Arkansas State University, loans, work-study programs and grants. In addition, the school offers several educational opportunities for veterans through the Post-9/11 GI Bill and other programs. Veterans and their dependents may be eligible to receive discounted tuition from the Veterans Administration, and members and reservists of the National Guard may be entitled to receive educational assistance payments.

Online Master of Business Administration Degree Available

Arkansas State University ranked 10th on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Online MBA Programs. The online program is designed to prepare students of all professional and educational backgrounds for business management positions in a number of different organizations. The program allows students to develop skills and knowledge related to the decision-making, problem-solving and analytical competencies for social, complex global organizational and dynamic environments.

Any prospective student who wishes to enter a business graduate program is required to take business foundation courses. These may be completed at the undergraduate level, at the graduate level or both. However, students should bear in mind that foundation courses are not counted toward their graduate GPA. Coursework includes operations management, business statistics, legal environment of business, principles of microeconomics, principles of macroeconomics, business finance, an introduction to managerial accounting and an introduction to financial accounting.

The 33-hour traditional MBA degree from ASU consists of a core curriculum of 27 hours. These classes are designed to develop a student's competency for overall leadership and management. Students will study topics such as strategic management, business analytics, strategic marketing, management information systems, global strategic initiatives, corporate financial management, managerial economics and accounting for planning and control. Students will also complete a seminar in organizational behavior and leadership. After completing 15 hours of coursework, students may also choose to complete an internship course which they may count as a three-hour elective. In addition to the core, students may take six hours of electives to further focus their degree.

The program of study includes several functional areas of business, and students have the opportunity to choose a concentration in each area. Students may tailor their traditional MBA degrees to their individual goals and needs. Available concentrations in the traditional MBA degree path include international business, supply chain management, management information systems, healthcare administration and finance.

Students who choose to add one of the above concentration will increase the total number of hours in the program to between 36 and 39 hours. The traditional MBA with a finance concentration provides in-depth coverage of the core components of investments, financial markets and institutions and corporate finance. Concentration courses include international finance markets, financial statement analysis and corporate financial management.

The traditional MBA with a concentration in healthcare administration includes coursework in services marketing strategy development, healthcare internship, current issues in healthcare administration and healthcare policies and ethics. Students will complete 15 hours of graduate level courses that are focused on healthcare administration as well as 24 hours of the MBA core.

Students wishing to pursue an online MBA degree from Arkansas State University will receive a leading-edge curriculum that emphasizes social responsibility and ethics, decision tools, latest technology, international business and leadership values facilitated by action-based learning. Although there are several concentrations offered with the traditional degree, the online MBA offers one–supply chain management. This area of focus provides an in-depth coverage of the way a company's supply chain helps to operate the business in a dynamic global environment.

Since the degree is offered with a distance learning option, working professionals may still complete the program while holding full-time positions in their current fields. The online MBA program is more flexibility and is designed to fit into the working schedules better than the traditional MBA. The program also consists of a core curriculum of 27 and covers the same classes as the traditional MBA, including corporate financial management, accounting for planning and control, strategic management, managerial economics and management information systems.

Related Resource: 30 Most Affordable Top-ranked Online MBA Programs

The online MBA with a supply chain management concentration provides students with an in-depth focus on the core components of the duties of a supply chain. Students will complete the 27-hour core MBA curriculum as well as 12 hours in logistics at the graduate level. Courses for the supply chain management concentration at Arkansas State University include sourcing and procurement, logistics operations, global supply chain management and a seminar in logistics management.

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