Regardless of where you pursue your degree and what kind of emphases your school offers, you will have to fulfill your general education requirements before you can graduate with a bachelor's degree in business. General education courses are a requirement of all college students and most fulfill these during the first two years of college. These courses are designed to provide you with a well-rounded education and introduce you to a variety of fields. At the very least, general education courses provide you with a foundation for future study. Most colleges will require you to complete a minimum of two courses in English composition, another two in American or world literature, introductory biology and physical science, college algebra or another acceptable math class, introduction to psychology, American history, world history or western civilization, introduction to philosophy, speech, a foreign language and possibly a course or two in physical education.
Students pursuing a bachelor's degree in business usually obtain either Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) or a Bachelor of Science in Business (B.S.). Other variations are possible, but usually less common. The courses required for most bachelor's degree programs in business vary only slightly. For instance, the B.B.A. curriculum may require a few more courses in management than the B.S. curriculum, which may introduce you to more courses in the different fields of business, such as marketing or human resources. Core courses can include studies in introductory accounting, operations management, business finance, project management, business writing, economics (microeconomics and macroeconomics), legal aspects of business and international business.
Many employers now look for candidates with the M.B.A. degree. This is especially true for higher-level management positions within larger companies and corporations. The M.B.A. is typically a two-year degree program that allows students to expand their expertise in a particular aspect of business such as finance or marketing. Students usually have to complete core courses that reflect the particular emphases or strengths of the school plus additional courses in the field in which they intend to specialize. Core courses generally include a variety of areas such as business strategy, finance, marketing, managerial economics and decision science. Some schools offer specializations in various fields such as marketing, accounting, finance, entrepreneurial studies and human resource management.