Bachelor of Science in Business in Management and Leadership

Students majoring in management and leadership position themselves as business leaders and gain skills to effectively manage an organization. With various elective pathways, students can customize their degree based on their interests. Students studying management and leadership will gain a mix of theoretical and practical management knowledge and skills that will enable them to work as professional managers, HR professionals and business leaders. Elective pathways within the major allow students to specialize in specific areas of interest such as organizational leadership, entrepreneurship, and human resources.

Undergraduate Admission to the School of Business

There are two paths for admission to the School of Business:

  1. Freshman direct admission pathway
  2. Pre-business admission pathway

Freshman Direct Admission Pathway

Students applying to KU while completing high school can be directly admitted to the B.S.B. degree majors based on high school GPA and standardized test scores.

High school GPA plus ACT test score: Applicants accepted at KU with an interest in business are eligible for direct admission into the School of Business based on an index score calculated using high school GPA and ACT composite or SAT math and evidence-based reading and writing scores. The index score is calculated as ACT/10 + HS GPA = index score. The required index score is at least 5.55. Students should refer to the official ACT/SAT concordance table when comparing SAT scores to ACT scores.

Test-optional pathway: Students with high school GPAs greater than 3.4 are eligible for direct admission for the 2024-25 academic year.

Directly admitted freshman must start the sequence of B.S.B. professionalism courses in their first semester.

Freshman direct admission is not an option for students who seek to change their major to business or pre-business after the start of their first semester of college at KU or elsewhere. Such students must apply for the pre-business admission pathway.

Pre-Business Admission Pathway

Students who do not meet direct admission standards, transfer students, and students who start out at KU pursuing other majors can be admitted to the B.S.B. degree program through the pre-business pathway. Current KU students applying for competitive admission process should apply for a change of school during the semester in which they will complete the minimum requirements for admission. Applicants who are not currently KU students must first apply to KU and submit official transcripts for all previous colleges and universities attended to the Office of Admissions along with the application. To facilitate advising, current KU students applying for competitive admission are encouraged to submit change of school requests by September 15 for spring admission and by February 15 for fall admission. Visit the Office of International Support Services for information about international admissions.

Admission to the B.S.B. program through the pre-business pathway is subject to the following requirements:

Course List
Code Title Hours
ACCT 200Fundamentals of Financial Accounting4
ECON 142Principles of Microeconomics3
or ECON 143 Principles of Microeconomics, Honors
BSAN 202Statistics3

Academic Probation Policy

Students admitted to the B.S.B. degree program by direct, competitive, or transfer admission whose overall GPA, overall KU GPA, professional GPA, KU professional GPA, or within-major GPA falls below 2.5 will be placed on academic probation. Following imposition of probation students must meet with their academic advisors to develop and implement an academic performance improvement plan. Probation will be rescinded after the subsequent academic term if relevant GPAs improve to above these thresholds; absent academic performance improvement students may be dismissed and may not register for School of Business courses with restricted enrollment except by special permission. Petitions for readmission will be evaluated on evidence of improvement in academic performance.

Transfer Students

Transfer students may find it to their advantage to enter KU before the junior year, because some required courses may be available only at KU. Students attending Kansas community colleges should consult their advisors and a KU School of Business academic advisor about course equivalents and articulation agreements to ensure progress toward the degree. The Office of Admissions provides a guide to how classes at a current or former school transfer to KU. Students must submit official transcripts of course work completed to the Office of Admissions before a final determination can be made.

At least 30 hours of junior/senior professional course work must be completed at KU (courses in residence) for the student to be eligible for graduation. Only transfer grades of C- or higher apply toward graduation from the KU School of Business.

75-Hour Rule

A maximum of 75 hours of community college course work can be applied toward a KU business degree. All subsequent credit hours earned at a community college or other 2-year institution add an equivalent number of hours to the 120-hour minimum required to graduate.

10-Year Rule

Transfer business credits are limited to a 10-year span in which they can be considered equivalent to a KU School of Business course and satisfy any corresponding requirement. This 10-year limit begins on the date of completion of the credit. After 10 years, transfer business credits are treated as elective business credit, and a course repeat or update may be necessary.

Tentative Evaluation of Credit

Students are advised to work with an academic advisor if they are considering enrolling in a class outside of KU. Before enrolling in any non-KU courses, students should confirm the course transfers over properly in Credtran or submit course syllabi for approval by using the transfer credit evaluation form for business classes located here.

Readmission

Students must submit an application for readmission to KU if their lapse in attendance is one semester or more. See the Office of Admissions for more information. Students may be readmitted to the School of Business if they left the school in good standing and it has been less than 5 years since they last attended.

5-Year Rule

If a student does not complete the business degree within 5 years of last attendance, the student must reapply through the pre-business admission pathway. Students also must complete degree requirements in effect at the time of readmission to the business school regardless of the initial program.

Dismissal

Students who have been dismissed from the school must reapply through the pre-business admission pathway.

Bachelor of Science in Business Degree Requirements

The School of Business offers a Bachelor of Science in Business (B.S.B.) with majors in accounting, business administration, business analytics, finance, information systems, management and leadership, marketing, and supply chain management. Also offered are a co-major in international business and various discipline-specific minors and certificate programs. In addition to core curriculum courses, each major requires foundation and core classes in business and related fields, required major classes, and advanced business electives to satisfy requirements of specific majors, minors, and certificates.

Graduation Requirements

Hours Required for Graduation

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for graduation. Of the 120 hours, a student must earn at least 45 junior/senior hours and 30 residency hours (business courses numbered 300 or higher) completed within the KU School of Business.