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Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Overview

Business is one of the most impactful careers available for lives of service today. As a business administration major — the most popular program at Biola — you’ll learn to bring leadership, insight and strategic thinking to any workplace. Whether in a public or private company, known brand or entrepreneurial startup, your business administration degree from Biola’s Crowell School of Business will be valuable for a lifetime of impact.

If you are interested in earning a business degree online, consider the B.S. in Business Management degree.

In addition to its strong curriculum, expert faculty members and biblical integration, Biola’s business administration program offers several key advantages:

  • Biola prepares you for real-world success; in a recent survey, 98 percent of business graduates secured a job or enrolled in a graduate program within six months of graduation.
  • Biola’s location in Southern California — one of the world’s largest and most diverse metropolitan areas — is ideal for internships and job opportunities.
  • Biola equips you to pursue business as ministry, showing you what it means to serve Christ in the workplace.
  • Biola’s Crowell School of Business has been accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) since 1997.

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Concentrations

  • Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

    The business analytics and artificial intelligence concentration prepares you with the tools and techniques you need to succeed in an increasingly data-driven business world. Through coursework in that includes statistics, database and spreadsheet technologies, and machine learning techniques, you’ll be equipped to collect, evaluate and use data to help businesses become smarter, more strategic and better stewards of their resources. The program also integrates biblical values into your education, helping you to value people as God does — rather than reduce them to mere data and numbers. As one of the only undergraduate programs of its kind at a Christian university, the concentration offers you a running start into a growing career field, including such roles as business systems analyst, data analyst and business intelligence manager.

  • Entrepreneurship
    The world is full of problems to solve, systems to improve and organizations to create. Students who want to bring their ideas to life and integrate creativity with practical business skills will appreciate the hands-on, forward-thinking approach of the entrepreneurship concentration.
  • Finance

    The finance concentration provides a foundational understanding on how to effectively and efficiently manage cash flow for a financial institution or organization, including for-profit, nonprofit or government. You will learn the necessary hard and soft skills to be successful in this field, from creating spreadsheets for business finance decisions to skills you need to be an effective leader. Courses — with topics including corporate finance, investments and organizational leadership — are biblically integrated, and will develop your understanding on how to integrate biblical values in an organization’s cash flow management. If you are fascinated by the financial market, detail-oriented and good with numbers, you should consider this concentration to pursue careers such as financial analyst, portfolio manager, financial consultant or research associate.

  • Financial Planning

    The financial planning concentration prepares you to be an effective financial adviser to individuals and families seeking to reach their financial goals. On top of your business education, this concentration will give you the financial knowledge you need to coach others on how to manage their finances — from taxes, debt, savings, real estate and retirement planning — and how to develop and implement an integrated financial plan for any individual or family.

    Financial planning is a growing field and becoming increasingly service-oriented. The biblically integrated courses and your understanding of biblical values and stewardship will make you uniquely fit to serve Christian households. You will also gain hands-on, cross-cultural experiences working with organizations that offer services to underserved communities. With this concentration, you will launched into a proven career track as it qualifies you to take the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) examination.

  • Management
    The management concentration prepares you to become a strong business leader — someone with the innovation, creativity, critical thinking and people-management skills needed to help build a healthy organization. Through the concentration, you’ll learn about key management functions, including planning, organizing, leading and controlling. You’ll also develop an understanding of leadership principles, ethics, organizational behavior, human resources and other skills, equipping you for a wide range of business management careers in both the public and private sector.


  • Marketing

    The marketing concentration is a hands-on, experience-rich program that prepares you for the exciting and competitive world of marketing. The program’s coursework equips you to be an effective marketer who understands your business’ target audiences using research and then reaches them with strategic advertising, messaging, promotions and other tools. Throughout your time in the concentration, you’ll build a e-portfolio of marketing projects for real-world companies, setting you up for employment success straight out of college.


  • Marketing Management
    The marketing management concentration prepares you to be a well-rounded professional with a solid foundation in both the people-management and marketing aspects of business. With its wide introduction to such areas as organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, global marketing and advertising, the concentration equips you for a variety of leadership roles in small businesses and corporate settings, including such careers as marketing manager, director of brand management, integrated marketing strategist or social evangelist.



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Courses

What will I study as a business administration major?

The business administration program provides a comprehensive liberal arts background from a biblical perspective, while exposing you to and training you in specific key aspects of businesses operations such as:

  • Human resource management
  • Supply chain management
  • Finances, including financial statements
  • Marketing
  • Business project management
  • Business analytics

You'll learn to solve a variety of business challenges, including legal and ethical issues while earning your business degree alongside other future business professionals. This unique bachelor's degree program will also start the process of teaching you management skills crucial for making tough business decisions and train you in other broad career-relevant topics such as:

  • Business integrity in a secular world
  • Collection and presentation of business data
  • International trade
  • Fiscal and monetary policy
  • Analysis of market outcomes
  • Government regulation
  • Employment and labor law
  • Organizational behavior
  • Global marketing management
  • Management strategies

Bible and Theology Coursework

As part of Biola’s commitment to a biblically centered education, most undergraduate students complete 30 credits of biblical and theological studies as a part of their degree program. Learn more about our Bible and theology core.

Career Outlook and Preparation

What can you do with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration?

As a highly skilled and technically competent business professional, you will be prepared to impact the world for Jesus Christ in fields such as law, accounting, international business, finance and marketing. Career options include professions such as:

  • CEO
  • CFO
  • Stockbroker
  • Business analyst
  • Foreign service officer
  • City manager
  • Corporate auditor
  • Human resources management
  • Public relations specialist
  • Marketing research analyst

Many Crowell School of Business students pursue graduate studies while others have moved directly into professional roles at major corporations. Highlights include:

  • Walt Disney Company
  • Target
  • KPMG
  • Deloitte and Touche
  • TOMS
  • Transparent Productions
  • Lord Abbett
  • Entrepreneurship in day spas, clothing industry and restaurants
  • Graduate studies at prestigious schools such as Biola's Crowell School of Business MBA program, University of California, Irvine; University of Southern California; University of California, San Diego; and the University of California, Los Angeles.

8% job growth

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for advertising, promotions and marketing managers is projected to be faster than average between 2023 and 2033.

BLS projections are not specific to Biola University students or graduates.


Sarah Hartono

I am so thankful for how the curriculum and faculty/staff have built us into who we are today. I greatly appreciate Crowell and the care they bring to students at Biola.

Sarah Hartono
Business Marketing, B.S. '22
Jasmine Mullally

One of the things I am definitely most appreciative of are the professors at Biola, who see you not as a number or "just another student," but rather as unique individuals created with the ability to impact the world in their own way. The amount of time my professors have poured into me, whether it be staying late after class, grabbing coffee or meeting on Zoom, has made a profound impact on my life.

Incoming Strategy Analyst at Deloitte
Business Administration, B.S. '21
Michael Kurtz

I may not have been called to global mission fields like some friends at Biola, but God can still use us in our businesses to further his kingdom.

Business Operations Analyst
Business Administration, B.S. '15

Admissions

Admissions Process

Learn about Biola’s admissions requirements, steps to apply, application deadlines and more at our Undergraduate Admissions page.

Program-Specific Admissions Requirements

Admission into Biola University does not guarantee admission as a business administration major in the Crowell School of Business, nor permission to enroll in upper-division business administration courses (Intermediate Accounting excepted). Prior to formal admission, students shall continue to be advised as pre-business majors. The following requirements must be observed:

  1. Complete, with a minimum of a "C" (2.0) grade in each of the following courses (totaling 18 semester hours), or the equivalent; with a cumulative grade point average of 2.50:
    1. BUSN 201 or BUSN 202 — Principles of Macroeconomics
    2. BUSN 211 — Principles of Accounting I
    3. BUSN 212 — Principles of Accounting II
    4. BUSN 240 — Principles of Management
    5. ENGL 100 — Studies in Critical Thinking and Writing with Studio OR ENGL 112 — Studies in Critical Thinking and Writing I
    6. MATH 190 — Business Statistics
  2. Accomplish an overall cumulative GPA of 2.50 in all college level course work completed at the time of formal application to the Crowell School of Business.
  3. Complete all portions of the application for admission to the Crowell School of Business. The application should be filed the semester in which the student is in progress of completing the prerequisite course requirements.
  4. Complete the initial e-portfolio assignment in BUSN 240 or, if transferring BUSN 240, complete the ePortfolio assignment as outlined on the ePortfolio Student Hub web page. Contact the academic advisor for more details on how to complete this assignment.
  5. Meet approval of the academic advisor of the Crowell School of Business. The process may require an interview.

Schedule a Visit

Learn more about this program by attending an upcoming event for prospective students and parents, or by scheduling a personalized visit.

Visit Biola

Tuition and Financial Aid

Attaining a degree from Biola is more affordable than you might think — dramatically lower than the “sticker price” in most cases — with 100% of incoming undergraduate students receiving some form of financial aid.

Faculty


Learning Opportunities

Biola Startup Competition

The Biola Startup Competition offers all current Biola undergraduate students, graduate students and recent alumni the opportunity to transform a promising idea into a successful startup company. Aided by experienced executives and business leaders, teams will have the chance to pitch a concept, develop a business plan, gain valuable real-world insights and compete for capital. Hosted by Biola’s Crowell School of Business, the competition aims to foster kingdom-minded, Christ-honoring entrepreneurship across the university community and develop greater opportunities for business as ministry.

Crowell Business Club

To achieve success as a business student, it is important to establish a career network and build a circle for Christian fellowship, and that's what this club provides. Choosing to participate with your colleagues and future business professionals as a group of believers will better prepare you for entering the global workforce and provide the resources you need for advancement in various careers. We encourage you to join us as you work your way up the ladder of success.

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Format

You'll study in person at Biola University's campus in Southern California.

Total Credits

Total program credits include major-specific courses and Biola's core curriculum.

Standard Completion Time

This indicates the standard duration of this program. Completion time may vary depending on transferred coursework and preferred courseload.

Accreditation

Biola University is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. Additional accreditations may apply to specific programs.