Business Minor Frequently Asked Questions


Who can earn the business minor?

Any student who is pursuing a baccalaureate degree in a major outside of business. It is not available to non-degree seeking or graduate students.

How many credits is the business minor?

The business minor is 27-28 credits, depending on the statistics course a student takes. This includes five primary lower core courses and four upper level minor core courses.

What are the requirements for the business minor?

Students must complete the five Primary Lower Core courses with grades of "C-" or better, have 60 total credits, and have an overall GPA of 2.0 or better before taking any of the four upper division courses.

Can students getting the business minor take other upper division business courses?

The short answer is no. Most upper division business courses are restricted to business majors. But COB does offer a few courses that are either open to any major or open to students whose non-business major requires the course. Please stop by the Business Student Success Center to learn more.

If I start the business minor and decide to become a business major, will I lose any credits?

No. All credits included in the business minor are also required for all business majors. COB offers business majors in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing (and you can opt to add the international business major to any of these). But a student cannot ultimately select one of the business majors and be a business minor.

How do I choose between a business major and a business minor?

The answer lies in your career desires. If you want to be centrally involved in a business or the business-type functions of a government or nonprofit, you need deep expertise in one of the business majors. If you want to be centrally involved in some discipline outside of business, then the minor will complement your main area of expertise. For example, someone who desires to run his own pharmacy needs to have credentials to be a pharmacist yet some foundation in business. But someone who wants work in a finance department of a hospital needs a major in marketing, accounting or finance.

What benefit would the business minor have for someone with no entrepreneurial ambitions?

Businesses – including government and nonprofit organizations – are everywhere in the world in every field imaginable and are people-centric. Having completed a nice collection of basic business courses will make a student better equipped to interact with the business world and have informative conversations with other people about current business or economic events. We cannot think of a major that would not be enhanced by being paired with a business minor.

How can I get more information and build the business minor coursework into my course plan?

Advisors in other academic units have received information about the business minor. COB also has an advising office (GBB L35) that takes walk-in inquiries M-Th, 8:30-3:30.