Ph.D. in Business Administration

Mission • Admission • Prerequisite Common Body of Knowledge • Graduate Committees
Graduate Program • Doctoral Examinations • Doctoral Review • Important Forms

Admission

The applicant for admission to the Ph.D. program must hold a bachelor's degree from a recognized institution of higher learning and have demonstrated high promise of benefit from graduate study. All general requirements stated in the graduate manual must be met. The doctoral applicant must also present a GMAT score, from a test administered within the last five years, of at least 550 and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or above, both cumulative and over the last two years of undergraduate work; plus a QPA of 3.25/4.0 on all prior graduate work, with the graduate hours in business and economics including no more than 20 percent below the grade of "B". Consideration will be given to an applicant who is deficient in not more than one of the quantitative specifications cited above.

An applicant whose quantitative credentials meet the stated criteria above may still be denied admission. Included in the qualitative consideration are such factors as the quality of previous academic studies, the meshing of the purpose of study and the opportunities in the proposed field of study, prior professional and employment activities, and a recommendation of the faculty in the proposed field of study, including the availability of faculty support for research. Enrollment in the Ph.D. program is limited to the number of openings available for each academic year.

Foreign applicants, not holding prior degrees from U.S. institutions, must submit a TOEFL report of: Paper Based - 575; Computer Based - 233; Internet Based - 90 is required. An IELTS score of 6.5 may be substituted for the TOEFL.or higher with their applications. Such applications will not be considered without this indicator of English proficiency.

Application Deadlines

Students are admitted to the Ph.D. program only for the fall semester of each year. The following deadlines apply separately to applications for admission and graduate assistantship:

• Admission
  (Deadline January 15th)

  The primary decision date for fall admissions is the first of March. Since admission decisions are often competitively based due to a limited number of openings, applicants are strongly encouraged to have all application and supporting materials submitted to the Office of Graduate Admissions by January 15th. Completed applications received after this date will continue to be reviewed until the end of June or until all positions are filled. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all supporting materials are received.

  The applicant should be aware that the transmittal of GMAT scores from the Educational Testing Service generally takes about two or three weeks, and occasionally longer if irregularities occur. Thus, scores from the December administration of the GMAT may not be received by January 15th and those from the June administration may not be received by the end of June.

• Assistantship
  (Deadline January 15th)

  While an application for assistantship may be submitted at any time of the year (e.g., fall and spring semesters), they begin with the fall semester. Because only applicants who have been admitted to a degree program can be considered for graduate assistantship appointments, all admission application materials must be received by January 15th for those desiring full consideration for a graduate assistantship offer.

Transfer of Credits

It is anticipated that an appreciable percentage of the students in the doctoral program will hold master's degrees in business or economics from recognized institutions for which they will be allowed credit approximating the first year of the doctoral program. In exceptional cases, limited additional transfer credit may be allowed. In no case will transfer credit be allowed for courses in which grades of "C" or less were earned.

College of Business and Industry

Policies and Procedures