Curriculum Doctor of Business Administration

The curriculum in the DBA program is designed to provide research knowledge and skills in order to engender advanced capacity in the analysis of real-world business problems. 

Structure

The Doctor of Business Administration is designed with maximum flexibility for the working professional.  It is a three-year program with in-person course meetings once per month for the first two years (August to May on Friday/Saturday).  A fully online option with no in-person requirement is also available.

Students may choose the 63 credit DBA program with no concentration or choose a concentration option for a total of 75 credits.  Students also choose the academic or professional track depending on their career goals. Learn more about concentration and track options.

Overview by Year

Year 1: Learning centers around theory development, data collection and analysis techniques as well as applications in Accounting, Marketing and Economics.  Students have the opportunity to draft a first year doctoral paper on a subject of their choosing with the guidance of a faculty mentor and will discuss the process of publishing research.  Students in the academic track will be exposed to best practices in teaching and learning and students in the professional track will be exposed to real life examples from industry leaders of how data and analysis are used to solve organizational problems.

Year 2: Students focus on advanced research methods and practice application of research techniques in order to make decisions in different situations such as an organizational merger.  Students will focus on their own leadership skills and development and complete a second year research paper with the help of a faculty mentor. 

Year 3: Students focus on completion of final dissertation project.

Example Schedule

This is an example based on a spring start. This is subject to change.

Semester 1: Spring

Courses (12 Credit Hours)

  • DBA 710: Advanced Statistics and Applications (January Session)
  • MGT 715: Entrepreneurial Behavior in Organizations
  • DBA 711: Methodology Behavioral Models
  • DBA 720: Archival Research Methods
  • DBA 730: DBA Colloquium I – Publishing research and process 

Weekends

  • Orientation is typically held the first weekend (Friday/Saturday) of the month.

Semester 2: Summer

Courses (3 Credit Hours)

  • DBA 731: First Year Doctoral Research Paper
  • DBA 780: DBA Colloquium II
    • Academic Track: Best Practices in Teaching and Learning
    • Professional Track: Research Applied to Organizational Problems

Weekends

  • Additional weekends designated by mentor.

Semester 3: Fall

Courses (10 Credit Hours)

  • ACCT 760: Advanced Managerial Accounting
  • MKG 765: Marketing with a Global Mindset
  • DBA 770: Applied Econometrics

Semester 4: Spring

Courses (10 Credit Hours)

  • DBA 755: Advanced Research Methods I
  • FIN 750: Corporate Mergers, Acquisitions and Valuations
  • DBA 725: Quantitative Methods Executive Decision Making

Semester 5: Summer

Courses (6 Credit Hours)

  • Second Year Research Paper
  • DBA 775: Advanced Research Methods II

Weekends

  • Additional weekends designated by mentor.

Semester 6: Fall

Courses (10 Credit Hours)

  • DSIM/MGT 740: Technical and Analytical Innovation
  • ACCT/FIN  720: Applied Archival Research in Business
  • MGT 736: Strategic Leadership
  • DBA 781: DBA Colloquium III – SAT/Methods Activity

Semester 7: Spring

Courses (6 Credit Hours)

  • DBA 785: Dissertation I/ Applied Research I

Weekends

  • Meetings designated by Dissertation Chair

Semester 8: Summer

Courses (6 Credit Hours)

  • DBA 790: Dissertation II/ Applied Research II

Weekends

  • Meetings designated by Dissertation Chair

Semester 9: Fall (Optional for Concentration)

Courses (12 Credit Hours)

  • 12 credit hours of coursework for your concentration. Learn more about concentration options.