What is a Business Administration Degree?
Choosing the right degree isn’t always easy. But if you’re looking for a degree program that’s compatible with a wide variety of career choices and projected growth of opportunities, consider business administration.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data on the occupational outcomes of different degree fields and projects that the positions typically occupied by holders of bachelor’s degrees in business will grow by 5–17% by 2033.
That’s a pretty significant growth rate—much higher than the projected growth rate of the rest of the U.S. economy.
However, prospective students often ask: What is a business administration degree good for?
Business administration degrees can be the ticket to many different careers—financial management, analytics, human resources, accounting, operations management, or even executive roles. This article will answer a key question: What is a business administration degree? We’ll break down exactly what business majors can expect to learn over the course of their degree and where they can expect to go in the future.
The Value of a Business Administration Degree
Whether you’re a recent high school graduate or an established professional looking to expand your career horizons, business administration degrees offer a comprehensive educational program.
Business degrees teach students about the foundations of:
- Economics
- Production
- Organizational theory
- Management and leadership
- Statistics
- Analytics
- Business decision-making
These are practical skills both in general and for specialized subfields in the business sphere. However, business programs can also prepare students to pursue degrees or careers in other fields like law, construction, or technology.
Key Competencies and Knowledge Areas
Business school introductory courses typically cover core, essential skills like:
- Communication and information management – These skills form the basis of effective communication and quantitative analysis that are required in any professional environment.
- Economic theory – Students can expect to learn about domestic and international markets, supply and demand, and the financial aspects of decision-making. These elements of a program prepare business majors for leadership and managerial roles with a thorough understanding of how businesses run in the context of global trade and finance.
- Leadership skills – As prospective business leaders, students must learn to hone their skills in organization, management, and strategy.
Beyond these core learning components, students then have the opportunity to develop a specialized, hands-on skillset through elective courses and minors. These electives can cover topics including:
- Human resources
- Executive leadership
- Accounting
- Law
- IT
- Cybersecurity
This is just the tip of the iceberg; depending on your chosen program, you’ll encounter a diverse array of learning opportunities and specialties.
Core Components of Business Administration Education
With the basics in mind, let’s go into more detail about the required classes and core coursework business majors can expect to take. These classes aim to give students a solid professional skillset and basis on which to later pursue specializations within the business department—and, of course, they prepare students to build a career.
Curriculum Overview: Core Business Disciplines
The core component of any good business degree is a general education program aimed at:
- Developing communication skills
- Understanding economics in theory and practice
- Creating and understanding statistics and analytical information
Meeting these essential goals is the initial cornerstone of a business program; these provide skills that can serve students for a lifetime. In addition to these, business schools often require students to take courses on ethics, diversity, global issues and geopolitics, and research methods. These courses provide a framework for business-specific learning and more focused topical coursework.
Students then take courses in the main disciplines within the school of business:
- Finance
- Marketing
- Management
- Operations
- Human resources
- Data analytics
These include a deep dive into the principles and practices of business management. Topics range from financial and managerial accounting to economic and financial decision-making, and learnings on marketing, human resources, and business analytics.
Specializations Within Business Administration
If you choose to pursue a specialty in business administration (either with a minor, degree concentration, or coursework focus), you’ll have a chance to carve your own path based on your These include a deep dive into the principles and practices of business management. Topics range from financial and managerial accounting to economic and financial decision-making, and learnings on marketing, human resources, and business analytics.
Specializations Within Business Administration
If you choose to pursue a specialty in business administration (either with a minor, degree concentration, or coursework focus), you’ll have a chance to carve your own path based on your These include a deep dive into the principles and practices of business management. Topics range from financial and managerial accounting to economic and financial decision-making, and learnings on marketing, human resources, and business analytics.
Specializations Within Business Administration
If you choose to pursue a specialty in business administration (either with a minor, degree concentration, or coursework focus), you’ll have a chance to carve your own path based on your personal and professional goals. By selecting higher-level courses from various sub-disciplines in the school of business, business majors specialize to meet their career goals.
Business majors can pursue specialties in:
- Organizational leadership
- Human resources
- Finance and economics
- Accounting
- Information technology
- Business analytics
- Marketing
- Management
- Employment and business law
Of course, you’re not limited to only one choice of specialization. The point of a business administration degree is to create well-rounded leaders and managers with a deep understanding of the many factors that play into running a business.
For example, students with a specialization in finance may complete their required courses in that discipline—exploring topics related to capital markets, investment and portfolio management, financial modeling, and so on—while also pursuing elective courses from other specializations on subjects like negotiation, consumer profiles, and statistical analytics.
Elective courses provide context and nuance to the core curriculum and expose students to new perspectives. A multidisciplinary approach is the key to a good business administration program.
Skills Development and Practical Learning
Another goal of business degree programs is to foster hands-on skills and professional development. To achieve this, students undertake coursework that will prepare them for the roles they may hold in the future, work on real problems in the field, and experience practical examples of business leadership.
Skills can be taught in the classroom, but they’re best honed through practice, and this is a major goal of business administration programs: preparing you for the workforce by making sure you already have the professional, hard skills you need to do a job by the time you graduate.
But how do business administration degree programs accomplish this?
Leadership and Management Training
First, students learn the fundamental principles of management and leadership, and the difference between the two. Through readings and discussions, students learn the ins and outs of organizational politics, developing negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
Through role-plays, projects, and assignments, students then put these skills to use.
Coursework on diversity, communication, psychology, and creative problem-solving trains students to be empathetic and ethical leaders as well as decisive, effective managers.
Analytical and Decision-Making Skills
You’ll also undergo rigorous training with data visualization and analytics tools, learning both the theoretical principles of statistics as well as how to use major data analysis software tools.
Decision-making is also a primary focus of business administration, and degree programs approach this by exploring multiple perspectives throughout the academic track:
- Economic decision-making – Students learn how economic actors behave from the consumer to the multinational level with the aim of developing sound economic and financial decision-making skills.
- Organizational decision-making – Prospective leaders also learn how managers can create effective—and improve ineffective—working environments.
- Creative decision-making – Exploring elements of creative decision-making prepares students to be flexible thinkers and find innovative solutions to problems, whatever the context.
Real-World Application through Case Studies and Projects
During a business administration program, students develop the skills above in the classroom before exploring real-world applications via projects and assignments.
Depending on the discipline, this can mean constructing a market analysis and making real-world economic forecasts, or developing communication skills through collaborative work and role-plays. Or, students can be asked to create new business models and even start a business of their own as part of a course.
The approach taken by business administration schools aims to foster these skills in students by putting their learning to the test so they can arrive on the job market skilled and prepared.
Career Opportunities and Pathways
Once you’ve explored undergraduate admissions options, chosen a program, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, what’s next?
Roles in Corporate Management
With a business degree in hand, you’re well prepared to begin working toward a managerial role in the corporate sphere. With an understanding of leadership and decision-making principles and experience in negotiation strategies, you’ll know what it takes to keep people motivated and productive in a positive work environment.
Many corporate managers and CEOs go on to study business at the postgraduate level, but the skills learned during your bachelor’s are a strong basis already; with an undergraduate business degree, you can thrive in a corporate career across multiple industries.
Entrepreneurship and Startup Ventures
After completing a degree program, you can also strike out on your own and start your own business. You can leverage numerous skills learned in business school to:
- Develop financial strategies
- Find unmet market needs
- Create opportunities for growth
- Creatively solve problems
- Raise necessary capital from investors
Business administration programs prepare students to carve out niches in existing industries and markets—critical skills for prospective entrepreneurs.
Consulting and Strategic Advisory
If you value the flexibility and excitement of an advisory role rather than committing to a single project or company, you can apply your understanding of complex markets and business practices as a consultant for a major firm.
A business administration degree is a serious asset to a consultant, allowing you to advise on projects across a wide spectrum of sectors, from resource extraction to governmental policy. Thanks to the multidisciplinary nature of a business education, you’ll arrive in the consulting world with a firm understanding of HR practices and business efficiency, and you can help companies reorganize and streamline their internal structure, or solve difficult supply problems with creative panache.
What is a Business Degree Good For?
A better question would be, “What isn’t a business degree good for?”
A BS in business administration opens many doors for graduates, and from the very first class session, the choice of which to walk through is yours.
Looking for a multidisciplinary business administration program that can pave the path to a successful career? Explore Thomas Jefferson University’s School of Business. Our curricula prepare students with the cutting-edge skills and knowledge they’ll need to succeed at every stage of their careers, in college and beyond.