Undergraduate Business Emphases

Undergraduate Business Emphases

USC Marshall’s undergraduate business emphases provide unique value for students seeking to turn their ideas into outcomes in the rapidly evolving 21st-century global marketplace.
Undergraduate business emphases, introduced in Fall 2021, are optional specializations for undergraduates within the B.S. in Business Administration degree program to complement the renowned program and elevate an approach that prepares students for the real world.

Undergraduate Business Emphases

Business Analytics

Data-driven decision making
Business Administration with an emphasis in Business Analytics teaches students analytical and hands-on skills to aid data-driven decision making, execution, and evaluation.

COURSE CATALOGUE Business Analytics
Communication

Communication skills to achieve professional goals
Business Administration with an emphasis in Communication provides students with the skills deemed most desirable by employers across all industries and fields to drive individual success as an employee, colleague, and workplace leader.

COURSE CATALOGUE Communication
Entrepreneurship + Innovation

Skills to adapt and solve in a dynamic world
Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides students the skills, tools, and mindset to create new products, new services, new ventures, and new worlds as they meet the needs of customers and help solve the thorny problems we face as an economy and a society.

COURSE CATALOGUE Entrepreneurship + Innovation
Finance

Develop skills for financial analysis, decision making, and value creation
Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance provides specialized skill sets for students wishing to work in the finance industry, preparing them for complex tasks involving finance, economics, and advanced computer modeling.

COURSE CATALOGUE Finance
International Relations

Engaging a world of opportunities
The Business Administration and International Relations program delivers business acumen with the perspective of diplomatic engagement.

COURSE CATALOGUE International Relations
Leadership + Innovation

Leadership and innovation for competitive advantage   
Business Administration with an emphasis in Leadership and Innovation teaches students to lead and innovate, identify and solve critical problems, and build a sustainable competitive advantage.

COURSE CATALOGUE Leadership + Innovation
Marketing

Effective marketing for organizations of the future
Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing provides students with creative and analytical skills for effective marketing strategy, execution, and evaluation across industries.

COURSE CATALOGUE Marketing
Real Estate Finance

Dynamic growth in an ever-changing market
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Real Estate Finance Program provides specialized skill sets for students wishing to work in real estate finance and development, preparing them for the specific complexities of real estate finance, economics, and state-of-the-art computer modeling.

COURSE CATALOGUE Real Estate Finance
Risk Management

Managing risk to maximize opportunity
Business Administration with an emphasis in Risk Management enables students to manage the risks of an increasingly complex and interconnected business environment.

COURSE CATALOGUE Risk Management

EMPHASES FAQS

These comments only apply to the Emphases in Business Analytics, Communication, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Finance, International Relations, Leadership & Innovation, Marketing, Real Estate Finance and Risk Management.

Students must have sophomore standing (minimum completion of 32 units of college-level coursework, including transfer and AP/IB/A-Level exam credits), complete one semester in residence at USC, and complete the gateway course for the undergraduate business emphasis, if required, with final grade posted on STARS report before submitting the emphasis declaration application to declare. Students are required to declare their undergraduate business emphasis during the semester declaration periods and can view the declaration timeline on the undergraduate business emphasis main page.

If students want to change or drop their undergraduate business emphasis, they will need to resubmit the emphasis declaration application during the semester declaration periods. Students will need to complete the gateway course for the undergraduate business emphasis, if required, prior to declaring the new undergraduate business emphasis and plan to complete the upper division coursework. Students who plan to switch their undergraduate business emphasis and are declared with a Marshall minor should review the details on Marshall majors pursuing Marshall minors and connect with their assigned academic advisor to confirm if there are any restrictions.

Students who wish to specialize and focus in a specific area can declare an undergraduate business emphasis, although it is not required. Students may earn a B.S. in Business Administration (no emphasis) by completing the required twelve (12) units of upper division electives which can be mixed across different business areas. The general degree provides students more flexibility to bridge various areas of interest together. More information on Marshall upper division electives can be found HERE.

STAY CONNECTED

Current students, please visit STUDENTS.MARSHALL.USC.EDU for more information on Advising, Academics, Career Services, Global Programs.

Current USC Students seeking to transfer into the Marshall School of Business their second year can find more information on this process at STUDENTS.MARSHALL.USC.EDU under 'How to Apply'.

Undergraduate Admissions: (213) 740-8885 | EMAIL

Undergraduate Advising and Student Affairs: (213) 740-0690 | EMAIL

Undergraduate Career Services: (213) 740-5705 | EMAIL

Undergraduate International Program: (213) 764-8447 | EMAIL

Undergraduate Emphases