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IS A BUSINESS DEGREE FOR ME?
A lot of people who come into the Education & Career Development Center to start on the road to a college degree tell me they want to major in business. When I ask why, they usually say something like, “Because I can use it anywhere” or “Because it’s the most general major.” When I ask what makes them think that, the most frequent answer is, “I don’t know; that’s what I’ve heard.”
Before you get your mind set on a business degree, you should first ask yourself, “What kind of work do I want to do when I leave the Coast Guard?” A business major may well be the right one for you. But it also might not.
If you want to start and run your own business, believe it or not a business degree may not be what you're looking for.
Read "Why an MBA Is a Waste of Time and Money" for seven concrete reasons "why you should take a bad job instead of getting an MBA."
If you’re not interested in getting one of the traditional degrees generalists obtained (BA degrees such as history, anthropology, English, etc.), there are the new generalist degrees (general or liberal studies). Or you can major in one of literally hundreds of different subjects such as biology, geology, physics, international relations, philosophy, civil engineering, sociology, space studies, criminal justice, electrical engineering, sports and health sciences, and on and on.
Don’t pick a major out of the air just because you’ve heard it’s the easiest or can be used anywhere or that most employers want people to have one. Do some research. Do the types of employers you want to work for really want someone with a business degree? What do the jobs which interest you actually require you to do all day?
A typical bachelor’s degree in business administration (BBA) involves taking (and passing) the following courses. (These are from American Military University’s general business administration degree description, but most schools offering a BBA have similar requirements.)
General Education requirements
These will be the same at virtually any school you attend and for any major you choose. They usually include: English, humanities, history, math, science, social science, political science, and literature.
Core requirements
These are the main courses related to your major. Most BBA programs require courses like these, if not these specific courses: Accounting I, Business Theory, Law & Ethics in the Business Environment, Global & Competitive Strategy, Operations Research, Principles of Financial Management, Principles and Theory of Management, Management Information Systems, Applied Statistics, Principles & Theory of Marketing, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics.
Concentration requirements
These are courses which relate to your main interest within the general topic of “business administration”. At AMU, you must take a Senior Seminar in Business Administration and four of the following courses: Leadership & Motivation, International Business Management, Organizational Behavior, Contemporary Internet Topics, Internet Concepts, Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, International Human Resource management, Principles of E Business, Small Business Growth & Development, Management Communications, Budget Development & Execution, Information Technology Project Management, Virtual Management, International Finance, Principles & Theory of Marketing, Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, or International Marketing.
Electives
These are courses in any subject. You can take more business courses or courses completely unrelated to business.
At AMU you must complete 119 credits to earn your BBA (35 in general education subjects, 39 in core subjects, 15 in your concentration, and 30 from electives). Another example, for comparison, is Excelsior College where a BBA is 120 credits (34 in general education subjects, 33 in core subjects, 15 in your concentration, 38 from electives).
What to Expect
The CollegeBoard has a web page which describes, in detail, what kind of education business students can expect, what career fields they're setting themselves up for, and the pluses and minuses of a business degree.
Starting & Running Your Own Business
If you're thinking about getting a business degree because you want to start and run your own business, you might want to think again. Look at the courses listed above for American Military University's BBA program. While some of the courses you'd take would be applicable to starting a small business, many likely would not.
If you're main goal is to start and run your own business, the first question you should ask yourself is: do I need a degree?
In today's labor market, employers use a degree as screening a device. They've determined that to do the work certain jobs entail they want only people who have degrees, and they won't even consider those who don't.
But if you're planning to work for yourself, you're looking for knowledge helpful in small business management and entrepreneurship, right? So does it matter to you if you have the degree? You can learn what you need to learn from many different sources. For example, the federal government's Small Business Administration has a huge amount of information available for free on its web site. Or you can take individual college courses applicable to small businesses (e.g., bookkeeping, business communications, labor-management relations, business theory, marketing, etc.).
And you can find other resources here.
But if you really want the degree, consider a degree program that includes a lot of courses related to the skills you'll need as an entrepreneur.
The Bottom Line
Don't jump into an associate's or bachelor's program in business administration until you've determined (a) you need a degree and (b) that that degree meets your needs.