2022-2023 Catalog

Master of Business Administration

MBA Program Mission Statement

The Master of Business Administration program at Cumberland University empowers our graduates to become strategic leaders with management skills and knowledge to ensure their professional and personal success as twenty-first century global leaders.

MBA Program Learning Goals

Faculty members are committed to help students accepted into the MBA Program at Cumberland University to meet four learning goals:
1. To demonstrate advanced business and economics knowledge;
2. To demonstrate ethical awareness and advanced decision making skills;
3. To demonstrate advanced competence in gathering and analyzing organizational information from internal and external sources using technology and literature;
4. To demonstrate advanced competence in the synthesis, evaluation, and communication of information.
The curriculum for the MBA program is designed to achieve the four learning goals above.

Application Requirements


Cumberland University makes no distinction in its admission, policies, or procedures on grounds of age, sex, religion, race, national origin, or physical handicap. In addition to the general admission requirements for graduate students the following is required for students entering the Master of Business Administration program.

  • A bachelor’s degree (regionally accredited university) with a minimum 2.5 GPA
  • Students with a non-business related bachelor’s degree are required to successfully complete an MBA Foundations Survey Course during their first semester in the program; unless they enroll in B term, in which case they must complete Foundations in the next semester before continuing in the program. This course is an additional program requirement beyond the required core and elective courses.
  • Students with less than a 2.5 GPA may complete two courses under provisional acceptance. If the student earns a grade of B or higher in both courses, he or she will earn final acceptance.
  • Once accepted into the MBA Program, the student must maintain good academic standing as described by the Office of Academic Affairs to continue to register for courses.

Degree Requirements

The MBA program requires a minimum of 36 credit hours – typically 12 three credit hour courses. The core requirements consist of ten courses that all MBA students must complete. In addition, students will take at least two elective courses to satisfy the 36-hour requirement. Electives are selected in coordination with the student's academic advisor to satisfy one of the available specializations detailed following the core requirements.

MBA Specializations

MBA students will complete the MBA core requirements and may choose from one of the following specialization options to complete the 36-hour MBA graduation requirement: