The College of Arts and Sciences offers programs leading to the Master of Arts in economics and Doctor of Philosophy in economics.
Admission to each of the graduate programs is available to students with demonstrated aptitude for, and interest in, graduate business education. Previous study in business is not required. Admission decisions are based on a number of factors, including: undergraduate/graduate grade point average, GMAT score, TOEFL (and TSE, if necessary) score, employment history, letters of recommendation and the applicant’s personal statement.
Applicants to the MBA and MAcc programs should note that a GMAT score of 580 and an undergraduate grade point average of 3.40 is representative of students currently in these programs. International applicants for whom English is not the primary language, must have an official TOEFL score of 550 or higher and a verbal subscore from the GMAT at or above the 50th percentile.
Applicants to the Ph.D. program should note that a GMAT score of 650 and a graduate grade point average of 3.85 is representative of students currently in the program. International applicants, for whom English is not the primary language, must have an official TOEFL score of 550 or higher, a verbal subscore from the GMAT at or above the 50th percentile, and must submit official scores from the Test of Spoken English.
Applicants seeking admission to graduate programs should observe the following application deadlines:
Fall Semester—February 1 (PhD); April 1(MS in MIS); July 1 (MBA and M.Acc.)
Spring Semester—November 1
Summer Session—April 1
International applicants should use the following deadlines:
Fall Semester—April 1
Spring Semester—September 1
Summer Session—February 1
Students may only enter the daytime track of the MBA program in the fall semester.
Admission recommendations are made on a rolling basis once all application materials are received. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure application materials are received on a timely basis.
The following materials should be submitted to the Office of Admission, The University of Oklahoma, 1000 Asp Avenue, Room 127, Norman, OK 73019-4076. Questions may be directed to this address or by telephone (405) 325-2252.
1. Completed “Application for Admission”;
2. Official transcripts from every college attended;
3. Payment of the application processing fee (this fee is nonrefundable);
4. Official results of TOEFL (and TSE if necessary) for International applicants.
In addition, the following materials should be submitted to the Graduate Programs Office, Price College of Business, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-4007. Questions may be directed to this address or by telephone (405) 325-4107.
1. Official results of GMAT;
2. Completed “Supplemental Application for Graduate Study in Business”;
3. Three letters of recommendation;
4. Résumé;
5. Statement of Goals, to include your interest in graduate business education and career goals.
The Master of Business Administration program at the University of Oklahoma has continued to meet accreditation standards since they were originally established by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1963.
The MBA program is designed to give the broad perspective needed to manage an overall enterprise, while allowing sufficient flexibility to gain in-depth preparation in an elected area of concentration. The program provides familiarity with the functional areas of business, the necessary tools for management decision making, and the environment in which organizations operate.
The MBA program has two tracks. The day track features a first-year curriculum of 32 hours. The first year includes the core courses that provide the foundation for the program as well as additional required courses. In the second year of the program, students take elective courses plus an integrated course and the capstone strategic management course. Admissions to the day track are made only for matriculation in the fall semester. This track requires 54 semester hours to complete.
The evening track allows some flexibility in the core and required courses. The core and required courses are offered annually in the evening to accommodate students with career or other obligations that conflict with day-time enrollment. The evening track has a curriculum of 42–54 hours. Advisers will provide a program of study for meeting the core and required courses. Evening students may select from the same electives as day students. Students are admitted to the evening track in the fall, spring, and summer sessions.
The evening track permits part-time enrollment. The part-time student is allowed five years from the time of entrance to complete all degree requirements. The course schedule, arranged with afternoon and evening classes, is conducive to those pursuing the part-time option. All required courses for the evening track are offered in Oklahoma City.
While applicants are not required to have previous study in the field of business, they are expected to possess a basic understanding of analytical techniques (including matrix algebra, calculus, and computer usage), and a facility for expressing ideas precisely and coherently. All MBA courses are graduate-level and do not require undergraduate preparation.
The full-time MBA is a 54-credit-hour, 21-month program. All courses are at the graduate level. Required courses are offered during the day for the first year of study and in the evening the second year. The part-time MBA requires 42–54 credit hours, depending on the student’s undergraduate background. All courses are at the graduate level and are offered in the evening. Both programs require that the student become familiar with the functional areas of business, the necessary tools for management decision making, and the environment in which business firms operate. Knowledge prerequisites include an introduction to calculus, matrix algebra, and linear programming; computer familiarity; and communication skills. Students from all undergraduate majors are encouraged to apply.
Each student, working in conjunction with his or her adviser, is encouraged to structure their electives to meet their particular career objectives. The student cannot take more than 15 hours in courses offered by a single functional area within the Price College. There is a nine-hour limit on approved courses taken outside the college.
Degree candidates must earn a grade of B or better in the capstone course, Business Administration 5313, Strategic Management. The class is to be taken during the last 12 credit hours of programmatic coursework. A student failing to make a grade of B or better will be allowed to retake B AD 5313 only once. It may not be taken a third time. Courses taken prior to failing to earn a grade of B or better in B AD 5313 for the second time will not be counted as credit toward a graduate degree at the University of Oklahoma. As an alternative, students may prepare an extensive research paper covering a topic approved by three members of the Price College graduate faculty of the College of Business. Students selecting this alternative must complete Business Administration 5490 as an elective.
In recognition of the strong demand for interdisciplinary expertise in many settings, Price College in cooperation with other academic units within the University, offers several dual-degree programs. While the dual-degree programs require less total hours than pursuing the degrees separately, applicants must be admitted to each program independently. Admission, retention, and degree requirements are maintained by the separate colleges.
The Master of Accountancy program at the University of Oklahoma became the first graduate program in the State of Oklahoma to be accredited under the AACSB International’s accounting accreditation program.
The MAcc program is designed to prepare students for positions of responsibility in the accounting profession. Students may specialize in tax or auditing.
Individual student programs range from 33–57 semester hours of coursework, depending on undergraduate preparation and the student’s specific area of interest.
1. Admission is based on each applicant’s grade point average (GPA), Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score and other evidence of high academic achievement and potential.
2. The GMAT is offered by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, NJ. Only students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 and who receive a score of 500 or more on the GMAT will be considered for admission to the program.
To assist with career or other obligations that conflict with full-time enrollment, the MAcc program permits part-time study. The part-time student is given five years from the time of entrance to complete all degree requirements.
Applicants are not required to have previous study in the field of accounting and can enroll in preparatory coursework as part of their MAcc degree plan.
ACCT 5113, Advanced Accounting, ACCT 6553, Seminar in Accounting Theory; at least 12 semester hours of seminar-level accounting courses (in addition to ACCT 5113, ACCT 6553); at least 15 hours of non-accounting graduate business courses; a total of at least 33 hours of approved graduate-level coursework with at least a 3.00 grade average (on a 4.00 scale).
Successful completion of a written comprehensive examination over financial accounting theory and reporting is required of all candidates for the Master of Accountancy degree. In addition, the examining committee may conduct an oral examination to clarify and discuss a student’s responses on the written examination.
The specific requirements for this program are listed in the undergraduate study section.
The minimum 33-hour MS in MIS graduate program is designed for people with an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than MIS (for example, in another business area or the humanities), who wish to embark on a career as information system analysts or designers. The program combines a solid base of business and organizational knowledge with an in-depth exposure to information systems technologies.
Students enrolled in the MS in MIS program will complete the following:
This dual degree option allows a student admitted to the part-time or full-time MBA program to apply for the simultaneous enrollment in the MS in MIS program. The student may count a defined number of credit hours jointly toward both degrees. The full-time joint program requires 68 hours, 18 of which are counted jointly. The part-time joint program requires 63 hours, 12 of which are counted jointly.
The dual MAcc/MS in MIS in an option for the student who wishes to pursue career options in professional services and consulting firms. Students graduating with this combination of degrees will possess the accounting background necessary for the practice of public accounting, and additionally, will have MIS expertise that will facilitate a wide range of career paths in the area of financial information design and evaluation. Dual MAcc/MS in MIS candidates must demonstrate competency in two programming languages. Students are required to sit for the Accountancy Comprehensive Exam during their last semester of study.
The Michael F. Price College of Business offers a program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The applicant need not hold a degree in business administration, and applications from students in disciplines other than business are encouraged.
The student has four years from the point of admission to candidacy and six years from the point of entering the doctoral program to prepare and successfully defend the dissertation. If the student fails to do so, he/she will be required to retake the general examination. These time limits preclude the admission of part-time students to the doctoral program.
Required hours in the following areas: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Statistics and Research Methods.
Core Courses in Business Administration: Accounting 5013; Finance 5043; Marketing 5063; and either Management 5083 or 6503. A student may receive credit for equivalent core courses taken at other institutions at the discretion of the Doctoral Advisory Committee.
Total hours and specific courses will be determined by an advisory committee (with approval of the graduate programs director and the dean of the Graduate College) which is convened after the student is enrolled.
Major — minimum of 12 hours;
Concentration Area — minimum of nine hours;
Electives — minimum of six hours.
A two-course statistic sequence is chosen to support the student’s plan of study. The sequence may be selected from among the many approved statistics sequences offered throughout the University, especially those in the Divisions of Economics and Marketing and the Departments of Mathematics and Psychology.
Two courses in research methods are selected to support the student’s plan of study, and may be taken from any department within the University. A foreign language or a computer language may be used to fulfill one of these course requirements.
The major must be selected in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, or marketing/supply chain management. The course content of a major and the administration of the general examination are determined by the division in which the major is taken.
A concentration area is a set of courses taken to gain a mastery of a sub-discipline within or external to business administration. These courses may be wholly within a division of the college, across divisions, or divisions of the college and a University department outside the college. A concentration area must involve at least nine hours.
The Doctoral Advisory Committee will consist of at least five members, two from the major division, at least one from each of the remaining fields, and one from outside the College of Business. An accepted plan of study will be viewed as a contract between the student and the University. The Doctoral Advisory Committee is automatically disbanded upon successful completion of the written and oral segments of the student’s general examination.
The Doctoral Dissertation Committee will oversee the writing of the student’s dissertation proposal, the writing of the dissertation, and the oral defense of the dissertation. The Doctoral Dissertation Committee is constituted upon a student’s admission to Ph.D. candidacy, i.e., upon successful completion of the general examination, and will consist of at least five members, with at least two members from the major area and at least one member from each of the two fields. Furthermore, the committee must include at least one member whose appointment is in a department outside of the College of Business. The committee may also include members within or without the student’s field who possess professional expertise germane to the student’s research.
In lieu of qualifying examinations (i.e., examinations over the required coursework only) the graduate programs director will convene for each student each year those faculty who are instructing the student, and said faculty will assess the performance of that student. A report will be forwarded to the student’s advisory committee and entered into the student’s permanent file. Students will not be allowed to continue in the program if they earn more than two grades of C or lower in courses taken as part of the program.
As the student nears completion of prescribed coursework, the student should prepare for the general examination. Such examinations are not scheduled either during final examination periods or indeed at any time when a suitable committee cannot be assembled. The general examination will be taken only when the student has completed all curriculum coursework.
The student must apply for the examination at least two weeks before it is to be held. The application is completed by the student on a form provided by the Office of Graduate Programs, and is signed by the student and the members of the Doctoral Advisory Committee. The application is then examined by the graduate programs director and the dean of the Graduate College and if it is in order, is approved. Subsequently, the dean of the Graduate College will authorize the examination. The examination will not be authorized unless the student has completed all prescribed courses, and maintained an overall grade point average of B or higher.
The general examination is intended to test the student’s mastery of a number of related fields, as well as capacity for synthesis, sound generalization, and reasoning ability. It will consist in part of written examinations covering the three fields, and will be prepared by the committee. This will be followed by an oral examination in the presence of the whole committee. A student’s performance on the general examination will be rated Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Failure. If the student fails the examination, he or she may repeat the examination either the following semester or later at the discretion of the committee; it may not be given a third time. After each attempt at the general examination, the chairperson will submit a report to the graduate dean that indicates whether the student has passed or failed and what further work must be done. If the individual has passed, the graduate dean will admit him or her to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
After the general examination, the candidate will devote most of his or her time to research and composition, and may also enroll in enough hours of 6980 to meet the minimum requirements of the major division.
After admission to candidacy students must maintain continuous enrollment in 6980 until the requirements for the degree are completed or degree candidacy is discontinued.
At least two months before commencement, the candidate should deposit with the graduate dean a typewritten reading copy of the dissertation, which has received preliminary approval of the major professor. The candidate will present copy for the announcement of final oral examination, including an abstract of not more than 350 words. The dean will then appoint five persons who will read the dissertation. They may either accept or reject the dissertation. If they accept it, they may require minor changes and corrections.
The candidate may apply for this examination upon presentation of a corrected draft of the dissertation and receipts showing that all fees have been paid. At least four members, including the outside member, of the doctoral committee must be present to conduct the examination. The examination is open to the public.
After the examination, the committee will report its decision to the graduate dean.
For further information on the graduate programs in business administration, write to: Graduate Programs Office, Price Hall, Price College of Business, 1003 Asp Ave. Suite 1040, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-4302, (405) 325-4107.
September 2006