Degree Overview
- Accounting Option
Accounting focuses on the development and interpretation of financial information critical to managerial decision-making. The Accounting Option prepares students for a wide range of careers, including corporate controller, treasurer, budget director, auditor, tax planner and consultant. The Accounting Option provides students with a foundation in intermediate accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, information systems and auditing.
- Financial Services Option
The Financial Services Option prepares students for careers in financial service organizations, banks, credit companies, real estate and insurance brokerages. The Option also provides opportunity for students to pursue Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Awarded by the CFA Institute, the Chartered Financial Analyst credential is regarded as the gold standard of the investment profession. A limited number of competitive CFA Student Sponsorship Scholarships are available to senior students in the Financial Services Option at Penn State Berks. For more information about the credential, please visit: http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/university/student_scholarship.html.
- Marketing/Management Option
The Management & Marketing Option prepares students for careers in retail management, small business management, communications, marketing, advertising, and promotion. The Management & Marketing Option’s dual emphasis allows students to select courses in both disciplines as a foundation for leading small businesses or units of large organizations. Courses in the option include human resource management, leadership, international management, retailing, global marketing, market research, communications and ethics.
- Individualized Option
The Individualized Option allows students, in conjunction with their faculty advisor, to develop a program of study based on their specific career needs. Students pursuing the Individualized Option have paired business with information sciences and technology, hotel and restaurant management, kinesiology, science, professional writing, and other coursework, to pursue studies focused on their unique interests and/or career plans.
All the options include courses that emphasize oral and written communication; active and collaborative learning; team-building; critical-thinking; and problem-solving skills. Students also participate in a capstone experience, choosing to conduct an undergraduate research project, participate in a collaborative project in business, or pursue professional experience through an internship.
Penn State's associate degree in business administration articulates with the bachelor’s degree. The college also has transfer guides with a number of community colleges, allowing students with an associate degree in business to efficiently transfer credits into Penn State Berks’ Bachelor of Science in Business program. The BSB program is offered days and evenings to meet the needs of both traditional and adult learners.
For more information about the BSB program at Penn State Berks, please contact the Program Coordinator, Dr. Lolita Paff at LAP21@psu.edu or (610) 396-6381.
For admissions information, contact the Berks Admissions Office at 610-396-6060.