Business Liberal Arts, Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts

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Business Liberal Arts, an option of the Associate of Arts degree program in Liberal Arts, allows students to sample business coursework within a Liberal Arts framework. This program maximizes credit transfer to four-year colleges, especially the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) colleges. AACSB is the not-for-profit corporation of educational institutions, corporations and other organizations devoted to the promotion and improvement of higher education in business administration and management. AACSB accredited schools in New Jersey are: Ramapo; Rowan; New Jersey Institute of Technology; Rider University; Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey at Camden, Newark and New Brunswick; Seton Hall University; The College of New Jersey; Fairleigh Dickinson University; William Paterson University; Monmouth University; and Montclair State University. Students will have the business prerequisites to transfer directly into the Business Schools at these four-year colleges.

Graduates are able to:

identify business concepts as they relate to current business activities
produce business documents using current computer applications
examine financial statements as a basis for economic decision-making

This program also provides flexibility for business students who have not decided on a specialization within the business area and for those students who decided to terminate (or pause) their studies at the Associate Degree level and will need “marketable skills.” Those students who choose the many liberal arts baccalaureate programs will be able to minor in business without losing transfer credits.

This degree is offered through the Business and Public Service Department, whose mission is to provide challenging, career-oriented undergraduate programs to business and public service students, educating them to the level of competency needed for successful transfer to four-year institutions or immediate career path entry into the global market.

Curriculum – A.A. Degree

First Semester

ENGL 111 - English Composition I 3 Credits
MATH 110 - Statistics I 3 Credits ⁴
BUSI 111 - Introduction to Business Administration 3 Credits
CISY 102 - Computer Literacy 3 Credits ⁵
Humanities 3 Credits ^1,2,3

Second Semester

ENGL 112 - English Composition II 3 Credits
ACCT 101 - Financial Accounting 4 Credits
Mathematics 3-4 Credits ⁴
Humanities 3 Credits ^1,2,3
Social Science 3 Credits ^1,2

Third Semester

ECON 101 - Macroeconomics 3 Credits
Humanities 3 Credits ^1,2,3
ACCT 104 - Managerial Accounting 4 Credits
History 3 Credits ^6,2
Science (lab) 4 Credits ¹

Fourth Semester

ECON 102 - Microeconomics 3 Credits
Communication 3 Credits ¹
Science 3-4 Credits ¹
History 3 Credits ^6,2
Business Elective 3 Credits ⁷

Total Credits 63 - 65

¹ Select a course from the appropriate category of the General Education & Computer Science Electives List list. At least one science course must be a laboratory science.

² Students must take one course designated as Global & Cultural Awareness (GCA) on the General Education & Computer Science Electives List list. The course can be selected from Humanities or Social Science General Education Courses marked with a (GCA).

³ Foreign Language is recommended but not required. Placement by examination is required for students who wish to continue studying a language previously studied. Students may not take courses below their placement level. For more information, see Foreign Language Placement Testing & Degree Requirements .

⁴ Mathematics by official placement test. For the second Mathematics course, choose from the following options according to transfer college requirements: MATH 111 Statistics II , MATH 112 Precalculus I , MATH 113 Precalculus II , MATH 150 Applied Calculus or MATH 151 Calculus I . Students transferring into the Business program at Rutgers University need Applied Calculus or Calculus I. See course descriptions for prerequisites.

⁵ CISY 125 Programming for Business Majors is an additional 1 credit corequisite course required for Business majors at Rutgers.

⁶ Choose from the following History course sequences: HIST 101 World Civilization I & HIST 102 World Civilization II , OR HIST 201 US History: Beginnings to 1877 & HIST 202 US History: 1877 to Present .

⁷ Choose from Business Electives with a subject heading of ACCT, BUSI, ECON or MRKT. MRKT 101 Principles of Marketing or BUSI 131 Business Law I is recommended.