A college degree qualifies graduates for higher-level jobs while also expanding and strengthening the hard and soft skills essential for success. A business degree accomplishes these goals, preparing graduates for the next step up in their business careers.
Working adults returning to school and enrolling in a bachelor’s completion program can choose a business studies concentration. Students electing this path learn critical business fundamentals, including effective management, accounting, marketing, and organizational behavior.
Why Enter a Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program?
Bachelor degree completion programs allow those with some college credit the opportunity to complete their degree. Earning a bachelor’s degree opens the door to higher salaries and better employment opportunities, according to numbers compiled by the federal government.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, as of May 2022, bachelor’s degree holders earn $1,334 a week, compared to $899 for those with some college credits but no degree and $963 for those with an associate degree. The unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree was 3.5 percent, compared to 5.5 percent for some college credits but no degree and 4.6 percent for an associate degree.
A bachelor’s degree completion program is designed with working adults in mind. For example, Merrimack College offers its Pathway Bachelor Completion Program 100% online, giving adults the flexibility to finish their degree while working full-time. The program supports the ambitions of professionals seeking promotion in their current field or planning to transition into a new one.
What is the Business Studies Concentration?
Students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree completion program at Merrimack College start with three required courses:
- Professional Core: Fundamentals of Health and Well-being
- Life, Meaning, Work
- Psychology of Happiness
These courses help students determine the career path they want to follow.
They then can choose a specialization to focus their studies on an area of interest. They include:
- business studies
- child and family studies
- communication studies
- health and wellness studies
- leadership studies
- psychological studies
In the business studies concentration, students learn the knowledge and skills needed for success in a business-related career, including management skills. Students tailor their coursework to match their interests. They must choose five courses (20 credit hours) from the following course list to earn the business specialization (they also can take additional courses from this list as electives).
- Introduction to Business
- Accounting for Business
- Principles of Marketing
- Management Info Systems
- Personal Financial Planning
- Organizational Behavior
- Ethics and Social Responsibility
- Legal Environment of Business
- Human Resource Management
- Social Media Marketing
- Gender and Diversity in Leadership
Graduates emerge prepared to follow a variety of career paths. For example, some pursue jobs in specializations like social media marketing, organizational management, gender and diversity leadership, and financial planning. Others use the degree to seek a promotion at work or transition into a better profession more suited to their level of skills and talents.
Other program graduates continue to earn a graduate degree in business or other fields.
Merrimack College’s Bachelor Completion Program
Merrimack College created the Pathway Bachelor Degree Completion program to support professionals from all backgrounds and industries in achieving their career goals. As part of that support, the college pairs each student with a personal coach who guides them throughout their time in the program.
The program offers working adults control over their studies. Working in coordination with faculty, students can create specializations that mix courses from different disciplines. Students also receive credit for prior learning and work experience, reducing the cost of their education and allowing them to move past material they already know.
Earning a bachelor’s degree opens the door to a better career and a more substantial base of knowledge and skills. With online programs designed for working adults, a bachelor’s degree completion program can give professionals a better chance of realizing their career ambitions.