Portland-State-University 2026-2027 Bulletin

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

The MBA is an integrated graduate program focused on broad business knowledge based on values of sustainability and stakeholder focus. Students master essential technical skills through the Value Chain of Business courses gain in-depth understanding of the broad context of business in the Foundations of Competitiveness courses, and begin to develop leadership skills and perspectives through the Leadership Foundations courses.

The MBA is designed to accommodate students with business and non-business undergraduate degrees and is best suited for those who have gained at least two years of industry experience prior to their admission date--although early career students are accepted into the full-time cohort based on academic success in undergraduate studies and readiness for a graduate business experience.

Students may elect to complete the MBA program in either the full-time or part-time evening format. Students are expected to progress through the program with their assigned cohort and follow the schedule of core courses. All students are required to complete 48 required (core) credits plus a minimum of 12 credits of electives. Elective courses and certificate classes are primarily offered during the evenings or online. All students will complete the MBA Capstone as their culminating experience.

The goal of the MBA program is to develop skilled managers and highly effective leaders. This program seeks to produce future business leaders with a commitment to social, economic and environmental stewardship.

Foundations of Competitiveness (17 credits)

These courses provide the student with a deepened understanding of the global and competitive challenges facing businesses today. 

BTA 519Managerial Analytics

2
 
GSCM 507Digital Technology Seminar

1
or
BTA 507Digital Technology Seminar

1
  
Fin 515Economics and Sustainability of the Firm

2
Fin 516Managerial Macroeconomics

2
Mgmt 511Foundations of Strategy

2
Mgmt 514Integrated Strategy

2
Mgmt 557Business Law and Corporate Governance

2
Mktg 513Pioneering Innovation

4

The Value Chain of Business (24 credits)

The value chain segment builds an integrated foundation of coursework and provides in-depth knowledge in applied skills related to accounting, finance, management, marketing, and operations.

Actg 511Financial Reporting

4
Actg 513Managerial Accounting and Control

4
Fin 513Financial Management

4
GSCM 539Strategic Operations Management

4
Mgmt 512Organizational Management

4
Mktg 512Marketing Strategy

4

Leadership Foundations (3 credits)

BA 521Leadership Assessment and Development

2
BA 524Leadership Immersion

1

MBA Capstone

All students are required to complete a 4-credit MBA Capstone, a team-based consulting project with a regional organization, to be completed over two terms.

BA 525Capstone Consulting Project

1-4

Electives (12 credits)

Actg 550Advanced Financial Reporting

4
Actg 553Financial Statement Analysis

4
BA 509Practicum

1-9
BA 510Selected Studies

1-12
BA 522Communications for Leaders

1
BA 523Executive Perspectives on Leadership

1
BA 526MBA International Experience

2-5
BA 527MBA Domestic Business Experience

2
BA 528MBA Culture Module

1
BA 529Building Effective Teams

1
BA 530Thought Leadership

1
BA 531Leadership Challenges and Insights

2
BA 550Special Topics in Advanced Leadership

1-4
BTA 511Business Data Management with SQL

4
BTA 512Business Data Analytics with Python

4
BTA 516Multiple Regression with Business Applications

3
BTA 520Introduction to Business Intelligence and Analytics

4
BTA 521Data Visualization

2
BTA 522Special Topics in Data Science, Technology for Business

2
BTA 553Enterprise Data Visualization for Decision Making

4
BTA 581/BTA 581SBlockchain Fundamentals

4
Ec 522Economics of Sustainability: Theory and Practice

4
ETM 538Decision Support Systems: Data Warehousing

4
ETM 540Operations Research

4
Fin 510Selected Topics

1-12
Fin 531Financial Institutions

2
Fin 552Investments

4
Fin 553Valuation Modeling

2-4
Fin 555Quantitative Finance Methods

4
Fin 565Applied Financial Decisions

2-4
Fin 573Student Managed Stock Fund

2
Fin 575Impact Ventures

2
Fin 577Derivatives and Financial Market Securities

2
Fin 578Emerging Topics: FinTech

2-4
GSCM 510Special Topics

1-12
GSCM 511Principles of Strategic Global Sourcing

4
GSCM 513Principles of Strategic Global Logistics

4
GSCM 517Supply Chain International Field Study

4
GSCM 519Global Supply Chain Negotiations

4
GSCM 521Global Information, Systems and Data Analytics

4
GSCM 571Business Analytics I

4
GSCM 572Business Analytics II

4
GSCM 573New Product Introduction and Innovation

4
GSCM 575Machine Learning in Business

4
Mgmt 509SPracticum: Small Business Concepts II

1-8
Mgmt 510Selected Topics

1-12
Mgmt 513Law Ethics and Stewardship

4
Mgmt 516Project Management

2
Mgmt 517Negotiations for Managers

2
Mgmt 521/Mgmt 521SDesign Thinking for Social Innovation

4
Mgmt 523SStorytelling and Impact Measurement for Social Innovation

4
Mgmt 533Alliances and Acquisitions

4
Mgmt 542HR Analytics Tools and Applications

4
Mgmt 561S/Mgmt 561Reward Systems and Performance Management

4
Mgmt 571S/Mgmt 571Staffing and Employee Selection

4
Mgmt 591S/Mgmt 591Training and Development

4
Mktg 510SSelected Studies

1-12
Mktg 514Selling and Sales Leadership

4
Mktg 535S/Mktg 535Consumer Package Goods Marketing

4
Mktg 536/Mktg 536SAthletic and Outdoor Marketing

4
Mktg 537/Mktg 537SProduct Management in the Athletic and Outdoor Industry

4
MTax 526Tax Accounting Methods and Periods

4
MTax 527Corporate Taxation I

4
MTax 528Corporate Taxation II

4
MTax 530Taxation of Property Transactions

2
MTax 531Pass-through Entities I

4
MTax 532Pass-through Entities II

2
MTax 533Financial Accounting for Income Taxes

4
MTax 535State and Local Taxation

4
MTax 536International Taxation

4
MTax 539Taxation of Estates, Gifts, and Trusts

4
RE 521Real Estate Finance I

4
RE 522Real Estate Finance II

4
RE 523Real Estate Investment Analytics

4
RE 532/RE 532SMultifamily Property Management

4
RE 533/RE 533SCommercial Property and Asset Management

4
RE 538S/USP 538Real Estate Law I

3
RE 539/RE 539SReal Estate Valuation

4
RE 548Real Estate Market Analysis

3
Stat 564Applied Regression Analysis

3
SySc 531Data Mining with Information Theory

4
USP 523Real Estate Development I

4
USP 596Affordable Housing Finance

3

Finance Option

The Finance option offered in conjunction with the MBA creates an opportunity to earn an MBA in Finance degree and develop a skillset to prepare students for careers in corporate finance and investing. Students must complete 10 required credits and 10 credits of electives from the approved Finance option elective list. 

Required Courses:

Actg 553Financial Statement Analysis

4
Fin 552Investments

4
Fin 565Applied Financial Decisions

2-4

Elective Courses:

BA 526MBA International Experience

2-5
Fin 531Financial Institutions

2
Fin 553Valuation Modeling

2-4
Fin 555Quantitative Finance Methods

4
Fin 573Student Managed Stock Fund

2
Fin 575Impact Ventures

2
Fin 577Derivatives and Financial Market Securities

2
Fin 578Emerging Topics: FinTech

2-4
Mgmt 533Alliances and Acquisitions

4

Waiver Policy

Students may be eligible for waiver of some required courses in the MBA program. A waiver is based upon the student holding an undergraduate degree (earned within the previous seven years), an active license in the specific discipline for which the waiver is sought, or in the case of BTA 519 a Graduate Certificate in HR Analytics or Business Intelligence and Analytics.  Specifically, the following courses may be considered for waiver: Actg 511, Actg 513, Fin 515, Fin 516, Fin 517, GSCM 539, BTA 519 and Mgmt 512. A student can waive a maximum of 13 credit hours from the courses above only, thus reducing the required number of hours in the degree program.  Students must apply for waivers during the summer prior to entering the program.