MBA/BA or BS

MBA/BA or BS Arts and Science

By combining graduate-level courses at Owen with an undergraduate program through Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science, students may obtain both the baccalaureate degree and the MBA degree in five years (ten semesters). The baccalaureate from Vanderbilt University is awarded at the end of the fourth year under the Senior-in-Absentia Program, and the MBA is awarded by Owen at the end of the fifth year.

Acceptance into the five-year program is extremely competitive and requires transfer credit earned in undergraduate courses. Students must enroll in a full load of Owen core courses in the fall semester of the fourth year to ensure that the basic requirements for continued study in management are fulfilled. Therefore, undergraduate courses in statistics, financial and managerial accounting, intermediate macroeconomics, and intermediate microeconomics are essential in order to obtain waivers from core courses.

Students should meet with the Owen Academic Programs Director in the spring of their sophomore year, before fall registration, to plan their course work accordingly. They must apply to Owen for admission to the five-year program during their junior year. Applicants are subject to competitive Owen admission requirements, and no student is assured of admission to the MBA program. Students who are accepted to Owen will be registered with Owen for the final three semesters of the five-year program even though they actually begin their management studies in the fall of their senior year. Students pay tuition to the College of Arts and Science for the fall semester of their fourth year, after which all tuition is paid to Owen.

MBA/BS Engineering

To earn a Vanderbilt MBA in conjunction with a BS in Engineering, the student spends three undergraduate years as an engineering science major at Vanderbilt School of Engineering and two years at the Owen Graduate School of Management.

Acceptance into the five-year program is extremely competitive and requires transfer credit earned in undergraduate courses. The engineering undergraduate takes a full load of required first-year courses at Owen during the fall semester of the fourth year to fulfill the student’s elective requirements for the BS in Engineering. Therefore, undergraduate training in statistics, financial and managerial accounting, intermediate macroeconomics, and intermediate microeconomics is essential. Students pay tuition to the undergraduate school for the fall semester of their fourth year, after which all tuition is paid to Owen. Successful students receive the BS from the School of Engineering after their first year at Owen and the MBA from Owen the following year.

Students should meet with the Owen Academic Programs Director in the spring of their sophomore year, before fall registration, to plan their course work accordingly. They must apply to Owen for admission to the five-year program during their junior year. Applicants are subject to competitive Owen admission requirements, and no student is assured of admission to the MBA program. Students who are accepted to Owen will be registered with Owen for the final three semesters of the five-year program even though they actually begin their management studies in the fall of their senior year. Students pay tuition to the School of Engineering for the fall semester of their fourth year, after which all tuition is paid to Owen. Successful completion of the undergraduate curriculum in engineering science does not ensure admission to this extremely competitive joint-degree program at Owen.

Management/Blair School of Music

The five-year joint program with the Blair School of Music allows a small cohort of particularly motivated students to overlap their undergraduate coursework with work toward the MBA, facilitating the earning of both the undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years (ten semesters). By combining three and one-half years in Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music with one and one-half years of study in the Owen School, students may obtain both the bachelor of music and the master of business administration in five years. The baccalaureate from the Blair School is awarded at the end of the fourth year, and the MBA from the Owen School after the fifth year. Students interested in pursuing this program must be enrolled in the musical arts major. This program follows the model adopted by the College of Arts and Science and the School of Engineering, in which a student spends his or her undergraduate time to “pursue intellectual curiosity and develop analytic and communication skills—without regard to subject matter,” completing all of the requirements of an established undergraduate major. Thus, students in this Blair-to-Owen program will continue to fulfill all of the B.Mus. degree requirements in musical arts, but choose course offerings (particularly in their academic electives) that will facilitate a rapid completion of the MBA requirements. The liberal arts core will also follow the requirements for the major, but must include the following specific requirements: Calculus (1 semester), Statistics, e.g., Econ 150: Economic Statistics, Econ 100: Principles of Macroeconomics, Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics and Econ 231: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory.

Acceptance into the five-year program is extremely competitive and requires advanced standing earned in undergraduate courses and demonstrated excellence in quantitative courses and team-based projects. Additionally, the Owen administration will look for professional maturity and a clear understanding of the rigor of the two-year MBA curriculum. The Summer Business Institute (Accelerator) is strongly recommended for 3+2 applicants prior to matriculating at Owen. Required course work includes the normal Blair course work for the musical arts major, plus Business of Music (MUSO 100) and a graded internship (MUSO 280A or 280B), for a minimum of 80 credit hours in music.

Students interested in this program must meet with the Blair Associate Dean Melissa Rose early in their B.Mus curriculum for advice on planning undergraduate studies to meet the MBA program requirements.

MBA/BA or BS Fisk University

Students can earn a baccalaureate degree at Fisk University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University within a five-year period.

Fisk students may apply to Owen for admission during their junior year; they are subject to very competitive Owen admission requirements. Acceptance into the five-year program requires transfer credit earned in undergraduate courses. Students enroll in a full load of Owen courses in the fall semester of the fourth year to ensure that the basic requirements for continued study of management are fulfilled. Therefore, undergraduate courses in statistics, financial and managerial accounting, intermediate macroeconomics and intermediate microeconomics are required in order to obtain waivers from core courses.

If accepted, students pursue the MBA curriculum starting in the fourth year. Although there are no formal prerequisites for the Vanderbilt MBA program, applicants are urged to complete course work in algebra and calculus as part of their curriculum at Fisk, and they should have taken courses in economics, statistics, accounting and macroeconomics before enrolling at Owen.