Introduction to the PSBE
PSBE Mission Statement
Set forth below, the mission of the ACBSP www.acbsp.org accredited Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship complements and expands upon the Lindenwood University mission statement. In furtherance of the University’s mission, the Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship is committed to
- Providing a comprehensive core curriculum of business subjects.
- Instilling a strong and enduring sense of ethical business practices.
- Providing theoretical tools and analytical skills for lifelong use.
- Developing the student’s communication and presentation skills.
- Offering major fields of study to equip students for specialized careers.
- Providing opportunities to supplement classroom education with real world experience.
- Expanding the student’s geographical and cultural horizons for success in an increasingly global economy.
- Instilling the entrepreneurial model as an essential component of American free enterprise.
- Fostering the scholarship of teaching, application, integration, and discovery among its students and faculty, as appropriate.
Graduate Outcomes
The Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship provides instruction, knowledge, and experience in an environment that encourages students to develop motivation and the ethical standards essential to becoming citizens in the global business community. The Lindenwood University Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship expects that its graduates should
- Have the contemporary business competencies of their chosen discipline and the aptitude required for life-long learning and personal development.
- Have the technical, human, and conceptual skills that would contribute to critical analysis, problem solving, operational recommendations, and continuous improvement of dynamic and changing organizations and the ability to professionally communicate those recommendations and improvements.
- Demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of being enterprising, resourceful, and productive in their professional lives.
- Be able to act and build upon the foundation of their coursework for the furtherance of their professional careers.
Degrees Offered
The PSBE offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in
- Accounting
- Business Administration (also offered as an online degree program)
- Business Administration with emphasis
- Business Economics
- Entrepreneurial Studies
- Finance
- Human Resource Management
- International Business
- Marketing (also offered as an online degree program)
- Nonprofit Administration
- Personal Financial Planning
- Sport Management
The PSBE offers Bachelor of Science degrees in:
- Accounting
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Entrepreneurial Studies
- Finance
- International Business
- Marketing
- Personal Financial Planning
Notes: (1) The Bachelor of Arts in Personal Financial Planning is not yet accredited by ACBSP www.acbsp.org, as new business programs cannot be considered for ACBSP accreditation until the program has been in place for at least two years.
(2) Bachelor of Science degrees are not yet accredited by ACBSP www.acbsp.org, as new business programs cannot be considered for ACBSP accreditation until the programs have been in place for at least two years.
Business Administration with an Emphasis
Students pursuing a BA or BS in Business Administration may also opt to pursue an additional area of emphasis. An emphasis is earned when 12 credit hours of the student’s elective coursework (out of the 21 elective credit hours required for a degree in business administration) are completed from within a single business discipline. Emphases are offered in the following business areas:
Accounting
Economics
Entrepreneurial studies
Finance
Human resource management
International business
Management
Marketing
Personal Financial Planning
Retail management
Sport management
Minors for Business Majors
Students of business degrees may pursue a minor beyond their first PSBE major. A minor is earned when the student has completed an additional12-15 credit hours of coursework in the minor area (as dictated per minor) in addition to completing all degree requirements for the student’s first major. Note that each required major course will satisfy the requirements for only one of the student’s majors, minors, or emphasis areas. Minors for business students may be earned in one of the following business areas:
Accounting
Economics
Entrepreneurial studies
Finance
Human resource management
International business
Marketing
Nonprofit Administration
Personal Financial Planning
Retail management
Sport management
Minors for Non-Business Majors
Students pursuing undergraduate majors in fields other than those offered by the PSBE may declare a minor in one of the following business areas by completing 21-30 credit hours of coursework (as dictated per minor) in one of the following business areas:
Accounting
Business administration
Economics
Entrepreneurial studies
Finance
Human resource management
International business
Marketing
Nonprofit Administration
Personal Financial Planning
Retail management
Sport management
Selecting a Double Major
Students may pursue a major beyond their first PSBE major. A second major is earned when the student has completed (in addition to the core business courses) all required major courses and elective major courses for the second major. Note that each required major course and elective major course the student completes will satisfy the requirements for only one of the student’s declared majors.
Transferring Credit from another Institution
The Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship accepts credit in transfer from other regionally accredited institutions except for in the following cases: (1) No D will be accepted in transfer for classes equivalent to ENG/EPP 15000 or ENGL 170000, which must be transferred with a grade of a C or better. (2) Courses in which a D was earned may not be applied to any business major, minor, or emphasis area (including prerequisite courses for the major, minor, or emphasis). The transferred grade of D may instead be counted for credit toward other general education or free elective requirements. Alternatively, the student may retake the course in question to apply it to a business major, minor, or emphasis area. (In this case, the transferred course credit will be removed from the transcript.)
Early Access to PSBE Graduate Programs
Full time PSBE students maintaining an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher may take up to nine credit hours of graduate level PSBE coursework during their senior year, taking no more than six graduate credit hours concurrently. Such graduate credit hours will count toward a graduate degree and not toward the bachelor’s degree. Students in the early access program must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher in all graduate level courses.
Notes: (1) Early access students enrolled in graduate coursework must also be concurrently enrolled in a minimum of 12 undergraduate credit hours during the semester in which any graduate courses are taken.
(2) Any student whose enrollment exceeds 18 credit hours per semester (including both graduate and undergraduate courses) will be subject to the University overload fee.
Course Formats and Schedules
The Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship offers many of its undergraduate courses in two formats: (1) the traditional the face-to-face format, taught on campus through weekly course meetings and (2) a web-based, online format, conducted asynchronously, (i.e. without fixed course meetings), requiring students to participate independently multiple times throughout each week. Currently being offered online are the school’s core business courses (required for completion of all business degrees), core marketing courses and a selection of business elective courses, the combination of which will permit a student to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration or Marketing online if desired. (See the descriptions of the business administration and marketing degrees for more information.)
Notes: (1)Traditional courses are offered on a semester schedule, with the fall semester beginning in August, and the spring semester beginning in January. Online courses are eight weeks in length, with two online terms fitting within each traditional semester, one beginning at the start of the semester and the other beginning at the mid-point of the semester. Both traditional and online courses are also offered during the summer.
(2) Semester undergraduate students are limited to taking one online class per semester, except for those students enrolled in the Early Access MBA program or any program offered entirely online.
Degree and Major Requirements
To earn a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in any business discipline, students must complete the following requirements:
- GE business courses (9-15 credit hours, required for all majors)
- Core business courses (39 credit hours, required for all majors)
- Required major courses (credit hours vary by major)
- Elective major courses (credit hours vary by major; courses are selected from among a list of courses available in the major.*)
* Elective courses at or above the 30000 level may require prerequisites.