The Bachelor of Science in Business (BSB) major is intended to prepare students for careers in accounting, financial services, banking, insurance, business management, and marketing. Students complete basic and intermediate core business courses including accounting, economics, management information systems, marketing, business logistics, and finance. Penn State Berks business students elect an 18-credit option to prepare them for a specific employment sector.
- Accounting Option
Accounting focuses on the development and interpretation of financial information critical to managerial decision-making. This option prepares students to pursue careers in business with an emphasis on the areas of financial and managerial accounting, systems and controls, auditing, and taxation. The Accounting Option prepares students for a wide range of careers, including corporate controller, treasurer, budget director, auditor, tax planner and consultant. The Accounting Option provides students with a foundation in intermediate accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, information systems and auditing.
- Financial Services Option
The Financial Services Option prepares students for careers in financial service organizations, banks, credit companies, real estate and insurance brokerages. The Financial Services Option prepares students for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial and wealth management, and corporate financial analysis. The Financial Services Option provides students with a foundation in investments, taxation, financial statement analysis, capital markets, insurance, and corporate finance.
- Marketing/Management Option
This option prepares students to pursue careers in business organizations with an emphasis on the skills and knowledge necessary for the business professional to function in community and regional centers of commerce. The Management & Marketing Option's dual emphasis allows students to select courses in both disciplines as a foundation for leading small businesses or units of large organizations. Courses in the option include human resource management, leadership, international management, retailing, global marketing, market research, communications and ethics.
- Individualized Option
This option provides the opportunity for students to pursue an approved business-focused interdisciplinary program of study. Students pursuing the Individualized Option have paired business with information sciences and technology, hotel and restaurant management, professional writing, and other coursework, to pursue studies focused on their unique interests and/or career plans.
All the options include courses that emphasize oral and written communication; active and collaborative learning; team-building; critical-thinking; and problem-solving skills. Students also participate in a capstone experience, choosing to conduct an undergraduate research project, participate in a collaborative project in business, or pursue professional experience through an internship.
Penn State's associate degree in business administration articulates with the bachelor's degree. The college also has transfer guides with a number of community colleges, allowing students with an associate degree in business to efficiently transfer credits into Penn State Berks' Bachelor of Science in Business program. The BSB program is offered days and evenings to meet the needs of both traditional and adult learners.
For more information about the BSB program at Penn State Berks, please contact the Program Coordinator, Sudip Ghosh, ([email protected]) or 610-396-6346.
For admissions information, contact the Berks Admissions Office at 610-396-6060.
