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Professional Option

Students planning to pursue a management career can select the professional option in the MBA program.  Students must complete a minimum of 36 credit hours, exclusive of computer and statistical literacy requirements.  No thesis or research problem is required.

Research Option

Students planning to pursue doctoral study in business can select the research option.  Students choosing the research option must complete either 30-semester credit hours of prescribed study plus a thesis, or 33 semester credits of prescribed study plus a research problem.

The thesis must deal with a topic of generalized concern to the profession, be scholarly in its orientation, demonstrate the student's understanding of and ability to use sophisticated research techniques, and show promise of a contribution to knowledge that could be worthy of publication in a scholarly or professional journal. Students will arrange with their graduate committees to sit for an oral examination of their thesis.

The research problem should deal with a practical problem of concern to the student. It should follow recognized research procedures but does not require the level of sophistication of thesis research. The findings do not necessarily need to be of such import as to merit publication.

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 Why an MBA?
"I was an energy credit analyst when I started my MBA program in August 2007; 19 months later I am a banking officer.  This MBA program has kick started my analytical and problem solving abilities, which has filtered into my career."
-Jake Cantrell, MBA, Banking Officer - RIsk Analysis, Community National Bank, Midland