The fifth-year option allows qualifying students to first earn a B.B.A. and then an M.B.A. The benefits of the fifth-year option are:

• Early assurance into the M.B.A. program
• Full admission into the M.B.A. program upon the award of the B.B.A. degree
• Waiver of the M.B.A. application process and related application fees. Fill out a short information form upon completion of your B.B.A.
• Enrollment in up to 9 hours of graduate coursework during the student’s final undergraduate semesters. Any graduate hours earned will count toward the M.B.A. degree.

The fifth-year option consists of the following three sequential steps:

1. Intent Form and Plan of Academic Coursework

Undergraduate majors with more than 30 program hours remaining toward earning a B.B.A. and who meet the following criteria are eligible to file a fifth-year intent form:

• Students with 24 or more college credit hours must have a minimum college cumulative GPA of 3.0 overall and, if applicable, 2.75 in their major.

The fifth-year intent form must be filed with the student’s advisor. In response, the advisor will prepare a plan of academic coursework. After the fifth-year intent form and the plan of academic coursework are approved by the School of Business, the student is designated as participating in the fifth-year option (i.e., the student’s degree audit and transcript are updated to indicate participation in the fifth-year option).

The student may withdraw from the fifth-year option at any time resulting in the removal of the fifth-year option designation.

2. Early Assurance

Once 30 program hours remain, the GPA of the fifth-year option student is reviewed.

• Students with a minimum college cumulative GPA of 3.0 overall and 2.75 in their major are admitted into the M.B.A. program with a provisional status.
• Students not meeting the GPA requirement are removed from the fifth-year option. The student may complete the normal application process for the M.B.A. program. Or, the student may request any graduate credit earned under the fifth-year option to be applied to the B.B.A. degree.

3. Full Admission

Once the B.B.A. degree is awarded, the GPA of the fifth-year option student is again reviewed.

• Students with a minimum college cumulative GPA of 3.0 overall and 2.75 in their major are fully admitted into the M.B.A. program (i.e., admission status is no longer provisional). Following full admission into the M.B.A. program, fifth-year option students are subject to the normal M.B.A. policies in the graduate catalog.
• Students not meeting the GPA requirement remain provisionally admitted. In order to be fully admitted, the student must complete the normal application process for the M.B.A. program.