Admissions

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Overview of Admissions Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a regionally accredited institution
   • No business pre-requisites are required
2. GPA approximately 3.0 or higher over the last 60 credits from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university
3. A combined score (verbal + quantitative) of at least 295 on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or 495 or higher on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score taken within the last 5 years (Either test is accepted for application purposes)*
   • We recommend that you take the GMAT, GRE, and/or TOEFL at least one month prior to the application deadline because it takes approximately 3-4 weeks for FAU to receive your test scores.
   • If you need assistance preparing to take either of the GMAT or GRE, please refer to the Graduate College Test Prep Service for more information, please refer to the Graduate College Test Prep Service for more information.
   • *The GRE/GMAT requirement can also be waived if the applicant has already earned a graduate degree (e.g. master’s) from an accredited institution. Students with an admission GPA of at least 3.3 may be eligible for a GMAT/GRE waiver.
     
     • Please contact the College of Business Advising Office cobgradadvising@fau.edu for more information
4. Official transcript(s) or transcript(s) evaluation reflecting bachelor’s degree.
5. Immunization
   • Proof of immunization is required prior to registration. Please contact the FAU Immunization Office for more information on the submission process.
6. Residency
   • You will need to submit documents to the University in order to determine your residency for tuition purposes (i.e. in-state or out of state tuition rates).
   • Please contact the FAU Registrar's Office more information on the submission process.
7. Please note that admission to graduate programs is competitive and meeting minimum standards does not guarantee acceptance into the program.

Additional Admissions Requirements for International Students

• A course by course evaluation of your international transcripts must be provided by a NACES member.
  • Students may also choose to have the FAU evaluate foreign transcripts internally instead of using a NACES member.
  • For more information on this process, please visit the FAU Internal Evaluation of Foreign Credentials page.
  • Note: The College of Business does NOT have a preference between using a NACES member or using FAU to evaluate foreign transcripts.
• TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are required of applicants who attended a non-English speaking institution for their baccalaureate degree and whose native language is not English.
  • The minimum university requirement for TOEFL is 79 (Internet Based Test). The minimum university requirement for IELTS is a band score of 6.0. 
  • For more information on this process, please visit our College of Business Graduate Application Information webpage.
• For more information about additional admissions requirements for international students, please visit the FAU Graduate College's Admissions Application Information page

What If I Do NOT Meet Some of the Admissions Requirements?

• In general, if you do NOT meet some of the admissions requirements (i.e GPA or Test score), you are still encouraged to apply
• While our admissions process is still competitive, our admissions process has the option to work on a sliding scale on a case-by case basis, in that if your GPA is below 3.00, you can make up for that lower GPA by scoring higher on the GMAT and/or GRE.
• In addition, if you do not meet the GPA or GRE/GMAT requirement, you may be able to receive a conditional acceptance into the program.
  • Such applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, a high GPA can compensate for a lower GRE/GMAT score, and vice-versa. If you receive a conditional acceptance, you are allowed to enroll in graduate classes, but must meet certain performance criteria in the first semester or year that is specified in your conditional acceptance letter. Once these conditions are fulfilled, the conditional acceptance will be converted to full acceptance.

Application Deadlines

• Applications must be complete and all documents submitted BEFORE the deadline listed above to be considered for admission for your intended semester (i.e Fall, Spring, or Summer).

How Do I Apply?

• You can apply online for the MSBA program on the FAU Graduate College website by clicking Apply Now
  • Once the online application with the FAU Graduate College is completed, you must pay an application fee of $30 and also be sure to submit your transcripts and test scores to FAU as well.
  • Students who attended colleges/universities outside of the U.S. and/or are Non-Native speakers of English need to submit additional supplemental documents (i.e. Course by course evaluations, English Proficiency scores, etc).
    • For more information about these documents, visit our College of Business Graduate Application Information webpage.
  • If you have additional questions about submitting an application, transcripts/test scores, & other required documents, please email our College of Business Liaison from the Graduate College, Ashley Severino aseverino@fau.edu, and she will assist you. 

Check Status of My Application

• You can check your application status online by logging into the FAU Graduate College Application Portal
  • If your application has NOT yet been deferred to department, then you can email our College of Business Liaison from the Graduate College, Ashley Severino aseverino@fau.edu, and she will assist you.
  • If your application status says “Deferred to Department”, then you can email our College of Business Graduate Advising Office COBgradadvising@fau.edu and they will connect you with an academic advisor who will assist you.

Cost of Tuition

• The MSBA program follows the traditional FAU Fees Per Credit Hour schedule for Graduate Courses
• The MSBA program consists of a minimum of 30 credits
• Current tuition rates on the cost per credit hour can be found on the FAU Controller’s site or in the Tuition, Fees and Refunds section of the FAU Catalog.

Financial Aid

• Students in all stages of their academic careers may be eligible for financial aid. While the process is roughly the same for each kind of student, sometimes there are unique requirements.
  • Feel free to reach out to FAU's Financial Aid Office for more information

Graduate Fellowships

• FAU Graduate College Fellowships:
  • FAU's Graduate College offers a wide variety of fellowships for graduate students. Refer to the FAU Graduate College for more information
• ITOM Department Fellowships
  • The ITOM Department is sometimes able to award a Provost Fellowship once a year to the top MSBA application. However, the ITOM Department does not have funds for scholarship or financial aid.
  • The College of Business also offers fellowships to graduate students from time to time. For more information, please contact the College of Business Graduate Advising Office.
• Scholarships for Women in STEM
  • ComputerScience.org is part of a new initiative to form the next generation of engineers, developers, and network administrators, and they are striving to get more women involved.
  • To learn more about these scholarships, visit computerscience.org.

Graduate Assistantships

• ITOM offers Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) on a competitive & semester by semester basis to outstanding full-time graduate students who are accepted to the MSBA program.
  • GTAs are required to work 20 hours a week (part-time) assisting faculty with various teaching activities, including grading, assisting students, and teaching lab sections of introductory MIS courses.
  • GTAs earn an hourly wage and full or partial tuition waivers with these positions are very unlikely and not guaranteed
  • GTAs are only offered to students admitted to one of our ITOM Programs
• For more information or to apply for a GTA position, reach out to our department secretary Sheri Sundquist ssundqui@fau.edu 

Graduate Course Credit Transfer

• No more than two graduate courses or 6 credits of graduate work can be transferred from other accredited institutions and applied towards your MSBA degree program requirements.
  • If you have already earned an MBA from FAU, you will NOT need to re-enroll in GEB 6215 or ISM 6026.
• Undergraduate course credits do NOT as graduate course credits.
• To learn more about credit transfers, please talk to a Graduate Advisor in the College of Business once you are accepted into the program.

STEM & OPT

• The MSBA program is a STEM Designated Degree program (CIP Code 30.7102) as determined by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on their list of STEM Eligible Majors for STEM OPT or a STEM OPT extension.
• The MSBA F-1 student is eligible to apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT, making it a full 36 months of OPT with students able to stay and work in the United States.
• For more information about OPT & STEM OPT, visit FAU's Office of International Student Services website for more details.

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