MBA Flex

Requirements for the MBA Degree: Flex MBA

Prerequisites are indicated in parentheses. Degree requirements include coursework and applied projects.

Electives: There are a wide variety of elective courses offered on campus and abroad each year. Students may also select a concentration by focusing electives in particular area of expertise. A maximum of 6 units may be chosen from the School of Law or other relevant USD graduate program. For courses outside the MBA program, permission must also be obtained from the MBA advisor. See the appropriate section of this course catalog or the School of Law Course Catalog for information about course offerings outside the School of Business. Prerequisites for all elective courses must be observed.

Courses Abroad: The MBA program offers a variety of short-term study abroad courses each year that may be used to fulfill MBA requirements. Courses can also be taken at one of our partner universities for a semester study abroad experience.

Course Waivers: Waivers refers to the reduction (waiving) of degree requirements based upon coursework taken prior to matriculation into the Knauss School of Business Flex MBA program. Any student with two years of full-time work experience and a GPA of 3.0 or higher in their undergraduate degree that has been completed within seven years of starting the MBA program may apply for waivers for up to 15 units of MBA coursework (a minimum of 30 units must be completed at USD to earn the MBA degree).

Applicants must submit a request to have classes waived as soon as possible during the admissions process and two weeks prior to the start of orientation at the very latest. WAIVER REQUESTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF ORIENTATION. Students will be notified if their waiver requests are approved or not, including any additional requirements needed to complete the process. All requirements for waivers must be completed prior to the deadline to add or drop classes during the first semester of the program. Questions of equivalent course content will be referred to the members of the relevant department faculty group for deliberation and final determination. Waiver by examination may be attempted only once per course. A non-refundable fee of $50 is charged for each examination. 

The following MBA courses may be waived if the student demonstrates satisfactory completion of the conditions listed below for each course:

GSBA 502 Statistics & Analytics for Decision Making

• Students with a BBA, BA in Statistics, BS in Engineering or other bachelor degrees that include statistics or an MS in a related business field with a grade of B or above for courses in statistics may complete the MBA Math Statistics Module and Datacamp intro to Statistics in place of GSBA 502.

GSBA 503 Problem Formulation & Decision Analysis

• Students with a BBA, BS in Engineering or other bachelor degree that included courses on spreadsheet modeling, management science or optimization operations research with a grade of B or above for courses in management science, decision sciences/analysis, business analytics or operations research may complete the MBA Math Spreadsheets Module (80% or higher) in place of GSBA 503.

GSBA 569 Operations & Global Supply Chain Management

• Students with a BBA/MS in business or industrial engineering or two years or more of professional experience in a related field and a grade of B or above for courses in operations management or supply chain management may request a waiver by examination. 

GSBA 510 Financial Accounting

• Students with an undergraduate major in accounting and/or have passed the CPA exam may waive GSBA 510.

GSBA 508 Law, Policy & Ethics

• Students with a BBA or BA/BS from a business program or a degree in law with a grade of B or above in either a business law or business ethics class may be waived from GSBA 508. 

• Other students may request a waiver by examination. 

GSBA 518 Economics in a Global Environment

• Students with a BBA in Econ or BA in Econ with grades of B or above for courses in Microeconomics and Macroeconomics may complete the MBA Math Economics Module in place of GSBA 518.