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International Business Major

Earn a bachelor's degree in international business

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As an international business major, you will learn foundational business skills while focusing on servant leadership on a global scale. Attention is given to political and cultural diversity, within the framework of a Christian worldview, to prepare you for a wide variety of cross-cultural business opportunities and situations.

As businesses increasingly become global, there is a significant need for employees who are trained in international business and international studies. Your international business degree from SBU will prepare you to be a servant leader wherever you go, whether you work in a multinational corporation, pursue international entrepreneurial activity, serve as a missionary or work for a global nonprofit.

According to the 2019 College Salary Report by PayScale, international business graduates receive an average early career pay of $50,800 with average mid-career pay of $96,900. Career opportunities in international business are limitless, and SBU will work with you to discover your passions and pursue your goals!

The International Business degree is offered through SBU's Robert W. Plaster College of Business. 

Resources

Major Map (PDF)

Degree plan

96%
Job/
grad school
placement rate

(For business and computer science graduates; three-year aggregate)

Students in parade with banner that says 'Servant leaders in a global society'

The SBU Advantage

  • More than 75% of students in the business administration division complete at least one internship before graduation.
  • A unique blend of business classes with courses in intercultural studies, communications, and government will prepare you to work for international nonprofit organizations, international businesses or to start your own business overseas.
  • Study abroad opportunities and Center for Global Connections trips provide international experience and cultural appreciation opportunities with a missions focus.
  • Learn from your peers, many of whom are international students, through class discussions, group projects, and study sessions.

Faith Integration

Faculty are committed to intentionally integrating Christian faith in the classroom with the goal of producing future business leaders who are also servant leaders. For example, as an international business major, you will take a course in International Economics/Finance that uses the Poverty Cure video series to facilitate a Biblical discussion about global poverty.

Psalm 15 — SBU's College of Professional Programs and the Robert W. Plaster College of Business have a Psalm 15 initiative, which provides intentional integration of faith and academic discipline. Using Psalm 15 as a basis, the Colleges have identified eight character traits that should be the hallmark of the students and graduates. These character traits are emphasized in coursework and in a special lecture series. The highlighted character traits are: Integrity, Service, Respect, Charity, Faithfulness, Truthfulness, Humility and Perseverance.

Ethics and Professional Development — As part of an intentionally Christian education, students in the Robert W. Plaster College of Business take a senior-level course in Ethics and Professional Development. The course teaches Christian personal and professional ethics and equips students with life skills such as career development, etiquette, and servant leadership, with the goal of producing ethical business leaders who will be servant leaders in the workplace.

Careers

Examples of organizations that have employed our graduates:

  • Accenture
  • Dannon
  • GE Capital (Netherlands)
  • Jack Henry & Associates
  • J.M. Smucker Company
  • Neptune Marine Services (Australia)
  • Nestle
  • Reckitt Benckiser (Budapest)

Internships

Examples of organizations that have provided internships for our students:

  • ConAgra Foods
  • Sam's Club
  • The Tennis Academy at Harvard University

Graduate schools

Examples of graduate schools attended by our graduates:

Clubs and Organizations

JumpStart

Want to start a business as a student? At SBU, you have the opportunity to receive guidance and funding as you build a business while pursuing your degree. One of our students, Lillian, started a hair accessory business on Etsy and earned over $12,000 in profits her first year! You even have the chance to earn funds for your business through the Jumpstart entrepreneurship competition.

 

Financial Management Association (FMA)

Financial Management Association (FMA) offers amazing opportunities for business students. In the SBU FMA chapter, students have the opportunity to meet and network with local finance professionals, engage in investment competitions, participate in community service, and network with SBU peers. As a member of FMA, a national organization, students gain access to FMA's extensive online library, online forecasting competition, job posting board, and international networking and award opportunities.

Sentrepact

Sentrepact is an opportunity for you to mentor high school students as they partner with local businesses in their community. You will be putting your learned skills from the classroom into practice through partnering with high school students and providing advice on how to improve their business partnerships.

Phi Beta Lambda (PBL)

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. (FBLA-PBL) is the largest career student business organization in the world. PBL is for college students whereas FBLA is for high school students. PBL has more than 10,000 members and more than 500 chapters. 

SBU's PBL chapter consistently excels at the yearly state and national competitions. In 2017, SBU PBL competed against 208 students and 15 universities at the state competition and had 20 top-five finishes, including six first-place winners. At the 2017 national competition, SBU PBL had nine students compete and brought home eight top-10 finishes!

Delta Mu Delta

Delta Mu Delta is an international honor society established to recognize superior scholastic achievement of business administration students. The purpose of Delta Mu Delta is to promote higher scholarship in education for business, and to recognize and reward scholastic attainment in business subjects. Delta Mu Delta is an invitation-only society for juniors and seniors in the top 20% of their class with a minimum GPA of 3.25.

 

 

Full-Time Faculty

Troy Bethards

Dr. Troy Bethards, College Dean
Ryder King

Ryder King, Instructor
Nathan Wright

Dr. Nathan Wright, Division Head
Levi Bridge

Dr. Levi Bridge, MBA Coordinator
David Liu

Dr. David Liu, Associate Professor
John Zietlow

Dr. John Zietlow, Professor
Angela Brown-Peterson

Dr. Angela Brown-Peterson, Associate Professor
Bill Marr

Bill Marr, Instructor

Scholarships

The College of Professional Programs and the Robert W. Plaster College of Business offer many privately funded scholarship opportunities for their students. During a recent academic year, more than $64,000 was awarded in private scholarships to students from these college-level scholarships. Some scholarships available include:

  • Aric Beckham Memorial Scholarship
  • Bill & Geneva Williams Memorial Scholarship
  • Business College Scholarship
  • Clifford & Marie Gouge Memorial Scholarship
  • Dexter Yager Business Scholarship
  • Gary & Jane Black Excellence Scholarship
  • Gladys Henderson Memorial Scholarship
  • Jack Henry & Associates Scholarship
  • Lynn & Dean Credille Memorial Scholarship
  • Melvin & Minnie Hall Memorial Scholarship
  • Nebraska Book Company Scholarship
  • Ralph Stufflebam Memorial Scholarship
  • Ruby Letsch-Roderique Business Scholarship
  • W. Lee Beaver Trust Scholarship

Taylor Center

The Robert W. Plaster College of Business is housed in the Gene Taylor National Free Enterprise Center. The Taylor Center was expanded and renovated to provide the following benefits for our students:

  • Increased number of dedicated study areas and presentation rooms that can be reserved in advance
  • Keycard access for certain majors increases building security while allowing you to access space and equipment after hours to effectively study and work on group projects
  • Student lounge and open spaces to study, relax and hang out

International Business Four-Year Plan

Freshman

Fall Semester

ENG 1113 English Composition I 3
MAT 1243 Algebraic Reasoning and Modeling 3
CIS 1103 Computer and Information Management 3
BUS 1013 Introduction to Business 3
BIB 1013 Old Testament History 3
UNI 1111 University Seminar 1
Total hours 16

Spring Semester

ENG 2213 English Composition II 3
COM 1103 Fundamentals of Speech Communication 3
BUS 1193 Business Calculus 3
BUS 2013 Business Communications 3
BIB 1023 New Testament History 3
UNI 1121 Introduction to Critical Thinking 1
Total hours 16
 

Sophomore

Fall Semester

FAR 1023 Introduction to Fine Arts 3
BUS 2023 Business Statistics 3
ACC 2013 Principles of Financial Accounting 3
ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics 3
MGT 3013 Principles of Management 3
SPF 2012 Introduction to Spiritual Formation 2
Total hours 17

Spring Semester

PSY 1013 General Psychology 3
HIS 2213/2223 U.S. History I or II 3
ACC 2043 Principles of Managerial Accounting 3
ECO 2033 Principles of Macroeconomics 3
MKT 3023 Principles of Marketing 3
KIN 1162 Foundations of Physical Fitness/Wellness 2
Total hours 17
 

Junior

Fall Semester

BIO 1004 Principles of Biology 4
MGT 3033 Operations Management 3
POL 1113 American Government and Politics 3
CIS 3123 Survey of Data Science 3
ECO 3053 International Economics/Finance (fall, even years) 3
Total hours 16

Spring Semester

PHS 1004 Introduction to Physical Science 4
BUS 4053 International Business 3
MGT 4043 Organizational Behavior and Theory 3
POL 3313 International Relations 3
  Cultural Studies 3
Total hours 16
 

Senior

Fall Semester

FIN 3053 Business Finance 3
LDR 4043 Ethics and Professional Development 3
 ICS 2013 Anthropology Cross Cultural 3
BUS 3073 Legal Environment of Business I 3
MGT 4063 Entrepreneurship and Small Business 3
Total hours 15

Spring Semester

MGT 4083 Strategic Management 3
 COM 3333 Intercultural Communication (spring, odd) 3
  Elective for 128 Hours 3
BUS 4773 International Experience 3
  Upper-level COBACS course 3
Total hours 15

This is a proposed guideline. Please check the catalog and see your advisor for your final degree requirements.
Southwest Baptist University reserves the right to make changes to degree plans without advanced notice or obligation.
The student is responsible for understanding and completing all general education, degree, departmental and graduation requirements.

Download in PDF format:
International Business plan (PDF)