International Business, B.S.B.A.

Four-Year Plan: Click here  to view the Four-Year Plan for this specific program. To find out more about Four-Year Plans, visit the Policies and Procedures  page.

Thinking about the discipline: The International Business (IB) major provides its graduates with a rigorous foundation for success in the global business environment. The Haile/US Bank College of Business and its faculty have strong international relationships, partnering with some of the best business schools around the world. IB students have the opportunity to both complete a variety of courses throughout the academic year at one or more of these universities, and to build a network of global contacts with future business leaders around the world.

Career success for IB graduates depends on expertise in business disciplines such as management, marketing, and finance, as well as awareness and appreciation for the historical, political, socio-economic, cultural, and ethical environments that exist throughout the world. The combination of business skills and an understanding of the context in which international business is conducted require the development of a global mindset, a primary aim of the IB program.

The IB major provides a multi-disciplinary curriculum led by faculty with extensive international expertise, experience, and backgrounds. The program delivers challenging and relevant coursework, as well as meaningful international experiences for our students.  Each course exposes students to the vast complexities of our changing world, and helps them to develop the skills needed to make effective business decisions in environments of increasing globalization, greater uncertainty and multiple perspectives.

Special opportunities for our students: Opportunities for international business majors include internships and networking with one or more of the hundreds of international companies in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region. Graduates will find a wide variety of employment opportunities throughout the world, across the US, and in our region.

IB graduates will be prepared for exams to earn two internationally recognized professional credentials to add value to their résumé: the ACTFL Language Proficiency and the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) designations. These optional credentialing examinations are administered by their respective organizations and may have additional fees and requirements.

IB students are required to complete a meaningful, credit-bearing international experience of at least 3 credit hours. Students work individually with the college’s Director of International Business to decide which type of international learning experience will best meet their career and life goals. Many alternatives are acceptable and available, ranging from regular spring semester courses with an international travel component, to multi-week summer experiences, to semester-long exchanges at NKU partner universities around the world. Typically, the college makes available some scholarship support to at least partially cover travel expenses.

Students earning the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) with a major in international business are eligible to be considered for membership in Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International-The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest academic recognition a business student anywhere in the world can earn in business programs accredited by AACSB International.

You should also know: All students successfully completing the B.S.B.A. major in International Business automatically earn an interdisciplinary minor in Business as part of their required course of study for the major degree. The Minor in Business satisfies the university’s minor/focus/second major requirement for graduation.

IB majors are required to attain competency in a second language, as measured by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Language skills and cultural awareness raise the business skills of a global professional to a higher level by giving deeper insight into the culture, values and context of the people with whom they will be working. IB students are expected to attain an ACTFL level of Intermediate Mid in speaking, writing, listening, and reading. In general, for speaking this means the ability to engage in social conversation about personal information related to self, family, home, daily activities, interests and personal preferences, as well as physical and social needs, such as food, shopping, travel, and lodging. For writing, this means the ability to write short, simple communications, compositions, and requests for information in loosely connected texts about personal preferences, daily routines, common events, and other personal topics.

Special admission requirements: The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) with a major in International Business is a selective admission program. Students enter the program as a Pre-International Business major.

Students are officially admitted to the college as a BSBA-International Business major after meeting the following requirements:

1. Completion of the six courses in the selective admission group (ACC 200 , ACC 201 , BUS 230 , ECO 100 , ECO 101 , and MKT 205 ) with a grade of C- or better in each and
2. An overall NKU GPA of 2.5 or better or a minimum GPA of 2.5 in the six selective admissions courses. 

All transfer students enter as pre-majors and must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours at NKU in order to establish the NKU GPA for selective admission into the major, regardless of individual course completion status.

♦  Indicates prerequisite.

These prerequisites are not included in the program totals in the table below, but they must be completed IN ADDITION TO other program requirements.