The Chico State MBA Program–Take a Closer Look

Streamlined Prerequisite Requirements

Are you a nonbusiness major who would like to pursue a MBA? Our new prerequisite requirements have been streamlined to allow nonbusiness majors quicker access to our MBA curriculum. Students are not required to have all of these prerequisites completed before being admitted to the program, and students can begin taking some graduate courses before all of these prerequisites are completed to allow quicker progression through the MBA program.

What prerequisite courses do we have for the CSU Chico MBA program?

  • Accounting 201 – Introduction to Financial Accounting
  • Accounting 202 – Introduction to Managerial Accounting
  • Plus four streamlined, self-paced, online modules in microeconomics, finance, marketing, and business statistics*.

*Total time to take all modules will be about 20-30 hours. For a deeper understanding of these topics, some students may wish to fulfill these four prerequisites by taking ECON 103 – Principles of Microeconomics, FIN 307 – Survey of Finance, MKTG 305 – Survey of Marketing, and MATH 105/108 – Statistics for Business and Economics. More information is available at the MBA web site (

Desirable Specializations

Students can pursue a general MBA or specialize in one of two areas.

Project Management – Project management skills and knowledge are in high demand. Students who complete an appropriate series of courses within this emphasis are prepared to sit for the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) CAPM or PMP certification exam. A great option for all students, but should be particularly attractive to engineering and construction management students.

Enterprise Information Systems - CSU, Chico is a recognized leader in enterprise information systems curriculum. The EIS emphasis is designed to meet the growing job demands for professional consultants, business process analysts, IT infrastructure specialists, and SAP functional analysts. The EIS emphasis curriculum is a pathway toward SAP TERP 10 certification.

Scholarships and Grants are Available

Want to get a MBA, but concerned about the expense of continuing your education? We might be able to help out. See for more details and application instructions.

The Graduate Business Grant( students with financial need meet the cost of the MBA. This grant is not administered by the College of Business or the MBA program, for more information contact the CSU Chico Financial aid office, (530) 898-6451 or email .

MBA Academic Excellence ScholarshipsIf you have a strong undergraduate GPA (e.g., 3.5 or higher) and have done well on the GMAT or GRE you could be eligible for the MBA Academic Excellence Scholarship. Evidence of a strong academic track record will be considered strongly.

MBA North State Initiative Scholarship The University places a high priority on servicing students in our region. The MBA North State Initiative Scholarship is intended to support exceptional MBA applicants who can provide evidence that their permanent residence is in the University’s service area which include the following counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yuba.In addition, regional employment or community engagement will be considered strongly. To be considered, applicants will need a minimum of a 3.3 undergraduate GPA.

MBA Building Bridges ScholarshipWe feel it is important to develop a broad and diverse student population in our MBA program. This scholarship is designed to financially support underrepresented groups and encourage underrepresented students to apply to our MBA program. A strong academic record (GPA and GMAT/GRE score) will also be considered strongly.

For more information about the MBA program, contact or go to .