Business Administration (BA in Professional Studies)

The Bachelor of Arts in Professional Studies with a major in Business Administration builds knowledge and skills for application in corporate and nonprofit settings, especially within administrative, managerial and supervisory positions. In this program, students examine their prior and current work experience in light of theory and principles. This program intentionally helps students to integrate liberal arts learning, with an emphasis on agile and critical thinking, with a professional specialization.

This major advances students' foundational business knowledge in a range of areas critical to business administration, especially project management, human resources, risk management, leadership, workplace law, globalization, ethical conduct, data analytics, and professional communications. With a range of courses in the major offered as electives, students may choose courses and specialize in areas of particular interest to them.

Graduates of this program will be particularly well positioned to make optimal decisions in the workplace and become promotable leaders. This major is designed for working adult students, 24 and older, who seek the following:

• A professional major valued by employers and with learning they can apply immediately.
• Acceleration and affordability by being able to maximize transfer credit.
• Acceleration and affordability by earning credit through assessment of evidence of their prior personal and professional experiential learning.
• Learning in the company of other adults with diverse workplace experiences.
• A degree that can advance their careers by enhancing their current professional portfolio with further studies in business administration. 
• A structured path to degree completion.
• Preparation for a master’s program.

Students will be able to

• Apply leadership skills in the workplace: lead teams to deliver results, communicate effectively, and execute decision-making.
• Explain and manage human resources policies and functions that advance employees’ learning and development.
• Identify risks to business and apply methods for mitigating those risks.
• Apply fundamentals of project management to set priorities and achieve results.
• Understand and apply quantitative methods of domestic and international finance.
• Describe the meaning and the relevance of standard topics of economics and the role of government in a free capitalist democratic system.
• Understand and discuss global issues in the workplace.
• Develop and apply techniques for managing the sales and marketing functions of an organization.
• Recognize the legal relationships that exist in the workplace and articulate the terminology describing those relationships.
• Apply ethical reasoning to particular ethical questions in business and the professions.
• Design and produce a significant product to be used in the workplace.

DePaul is pleased to announce its new Bachelor of Arts Degree completion program in Business Administration onsite at the Chicago Police Academy. See your career advance and set yourself up for success as you major in Business Administration and complete your Bachelor of Arts degree in professional studies. DePaul will help you gain the knowledge and skills you’ll need as a manager, supervisor or administrator in the corporate or nonprofit sectors. Students in this program will earn credit for prior learning and professional training experience through the Chicago Police Academy. And, DePaul’s onsite presence at the academy makes being a student again even more manageable.

Program highlights include coursework in:

• Project management
• Leadership
• Professional communications
• Human resources
• Risk management
• Workplace law
• Technology, crime and civic engagement

Recruitment for this program has begun at the Chicago Police Academy. For more information, contact Ken Cohn at kcohn1@depaul.edu or 312-362-6306.

See highlights of the first cohort of students.​