Business Administration
Walter A. Haas School of Business
Office: S545 Student Services Building #1900
Dean: Richard K. Lyons, PhD
Department Website: Business Administration
Related Course Descriptions:
Undergraduate Business Administration courses
Master's in Business Administration courses
Evening and Weekend Master's in Business Administration courses
Executive Master's in Business Administration courses
Master's in Financial Engineering courses
PhD in Business Administration courses
Undergraduate Program
The highly competitive, two-year Haas Undergraduate Program accepts applications from both transfer and continuing UC Berkeley applicants. The program's goal is to provide students with the knowledge and technical skills necessary to understand the modern business world, to prepare for subsequent graduate work, and to achieve the highest levels of success in their professional careers. Students earn a Bachelor of Science degree that takes a general management perspective. Coursework is fully integrated with the University's liberal arts curriculum, allowing students to gain a broad perspective on business management and its environment. Students are challenged to develop creative and innovative solutions to contemporary business problems and to develop leadership skills and a sense of community service through classroom experiences and extracurricular activities.
Students preparing for admission to the Undergraduate Program may complete required lower division courses in any college in the University or equivalent courses at other institutions. Before applying to the school, you should visit our website. The website contains complete information concerning academic qualifications for admission, with details about prerequisites and degree requirements . Because there are many more applicants than spaces available, completion of the prerequisites does not guarantee admission.
Upon admission, business majors must take the following upper division core courses at Haas:
- UGBA 100—Business Communication
- UGBA 101A—Microeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions
- UGBA 101B—Macroeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions
- UGBA 102A—Introduction to Financial Accounting
- UGBA 102B—Introduction to Managerial Accounting
- UGBA 103—Introduction to Finance
- UGBA 104—Analytic Decision Modeling Using Spreadsheet
- UGBA 105—Organizational Behavior
- UGBA 106—Marketing
- UGBA 107—Social, Political, and Ethical Environment of Business
Beyond these required core courses and other courses outside the Haas School needed to fulfill the degree requirements, business majors must take additional classes from the following 11 business disciplines: accounting, business and public policy, corporate social responsibility, economic analysis and policy, entrepreneurship, finance, management of organizations, marketing, nonprofit management, operations and information technology management, and real estate.
Contact Information: Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, S450 Student Services Building #1900, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900; Telephone (510) 642-1421; haas.berkeley.edu/undergrad .
Graduate Degrees
The Haas School of Business offers curricula leading to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, Master's in Financial Engineering, and the PhD degree. The Haas School offers three MBA programs: a two-year program for full-time students, the Evening & Weekend MBA Program, and the Berkeley MBA for Executives, a 19-month program for senior professionals.
Full-Time MBA Program
The Full-Time MBA Program at the Haas School of Business offers an unsurpassed education in the fundamentals of management and in-depth exposure to the trends shaking the foundations of business. It brings together outstanding men and women from around the world and teaches them to be innovative leaders in any type of organization. At the end of the two-year program, students will receive the Berkeley MBA, embodying a spirit of challenge that will become their approach to leadership throughout their professional lives. Students learn to pursue new ideas aggressively, to defy convention, and to lead through innovation. In addition, the program is shaped by its flexible curriculum, distinguished faculty, and strong connections with business in nearby Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Students are marked by a unique blend of entrepreneurial drive and team spirit, underpinned by serious scholarship and a global outlook. With approximately 33 percent international students (evenly divided between Europe, Asia, and South America) and 30 percent women, the program reflects the diverse global environment in which its graduates will pursue their careers. The diverse student body of some 480 students represents more than 200 colleges and universities, 40 countries, and a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds.
The Haas School co-sponsors four concurrent-degree programs:
- MBA/JD with Berkeley Law or Hastings College of the Law;
- MBA/MPH in health services management with the School of Public Health; and
- MBA/MA in international and area studies.
Curriculum: Students in the full-time program must complete 51 semester units to graduate: 21 units of core required courses and 30 units of electives. Students who pass a waiver exam may replace core courses with electives. For a complete list of graduation requirements, visit the website.
Students outside the MBA Program may take courses on a space-available basis only. They should consult the Full-Time MBA Program office directly before attempting to register for courses.
Exchange Programs: The Haas School offers seven exchange programs with some of the finest business schools in Europe, Asia, and North America. The following schools participate: London Business School in Great Britain, L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) outside Paris, IESE in Barcelona, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Columbia Business School in New York City. In addition, the Washington Campus Program in Washington, DC, and the MBA Enterprise Corps in emerging economies provide Berkeley students with opportunities to enhance their education.
Admission: Applications for the Full-Time MBA Program are accepted for fall entry only. Typically, the school receives 3,000-4,000 applications for about 240 positions in the entering class. The average age of entering students is 28 years and all have significant full-time business experience before entering the program.
We admit candidates with substantial professional experience and considerable leadership potential who come from a wide variety of industries and backgrounds. In addition, we seek candidates who will add to the richness of the classroom experience and participate actively in the Haas community.
Applicants are strongly urged to submit completed applications as early as possible. Applications are reviewed beginning in October and are evaluated in four decision periods, or rounds.
Career Center: The Career Center guides students through their career-planning process. Job search preparation includes workshops on interviewing, résumés, networking, and industry-specific informational sessions. Workshops are presented by Career Center staff and outside experts. On-campus recruitment opportunities include formal job interviews and informal opportunities to meet company representatives.
Campus Visits: The Haas School encourages prospective students to attend information sessions at Berkeley. Organized by first- and second-year students, these presentations cover life in the program from the student perspective. Information sessions are held daily at 1 p.m. throughout the academic year (September through mid-May, with the exception of school holidays). The sessions last approximately one hour. During a visit, prospective students may arrange to visit classes or request a no-host lunch and school tour with current students. For further information or to arrange for a classroom visit, call (510) 642-5610.
Off-Campus Information Sessions: The Full-Time MBA Program offers off-campus information sessions around the world during the autumn months. For a complete schedule, click here.
Applications: Candidates should apply online through the Haas School of Business website. The online application is typically available in mid-August. Please read the application information carefully.
Evening & Weekend MBA Program
The Haas School of Business also offers the Berkeley MBA in a three-year program for working professionals who are seeking to add value to their academic backgrounds and professional experience while maintaining their current career momentum.
Students enter the program in the fall semester. They must have completed two prerequisite courses in mathematics and statistics or their equivalents before enrollment. Waiver examinations are also available. Admission criteria for the Evening & Weekend MBA Program are similar to those for the full-time program.
Students in the Evening & Weekend MBA Program must complete 42 units to graduate, including 18 units of required core courses, one unit for a Mid-Program Academic Retreat (MPAR), and 23 units of elective courses, including an experiential learning elective to fulfill the Berkeley Innovative Leader Development (BILD) curriculum requirement. Evening classes are held on the Berkeley campus Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Students attend classes two nights per week. Weekend classes are held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and alternate between Berkeley and a South Bay campus.
Applications: The Evening & Weekend MBA Program accepts applications online here. For more information, please contact The Evening & Weekend MBA Program, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, #1906, Berkeley, CA 94720-1906. Phone (510) 642-0292. Website: ewmba.haas.berkeley.edu .
Master’s of Financial Engineering Program
The Master’s of Financial Engineering (MFE) degree is a full-time, one-year graduate degree offered by the Haas School of Business. Students enrolled in the MFE Program learn to use theoretical finance, mathematics, and computer programming skills to make pricing, hedging, trading, and portfolio management decisions.
Admission is extremely competitive, with 60 students admitted annually. The program starts and ends during the spring semester, and applications are accepted only for spring enrollment. In addition to meeting the Berkeley Graduate Division admissions requirements, applicants should have solid backgrounds in advanced mathematics and computer programming. Most students admitted to the program have academic and work experience in engineering, finance, statistics, physics, economics, and computer science.
The MFE curriculum consists of 28 units of coursework taught over four terms of eight weeks each. Advanced courses cover topics in credit risk modeling, derivatives pricing, fixed income securities, bond portfolio management, equity and currency markets, corporate finance, dynamic asset management, arbitrage, hedging, futures and options pricing, trading, and dynamic investment strategies. An applied finance project of 1-3 units is also required for graduation. Credits and transfers from other universities and programs are not accepted.
Graduates of the MFE Program find positions in commercial and investment banking, insurance and reinsurance, corporate treasuries, corporate strategy, and money management. Specializations include risk management, asset/liability modeling/optimization, security structuring, derivative valuation and trading, consulting, asset management, research, option-based securities valuation, special hedging, and real-option investment analysis.
For complete admissions, curriculum, and program information, please visit the Master’s of Financial Engineering Program’s website at mfe.haas.berkeley.edu .
The PhD Program
The PhD Program of the Haas School of Business is an advanced and scholarly course of study in the functioning of business and its interaction with the environment. It combines an in-depth examination of one or more of the traditional fields of study in business administration with a broader, integrative investigation of basic and applied theory in the social sciences and in quantitative methods. Fields of study include accounting, business and public policy, finance, marketing, operations management, management of organizations, and real estate.
The PhD Program trains men and women for careers in the research, study, and teaching of the sophisticated technical and theoretical disciplines underlying business administration. These skills have become mandatory for jobs in academia and are increasingly important in business and government, as well as in consulting, research, and technical advisory firms. Although some PhD graduates take positions as administrators in large companies, the Berkeley MBA Program at the Haas School is a more appropriate course of study for those seeking a professional degree in preparation for high-level administrative positions.
Graduates of the PhD Program enjoy excellent prospects for placement at the world’s top academic institutions. In the best tradition of advanced scholarship, the Haas PhD Program offers a first-rate course of study in business functions and interactions with the social environment. The in-depth examination of one or more traditional fields of study combines with a broader, integrated investigation of basic and applied theory in the social sciences and quantitative methods. The program includes intensive formal courses as well as individually developed reviews of special topics and research programs. Students work closely with the school’s internationally known faculty, both in the classroom and independently.
Instruction in the program is separated into three general phases. The first encompasses formal coursework in basic and advanced subjects. The time devoted to these studies depends on a student’s prior preparation, but generally requires two years. In the second phase, devoted to directed study, students work in close consultation with faculty members to prepare for research in their selected fields.
The final phase is individual research, when students undertake the work required for their dissertations. The second and third phases together usually require two to three years for completion. In addition to coursework, students without previous experience in either research or teaching will normally be expected to serve as either teaching or research assistants for one or more semesters.
Preparation for the PhD Program
Admission to the PhD Program is open to students with an accredited bachelor's degree, or higher, from any field. No preference in admission is given to any previous field of study or to applicants who have had some graduate training. Applicants should possess strong skills in writing and oral communications and have a basic understanding of differential calculus.
PhD applications will be evaluated on the basis of evidence of a high level of scholarly ability in both quantitative and qualitative skills, the motivation to complete a strenuous academic program, and a clear statement of career objectives that are consistent with the PhD degree.
Applications for the PhD Program can be found online via our website at haas.berkeley.edu/Phd . You can also write to the PhD Program Office, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; 545 Student Services Bldg, #1900, 2220 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900.