MBA Requirements

Foundation Courses
Accounting and quantitative skills are prerequisites for the MBA program. These prerequisites may be waived for students who have completed undergraduate course work in financial and managerial accounting (two accounting courses) and a quantitative methods or statistics course with a grade of “B” or better. Transcripts of applicants to the MBA program are reviewed to determine whether these prerequisites have been met.

Chaminade offers three foundation courses for entering students who have not completed the required courses in accounting and quantitative methods:

Students should complete foundation course work during their first two terms in the MBA program.

Core Courses
Eight core courses are required. The core courses provide the common knowledge essential to preparation for management and leadership roles.

Students with a substantial academic background in a core area (normally a major at the undergraduate level) are encouraged to request substituting a more advanced course for the core course.

Elective Courses
Four elective courses are required for students who do not declare a concentration. Elective courses enable students to develop specialized knowledge and skills in one or more areas of interest. Electives may be focused in one area or may cover a variety of topics. Where a core course area offers a choice (e.g. MBA 613 or MBA 617), a student may take both and use one course to fulfill core requirements and the other to fulfill elective requirements. Foundation courses MBA 510 and MBA 520 must be taken or waived before enrolling in elective courses.

Students may select any four electives from the following list of regular course offerings. Special topics courses (MBA 780) are also offered regularly, providing additional elective choices. Students may also engage in internships (MBA 798) or directed studies (MBA 799) to fulfill elective units from the following:

Concentrations
The MBA program offers five concentrations: Accounting, Island Business, Not-for-Profit Management, Healthcare Administration, and Science and Technology Innovation. If a concentration is chosen, it must be declared with the program office and will be noted on the student’s permanent record. Twelve credits within the concentration course work must be completed.

Not-for-profit Management Concentration
The Not-for-Profit MBA concentration prepares students for management and leadership positions in not-for-profit enterprises such as charities, hospitals, and churches. Acquiring funding and delivering services requires managers and leaders who bring business knowledge and skills to these social enterprises.

The program of study for students with a Not-for-Profit Management concentration includes the following course work:

Accounting Concentration
The Accounting MBA is designed for students who have completed undergraduate degrees in accounting and who need additional course work to fulfill the academic requirements for taking the CPA Exam and achieving CPA certification. The concentration fulfills both the CPA requirements and requirements for an MBA. Incoming MBA students who do not have an undergraduate degree in accounting may pursue and accounting concentration but will need to complete additional undergraduate level accounting course work before taking advanced MBA accounting courses. Students may take non-accounting MBA courses while completing the undergraduate accounting courses.

Prerequisite Undergraduate Accounting Courses
The following Chaminade undergraduate accounting courses, or equivalent from another accredited college or university, are required before taking advanced graduate accounting courses. Entering students with an undergraduate accounting major will have typically fulfilled the following requirements in their undergraduate program:

The program of study for students with an Accounting concentration include the following course work:

Island Business Concentration
Stories in the news daily alert us to the challenges facing Hawai’i…its land, people and economy. Waste dispersal threatens the environment, the cost of living challenges our communities, and reliance on external resources challenges our economy, for example. Current business models, often reflecting continental perspectives and approaches, exacerbate these challenges. The Island Business concentration at Chaminade is designed to build on core MBA course work and prepare students to do business in and contribute, to a mature, thriving Hawai’i or other island setting.

The program of study for students with an Island Business concentration include the following coursework:

Healthcare Administration Concentration

The program of student for students with a Healthcare Administration concentration include the following coursework:

Science and Technology Innovation Concentration

The program of study for students with a Science and Technology Innovation concentration include the following coursework:

Online MBA Courses
Chaminade University MBA students may now complete their entire MBA program on campus, online, or through a combination of on-campus, and online course work. All core MBA courses are offered online at least once each academic year. Many, but not all, MBA elective courses are also offered online throughout the year. Students may take both online and on-ground classes in the program. They do not have to choose only one format. Please work with the MBA Program Manager to ensure that you are able to complete your program of study with your preferred course format(s).

Transfer Credit Policy
A maximum of six credit hours may be transferred or substituted for the 36 credit hours required for the MBA degree. Students requesting to transfer or substitute credits should submit a written request to the MBA program Manager for consideration of transfer or substitution credit hours, and should include a course syllabus for each course to be evaluated. All transfer or substitution credit hours must have been earned from an accredited university of college at the graduate level with a letter grade of “B” or higher and must be approved by the MBA Program Director.

Attendance Policy
Our attendance policy allows one absence per course without penalty. Students are expected to makeup work. A second absence, if permitted by the instructor, requires additional work to be completed as arranged with the instructor. A third or subsequent absence is not acceptable, the course will need to be repeated if there are three or more absences.