Business Major
At the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, you will be prepared to successfully lead organizations towards a more ethical, diverse, and sustainable world. The future is interdisciplinary - as a business leader with a strong liberal arts background, you will be poised to create solutions to complex challenges by leveraging creative perspectives, cutting-edge professional tools, and a drive for lifelong learning. At the top-rated MBA program in Oregon, our award-winning faculty lead an innovative curriculum in small, intimate classes that build the foundation you need to be a mission-driven leader in business, government, or not-for-profit management.
This unique business program is designed to prepare you for your career with real world experiences, a strong foundation in business analytics and decision making, global perspectives, and personalized career development. You will learn to solve problems, communicate effectively, and work in team settings - qualities employers value significantly. The comprehensive coursework builds a robust foundation for changing interests, diverse career opportunities, and lifelong career success.
Experience Is The Best Teacher
Successful careers do not come from business courses alone. Here at Atkinson, we understand what it takes to prepare you for launching your career ... and beyond.
Real Work Experiences
By combining theoretical knowledge with practical experience, you will develop into a confident professional ready to engage in a competitive global economy.
- Work with client organizations: Gain practical experience in initiating and managing projects efficiently and effectively.
- Start a new venture: Explore the nature of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset.
- Internship: Practice makes perfect. Learn to navigate the hiring process, make valuable connections, in and outside Willamette, and gain confidence from real successes.
Personalized Career Development
Career development happens everywhere at Willamette. Working with our career management team, both in and out of classes, you’ll be prepared to secure an internship and launch your career.
Mission-Driven Leaders
As an Atkinson graduate, you join the ranks of ethical and diverse leaders helping to create a sustainable, inclusive, and better world. You will be prepared to drive an organization towards delivering on a mission - whether it is sustainability, creating better products and services, or creating better working environments - and be able to do so in a socially and financially responsible manner.
Lead All Organizations
One of the most valuable parts of earning your BSBA at Atkinson is the flexibility to take your career into any sector - Business, Government, and Not-for-Profit Organizations. Your career may take different paths - you will be ready for them all.
Lead Sustainable & Socially Responsible Organizations
Organizations exist in our communities, sharing our natural resources and impacting our fellow citizens. You’ll be prepared to engage in these complex and dynamic relationships, ensuring all organizational stakeholder needs are accounted for with integrity.
Global Mindset Required
As global becomes local, local becomes global. The world of work is diverse and interconnected. As an Atkinson graduate, you’ll be ready to successfully lead cross-global teams as well as launch your career on the other side of the world - or right here at home.
Think Globally, Act Locally
Develop a global mindset through courses that challenge you to integrate disciplinary knowledge into a global context. Take it further - start a venture with international reach.
Think Globally, Act Globally
Challenge yourself to learn and grow with the ultimate liberal arts experience - immersion in a new culture. At Willamette, 40% of our graduates expand their horizons with international study experiences, developing personally, professionally, and academically.
Crunch the Numbers - Generate Insights
Today’s big challenges require cutting-edge tools. At Atkinson, you will develop a robust analytical foundation - mastering the data analytics tools needed to make decisions and solve crucial challenges.
Management Science
With the rise of Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, and the gig economy, data-driven decision-making is critical. Atkinson’s coursework prepares you to harness the vast amounts of data generated in today’s organizations to improve performance, deepen enterprise understanding, and support data-driven decisions.
Data Science
Gain the technical skills and ethically informed perspectives you need to make an impact in organizations. Kick it up a notch with in-depth knowledge from one of Willamette’s dual degree programs in Data Science and learn to generate insights that can benefit organizations, inspire policymakers and enhance our understanding of the world.
Business Minor
The business minor can be paired with any College of Arts & Sciences major, complementing the Willamette liberal arts experience with professional training in management and powerful tools that employers value.
The business minor comprises five courses, introducing students to the fundamentals of management and managerial disciplines—leadership, accounting, organizations, finance, and marketing.