Curriculum
Through the certificate program from the Smeal College of Business, non-Smeal majors at Penn State can now broaden their undergraduate experience to develop fundamental business skills. The Smeal College Business Fundamentals Certificate will add to your knowledge base across a range of critical business areas and add a Smeal-specific designation to your University transcript upon completion.
The Smeal College Business Fundamentals Certificate is comprised of three prerequisite courses and five prescribed courses. The prescribed courses include four Business Administration (BA) Core courses and one business elective.
Prerequisite Courses
- ACCTG 211 - prerequisite for B A 302 (Available in the Spring and summer semesters for certificate students)
- ECON 102 - prerequisite for B A 301, B A 302, B A 303 and B A 304 (ECON 104 can be used as a substitute prerequisite for all certificate courses)
- 3 credits of 200-level statistics - prerequisite for B A 302
(STAT 200, STAT 240, STAT 250, STAT 301, STAT/MATH 318, STAT/MATH 319, STAT 401, STAT/MATH 414, STAT/MATH 415, STAT/MATH 416, STAT/MATH 418, SCM 200, ECON 306, CHE340, DS200, IE 322, IE 323, IE 424, ME 345, PLSC 309 and PSYCH 200 will satisfy the statistics requirement).
Prescribed Courses
- B A 301 Finance (3) Financial markets and institutions, investments, and financial decision making in organizations
- B A 302 Supply Chains (3) An overview of supply chain management
- B A 303 Marketing (3) Customer behavior, service/product development, pricing and promotion in diverse markets
- B A 304 Management and Organization (3) Key concepts for the design and management of organizations
and one of the following Business Electives:
- B LAW 243 Legal Environment of Business (3) Basic policies underlying individual and contractual rights in everyday society
- I B 303 International Business Operations (3) Major aspects of international business environment and operations
Students must be enrolled in a non-business baccalaureate program to pursue this certificate. Those in business options within non-Smeal majors are eligible to apply. Provided that at least three of the five courses are taken in the Smeal College of Business (University Park), certificate courses may be satisfied by substituting Penn State courses with comparable content at the same level with the approval of the Smeal College. Students must receive a grade of C or better in the five prescribed courses.
If you are an Agribusiness Major, please email scbc@smeal.psu.edu for your Smeal Business Certificate requirements.
Current Smeal Certificate Students: For questions regarding courses still needed to complete the Smeal Certificate, please email scbc@smeal.psu.edu. Students are sent updated audits every summer through starfish.
Courses are offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters.