Master of Science in Business Administration
The Marketing Department offers a focused Master of Science program with a concentration in advanced marketing research. The program serves students with two types of interests:
- Students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. but who have completed only an undergraduate degree.
- Students with well defined interests in analytical positions in marketing research organizations.
The program is highly selective and limited in size (admitting 1 to 3 students per year) and involves a high level of interaction with members of the marketing faculty. For students seeking to pursue a Ph.D., the M.S. program provides a point of entry for students with limited backgrounds, allowing them to gain insight on the training and career expectations for Ph.D.'s in marketing and to complete work preparatory to Ph.D. study in core areas like mathematics, statistics, and research methods. For students who choose to treat the M.S. degree as terminal, significant employment opportunities exist in marketing research and advertising research organizations. However, prospective applicants should understand that this program is not a substitute for the M.B.A. for students seeking a professional business degree. The M.S. program provides focused and advanced technical training not available in the M.B.A. program of study and its requirements are quite different from the MBA.
Program Structure
The program of study includes a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework at the graduate level, plus a comprehensive project, examination, or a thesis. The degree requirements include:
- 9-12 credit hours of advanced marketing seminars (6000 level).
- A minimum of 9 credit hours of research methods and statistics courses at the graduate level. Suggested courses include graduate study in statistics (STAT 5615, 5616, or 5004) econometrics (ECON 5125, 5126, 5127), Psychology (PSYC 5315, 5316), and/or Marketing (MKTG 6224).
- 6-9 elective credit hours at the graduate level in a related discipline (e.g., psychology or economics) or graduate level business courses (if the student has the requisite background and space permits) that would contribute to the student's ability to design and conduct sophisticated research.
- A comprehensive applied project entailing the design and implementation of appropriate marketing research skills, an examination covering the marketing literature and research methods, or a master's thesis. Up to 6 credit hours will be awarded for the thesis.
Contacts and Application
For more information regarding this program, please contact:
Director of M.S Studies
Department of Marketing (0236)
Pamplin College of Business
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Application materials are available from the department, or the Graduate School.