West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics has signed a pathway agreement with the WVU Institute of Technology that would provide a way for students to earn two degrees in five years.

The four-plus-one MBA pathway will allow engineering, engineering technology, computer science and information systems students at the WVU Tech Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences the opportunity to complete both Bachelor of Science and Masters of Business Administration degrees in a five-year period.

WVU Tech seniors who apply after successfully completing their course of study and who have a GPA of 3.0 at the time of application and graduation and a score of 600 or better on the Graduate Management Admission Test will be guaranteed admission into the WVU MBA program.

“Coupling these two degrees in this cooperative pathway agreement will help yield highly skilled, highly successful and highly marketable graduates,” said Jose “Zito” Sartarelli, Milan Puskar Dean, College of Business and Economics. “This opportunity represents a combination of science and technology, whereby these two schools are taking an engineering degree and adding the financial, leadership and managerial knowledge that is embedded in an MBA.”

Sartarelli added, “WVU and WVU Tech are creating what I have described in the past as a ‘turbo-charged’ degree. Students who graduate via this pathway agreement will be ready for success in the global marketplace.”

Pathway students will receive the benefit of GMAT preparation materials, opportunities to apply for graduate scholarships and access to the WVU College of Business and Economics Career Services Center. Eligible students may also take approved MBA elective courses during their undergraduate studies, thereby reducing their graduate credit requirements.

“WVU Tech graduates are sought after by employers for their experience-focused education and work-ready professionalism,” said WVU Tech Campus President Carolyn Long. “This pathway program offers a seamless route for students to combine their WVU Tech education with WVU’s distinguished MBA and positions graduates to enter into their careers at a level where they can further impact business and industry in West Virginia and beyond.”

WVU Provost Dr. Joyce Mc Connell said the agreement is of great benefit to both schools.

“We have seen in the past, particularly with the College of Business and Economics, that partnerships for advanced degrees are invaluable,” McConnell said. “In this case, where you can add an MBA from a top 100 school to an undergraduate degree from a highly-respected engineering school, students are the beneficiaries of a thoughtfully-created partnership.”

B&E’s MBA program was ranked this year in the top 100 MBA programs in the country (#92) by U.S. News & World Report. The WVU College of Business and Economics has been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business since 1954.

For further information on the WVU College of Business and Economics, visit be.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

pg/08/27/14

CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131, Patrick.Gregg@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.