Business Administration Major

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Leadership in Business

Study at one of the top Business Administration programs in Pennsylvania. A Business Administration degree from Elizabethtown College provides you with a comprehensive education and the solid foundation you need to enter a variety of business and leadership careers. Whether you are looking to start your own business or work up to managing one, our flexible program will provide you with the necessary skills and business acumen.

Meet The Faculty Visit Campus

Kelsey Sloan ’16

BA MAJOR (MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING CONCENTRATIONS)

"The School of Business helped me build my resume, my network, and most importantly, my confidence to pursue my passions fearlessly. The diverse opportunities that were provided to me helped me to find the marketing internships that I held as a student, as well as secure my first position prior to graduating from Elizabethtown College."

Kelsey currently works as the Recruiting Specialist for GIANT Food Stores, LLC in Carlisle, PA. She obtained her Resident Producer License for Accident and Health, Life and Fixed Annuities in 2016, and proudly earned her Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional Credential (SHRM-CP) in 2017.

Learn the Ropes

At Etown, every student who wants an internship or co-op can complete one. Our students complete one or more internships before they graduate, whether that’s with a Big Four accounting firm, a Fortune 500 company or a small family business in central Pennsylvania. At Etown, 100% of students who completed a co-op with the Hershey Company were offered a full-time position after graduation!

Business Administration Concentrations

Our Business Administration major is flexible, yet specialized. You'll choose from one of six concentrations to help you develop specific skills and explore your areas of interest within business. View the academic requirements for the major and the six concentrations.

Accounting:

business admin students

A concentration in accounting will help you better understand how financial statements of an organization are prepared for presentation to the investing public. This knowledge will help you as a business leader to understand and assess the financial implications of business decisions and the effect these decisions may have on your company's ability to obtain additional capital.

Economics:

economic concentration

A concentration in economics enables you to understand decision making by consumers and firms, the allocation of resources in society, and the role of government in a market economy.

Entrepreneurship and Family Business:

entrepreneurship

The goal of our Entrepreneurship and Family Business concentration at Etown is to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset that inspires an entrepreneurial life that goes beyond launching a start-up or owning a business. Entrepreneurship is also about being entrepreneurial while working for others or getting involved in the community and becoming a social entrepreneur.

Finance:

finance concentration

The finance concentration teaches you about the principles of investing, financial institutions management, foreign-exchange risk management, and financial transactions such as leasing, mergers, and acquisitions.

HR & Talent Management

management

Our Business HR & Talent Management concentration sharpens your soft skills, such as emotional intelligence and communication, helps you discover your unique leadership style, and improves your ability to work with diverse people in a team setting. It also focuses on essential human resource competencies, advanced legal principles, and managing technology and innovation in a changing environment.

Marketing:

marketing concentration

Every company asks about its customers: What do we know about them? How do we get and keep them? Why should they buy from us? In marketing, we are chiefly concerned with being better at satisfying the customer than our competitors can. If we manage that, we bring in money to pay the bills and put food on the table. If we don’t, the company sinks for want of customers. Interested in ensuring your company’s growth? Come join us in marketing.

Jessica Sullivan ’18

Thanks to a co-op experience with The Hershey Company, Jessica Sullivan landed a job months before graduation.

In her sophomore year, Jessica Sullivan, a senior business administration major with a concentration in marketing and a minor in communications, was approached about an internship with the nearby Hershey Company by her business professor Sylvester Williams. She worked full time for six months, returned to part-time work for the next semester, and was invited, once again, to stay for a summer internship. Instead, Sullivan opted for a new opportunity this past summer with McCormick & Co. and, ultimately, accepted a position as an associate product manager at the spice company's Hunt Valley location. “The co-op helped me so much. I was always a detail person and good with time management, but this job honed my skills so much, and when I applied with McCormick, the Hershey name on my resume sold it."

Business Minors

Don’t want to pursue a full business major? You can add a minor instead! Our minors provide a specialized education without the extensive coursework offered by our Business Administration degree.

Business Administration Minor

Don’t have time to add a business major to your current major? Completing a Business Administration minor would be a great way to get your feet wet in the world of business and supplement your current major. The minor is designed to provide you with the fundamental building blocks of business in the areas of accounting, management, law, and economics.

Business Administration Minor

Economics Minor

The Economics minor is intended for students with a strong interest in economics who are majoring in business, accounting, or other fields. The minor should especially benefit students interested in pursuing an MBA program, going to law school, or working in the quantitative field. The minor requires 20 credits and can be added easily to almost any major at the College.

Economics Minor

Family Business & Entrepreneurship Minor

The focus of the Family Business and Entrepreneurship minor is on entrepreneurial family businesses and new ventures and their use of innovation as the main growth engine. The minor develops the skills needed to lead and perform effectively as a member of a family business and to recognize and capitalize on opportunities to launch new ventures.

Family Business & Entrepreneurship Minor

Finance Minor

The Finance minor is a great addition to any program, for students interested in investment, financial planning, and financial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

Finance Minor

Arts Administration Minor

Combine your love of the arts with business and build a promising career! If you are looking to work in marketing, administration or management in the world of performing or fine arts, our Arts Administration minor is the perfect fit for you!

Arts Administration Minor

Adam Saubel ’18

BA MAJOR (FINANCE CONCENTRATION)

Adam had the chance to do a full-time co-op internship with The Hershey Company in 2016. Adam worked for Hershey headquarters doing category strategy and insights, working on the convenience store channel making sales presentations for retailers and doing financial planning research for The Hershey Company Adam decided to study business administration at Etown as he wanted a small school environment in order to develop close relationships with his professors.

BA Major Requirements

BA Minor Requirements

BA Degree Planner

Four-Year Course Plan

Internship Opportunities

The School of Business pairs you with an advisor from your chosen area of concentration. This professor works with you to choose courses and obtain internships that best prepare you for a career in your field of interest. Located in central Pennsylvania, our Business Administration major is well-positioned to connect you with both large and small companies to help you gain experience and hone your business skills. This preparation has helped our business students obtain jobs and internships in a variety of companies. Some of these companies include:

Armstrong World Industries
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Ernst & Young
High Construction Company
The Hershey Company
Kellogg Company
Procter & Gamble
Lancaster General Hospital
Vanguard
Wells Fargo

Ryan Kiscaden ’07

BA IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MBA

Ryan Kiscaden, executive director of Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC), is America's top expert on the replacement of mercury-containing thermostats and is known throughout the energy and HVACR industry as an expert on driving an organization that has been highly successful at removing hazardous mercury thermostats from the environmental stream.

Elizabethtown College

717-361-1000

One Alpha Drive
Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298

Elizabethtown College does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, possession of a general education development certificate as compared to a high school diploma, or any other legally protected status. This commitment applies but is not limited to decisions made with respect to hiring and promotion, the administration of educational programs and policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other College administered programs. Discrimination or harassment of any kind is strictly forbidden.

Elizabethtown College