Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree with a Major in Business and a Major Concentration in Management

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

Rice University

Program Overview

Rice University’s BA in Business with a Major Concentration in Management combines a broad business foundation with focused preparation in leadership, strategy, operations, negotiation, teamwork and organizational decision-making. It is well suited to students who want to understand how organizations work and develop the analytical, communication and leadership skills needed to address complex management challenges.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students begin by developing the quantitative, economic and communication foundations needed for business study. Courses such as ECON 100 Principles of Economics, MATH 101 Single Variable Calculus I and BUSI 396 Business Communication introduce economic reasoning, quantitative analysis and professional communication.

Year 2: Students build their understanding of how organizations operate through core business subjects and begin moving into management-focused study. Courses such as BUSI 305 Financial Accounting, BUSI 310 Leading People in Organizations and BUSI 374 Operations Management develop knowledge of financial information, leadership and organizational processes.

Year 3: The curriculum becomes more strategic and analytical, with students examining how businesses compete, manage resources and make decisions. BUSI 380 Marketing, BUSI 390 Strategic Management and BUSI 420 Leadership and Teams connect functional business knowledge with leadership, strategy and team performance.

Year 4: Students deepen their management expertise through advanced strategy and specialized electives that allow them to explore areas aligned with their interests. BUSI 431 Advanced Strategic Management, BUSI 422 Negotiations and Decision Making and BUSI 424 Management Consulting Practicum provide opportunities to apply management concepts to complex organizational and client problems.

Note: Rice publishes the requirements by course rather than as a fixed year-by-year sequence, so the four-year structure above represents a logical progression rather than an official prescribed schedule.

Focus areas

Leadership and teams, strategic management, operations management, organizational change, negotiation and decision-making, marketing, financial management, management accounting, product development, behavioral research, management consulting

Learning outcomes

Students develop critical-thinking and analytical abilities for business problems, apply behavioral and strategic concepts to management challenges, communicate advanced business analysis effectively, and build research and problem-solving skills for strategy, leadership, teamwork, negotiation, decision-making and marketing strategy.

Professional alignment (accreditation)

Rice Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The accreditation provides an established quality framework for the business school's teaching and academic standards.

Reputation (employability rankings)

Rice Business reports strong employment outcomes for its undergraduate Business major: its 2025 Undergraduate Business Major Employment Report records a $105,000 median starting salary, 93% of business students participating in one or more internship or research experiences, and 95% securing post-graduate paths within six months.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

Students can complement classroom learning with applied experiences built directly into the Business curriculum. The Management Consulting Practicum (BUSI 424) is particularly relevant to this concentration: Rice describes it as a field-study practicum where students work on strategic problems from the perspective of management consultants, with emphasis on analytical thinking, teamwork, leadership and client interaction. Students can also receive academic credit for approved internships through BUSI 498 Applied Business Experience, while independent study provides another route for developing focused academic or research work.

Students have access to the newly opened Asha and Farid Virani Hall, a 112,000-square-foot business facility with technology-enabled classrooms, collaborative breakout rooms, research workstations and event spaces designed to connect students with business leaders:

BUSI 424 Management Consulting Practicum: Field-study experience involving strategic problem-solving for clients, applied analytical thinking, teamwork, leadership and client interactions.
BUSI 498 Applied Business Experience: Faculty-approved internships, including traditional summer internships, can be completed for university credit as part of the undergraduate Business major.
BUSI 499 Undergraduate Business Independent Study: Students can undertake supervised independent academic work for 1–3 credit hours; at least 3 credits are required when used toward the Management concentration.
Virani Hall: Technology-enabled classrooms, 13 collaborative breakout rooms, research workstations and flexible event space provide dedicated infrastructure for business learning, collaboration and engagement with industry.
Industry engagement: Rice Business provides opportunities for students to connect with employers through networking, recruiting activities and career events, while its employer network includes organizations such as Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, EY, Google, Goldman Sachs, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, McKinsey & Company and Siemens.
Moody Business Scholars Program: Launched in 2026, this selective undergraduate program includes industry speaker series, immersive career preparation, networking, industry treks, case competitions and other experiential-learning activities, with a management-focused track.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Management concentration prepares graduates for business-focused careers by combining management knowledge with analytical, communication and leadership skills. Rice's 2025 undergraduate Business employment report shows that 95% secured a post-graduate path within six months, with 72% accepting full-time positions, 23% continuing to graduate school and 5% entering the military; the reported median starting salary was $105,000.

Typical career paths include Management Consultant, Business Analyst, Operations Manager and Project Manager, with the broader Business curriculum also supporting careers across management, marketing, finance and accounting.

Students can build their career pathway through:

Career development: Rice Business provides career support through the Center for Career Development, including career counseling, résumé reviews, mock interviews, personality assessments, workshops and networking opportunities.
Employment outcomes: The 2025 undergraduate Business report records a $105,000 median starting salary, 93% participation in an internship or research experience, and 95% securing post-graduate paths within six months.
Employer connections: Rice Business maintains recruiting relationships with employers including Amazon, Apple, Chevron, Citi, Deloitte, EY, Goldman Sachs, Google, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, Siemens and Walmart.
Industry engagement: The school reported 135 new employers engaged through recruiting, networking and career fairs during 2024–25, alongside 91 workshops, panels and career-education engagements.
Accreditation: Rice Business holds AACSB accreditation, giving the business school an internationally recognized quality-assurance framework for business education.
Graduate outcomes: Graduates can move directly into employment, continue into graduate study or pursue specialized business education depending on their goals. Rice reports that 23% of the 2025 undergraduate Business cohort continued to graduate school.

Further Academic Progression: Graduates can pursue advanced study in areas such as business administration, finance, accounting or management. At Rice, relevant graduate options include the MBA, Master of Finance (MFin), Master of Accounting (MAcc), MA in Business and PhD in Business; eligible undergraduates can also apply through Rice's MBA Deferred Enrollment route, which allows students to apply during their final year and reserve an MBA place for two to five years after graduation, subject to the program's conditions.