Admission Requirements
The admissions decision is based on a combination of factors. Consideration is given to a candidate’s academic record, scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), work and leadership experience, a personal narrative on the application form, and recommendations.
As in most AACSB-accredited graduate business programs, the UMSL College of Business generally requires Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) scores. Information on the GMAT exam can be obtained at www.mba.com. The examination tests one’s ability to read, understand, and to reason logically with both verbal and quantitative material. The test is not a measure of achievement or business knowledge. Under certain conditions, the applicant may petition for waiver of the GMAT requirement, based on possession of an advanced degree and/or the ability to supply acceptable scores from an equivalent test.
MS in IS Program Degree Requirements
The program may require as few as 30 hours for students with undergraduate business degrees from AACSB-accredited institutions. Because of the need to attain general business core competencies as a foundation of the MS in IS requirements, students with no academic business background will be required to take additional hours as outlined below.
General Requirements
All students must meet course requirements in quantitative reasoning, general business and IS. Students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours beyond the general business core. Of the 30 hours beyond the general business core, at least 24 hours must cover topics beyond INFSYS 5800 and INFSYS 6805. Students with a B.S.B.A. with an emphasis in IS or a B.S. in IS from an AACSB-accredited institution may, at the student’s discretion, substitute two electives for INFSYS 5800 and INFSYS 6805. Waivers may be granted for other courses with appropriate undergraduate course work.
Quantitative Reasoning Requirement
Students are required to have completed by the end of their first semester in the program the equivalent of ECON 4105, Quantitative Methods and Modeling in Economics, Business and the Social Sciences with a grade of C or better. Students are also required to complete the equivalent of SCMA 5300 Statistical Analysis for Management Decisions with a grade of C or better. These courses do not count towards the graduate degree, but waivers may be granted with appropriate undergraduate course work.
General Business Core
Students must have a B.S. in IS, or a B.S.B.A. with an emphasis in MIS that requires a managerial communication course, and coursework equivalent to at least five of the following courses:
| BUS AD 5900 | Law, Ethics and Business | 3 |
| ACCTNG 5400 | Financial and Managerial Accounting | 3 |
| FINANCE 6500 | Financial Management | 3 |
| MGMT 5600 | Managing People in Organizations | 3 |
| MKTG 5700 | Contemporary Marketing Concepts | 3 |
| SCMA 5320 | Production and Operations Management | 3 |
| BUS AD 6990 | Strategy Formulation and Implementation | 3 |
Students who have not met this prerequisite must complete BUS AD 5100 Managerial Communication and course work from at least five of the courses listed above.
Program Requirements
| A. Basic IS courses | ||
| INFSYS 5800 | Management Information Systems | 3 |
| INFSYS 6805 | Applications of Programming for Business Solutions | 3 |
| INFSYS 6840 | Information Systems Analysis | 3 |
| INFSYS 6845 | Database Management Systems | 3 |
| INFSYS 6850 | Information Systems Design | 3 |
| Select five of the following: | 15 | |
| Advanced Object-Oriented Programming for Business | ||
INFSYS 6835 | IT-Enabled Business | |
| Management of Data Networks and Security | ||
INFSYS 6837 | Information Systems Architecture | |
| Business Processes: Design, Management and Integration | ||
| Global Sourcing and Automation of Business Services | ||
| Project Management | ||
| Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence | ||
| Management of Transnational Information Systems | ||
| Seminar in Information Systems | ||
| A maximum of 2 courses outside IS. Courses outside the College of Business must be approved by the IS department chairperson. | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |