The Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics and the MBA program in the Alvah H. Chapman, Jr. Graduate School of Business at Florida International University offer a joint degree pathway culminating in both a Master of Business Administration (MBA), and a Master of Science in Information Systems degree (MSIS). Under the joint degree pathway, a student can obtain both degrees in significantly less time than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively. The joint degree pathway will use existing faculty, courses, and resources. Important criteria relating to the joint degree pathway are as follows:
- Candidates to the joint degree pathway must meet the entrance requirements established by each individual program.
- Applications for the joint degree pathway will not be accepted from candidates who have already completed either degree. MBA or MSIS students must apply and be admitted no later than the second to last semester in which they are expected to complete their original degree requirements.
- Candidates must satisfy all requirements for each degree. To obtain the MSIS degree, the student will be required to take twelve (12) MIS courses. This includes the one MIS course in the MBA core program, plus eleven MIS courses from the MSIS program, for a total of 36 credit hours. Two of these eleven MSIS courses will be used to satisfy part of the elective requirements of the MBA program. To obtain the MBA degree, the student will have to fulfill all the MBA program requirements. The two degrees will have three common courses. All courses transferred between degrees must be completed with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. MSIS courses transferred to meet MBA elective credit must be 6000 level courses approved by the University Curriculum Committee. Directors of the MBA and MSIS degree programs may adjust these exact course requirements as a result of future changes to the MBA or MSIS curriculums.
- Joint degree pathway candidates will not receive either degree until all requirements for both programs have been satisfied. Students deciding against completing a second degree must satisfy all first degree program requirements as if the student had never been a joint degree candidate.
- With the joint degree pathway students will take a total of 69 credit hours to get both degrees. Without the joint degree pathway students will need to take 91 credit hours to get both degrees. Thus, MBA students who have taken nine credits of MSIS common courses may obtain an MSMIS degree with an additional 27 credits. MSIS students who have taken three credits of a MBA core MIS course may obtain an MBA degree with only 33 credits.
For additional information, contact the Flex MBA office at 305.779.7894 or the MSIS Office at 305.348.4347.