Business Administration Degree— Anybody?

RyanB

RyanB

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So I’m currently going into my senior year as a Healthcare Administration Major. Chatted with my advisor a bit and I’m certainly seeing several pro’s and con’s (as with any field) but one thing she mentioned as a close alternative is just Business Administration. Not really thinking of changing majors at this point, but does anyone have a BA undergrad degree and currently works in a field with it? What’s the job placement like? Would love to hear some input on it for kicks and giggles.

Thanks
 
I have an MBA, not the undergrad degree, but of all degrees out there, I highly recommend a business degree. Most companies are not run by people with computer science degrees or sociology majors, they're run by business people. There are exceptions of course, but they are exceptions.

Placement varies greatly by the school. Ask about the placement rate/job titles in your field of study. If you're interested in one or more particular companies, ask if they recruit there. If a company already comes to your school, it's much easier to get an interview.

Go for it.
 
I'll tell you what I told my kids: a Business Admin degree is for people in jobs who need a 4 year degree for a promotion. If you want a college major that will make you more employable at the entry level, then you have to get one in a field that has a demand. My kids didn't listen to me. One got a Business Admin degree, then wound up going back to school and became a respiratory tech. The other one got a BA in Communications enlisted in the Navy. Then, answered the call when they were looking for enlisted people with bachelor's degrees to go try out for pilot training. He's now going through intermediate jet training and loving it.
 
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From what I’ve seen degrees accomplish two things- they get your foot in the door and they might give you an advantage for promotion. Most places are more interested in hiring people with experience in the field than what your degree is in.
 
Except for hard science/engineering/medicine, it really doesn't matter much. Music majors do IT development, history majors do marketing, communications majors compete for the 3 entry level jobs each year that actually call it out. Education majors have the lowest average SAT of almost all majors. But bottom line, most undergrads don't end up working in their major, so business admin is a bit of generic, "get hired" degree.

MBA plus experience will open more doors.
 
I’ve got a Bachelers of Science in Business. It’s a generic degree that just shows you graduated college and can reasonably do things (more likely than not, things you’re already doing now.). I was working in IT when I graduated, so I continued working in IT since it paid the bills.

As others have said, it was the MBA that helped to boost me out of IT development/database architecture and administration into IT consulting, and now IT management.

Your Healthcare Administration degree might be a bit more useful than the Business Administration degree if you want to work in the healthcare insurance business, a hospital, or even a medical device company. (San Diego, California is a hotbed for bio-tech and such a degree might be useful). But I would say experience and an advanced degree will help to define a career path more than an undergraduate degree.
 
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I have a business administration degree and my MBA.
 
Ryanb said:
So I’m currently going into my senior year as a Healthcare Administration Major. Chatted with my advisor a bit and I’m certainly seeing several pro’s and con’s (as with any field) but one thing she mentioned as a close alternative is just Business Administration. Not really thinking of changing majors at this point, but does anyone have a BA undergrad degree and currently works in a field with it? What’s the job placement like? Would love to hear some input on it for kicks and giggles.

Thanks
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Why the late run away from the healthcare admin degree?? As a PA in a large HCO I can tell you that they seem to hire more administrators/managers then practitioners. The slow death of private practice in favor of groups seemingly getting larger and larger with the push for performance based reimbursement make the admin side of healthcare very appetizing.
 
I’d still with the Healthcare Administration degree. If you’re going to get a business degree, it should probably be in something like Accounting or Finance, not just general administration. The MBA is always a good one for non-business undergrads that looks good on a resume if you want to venture outside of the healthcare world easily.
 
I have my computer information systems which I use for my work but not required. I have my MBA which I clearly don't use not one stinking bit but that's okay.

To piggy on your degree look at the MBA next. It will make you well rounded and a master's is the new bachelor's, so I'm told...
 
I have a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from The Citadel. I have worked for 33 years in the banking industry, starting as a staff internal auditor and working in various risk management roles. Currently working as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer for a community bank in central Georgia. Much of my degree work provided only minimal benefit to my working career. Many employers are looking for you to have a degree, but less focused on the specifics of what that degree is in.
 
I have a BA in Economics, minor in Business. Could have done another semester to make it a double major, but didn't bother and it's never hurt.

My advice? Finish the current major and immediately enroll in an MPA program. You'll never be lacking for work. <- Not a typo. Masters of Public Administration.
 
I have a BS in Business, and I am currently working as a corporate pilot. I got it so I could check the box when applying for jobs that require a 4 year degree. Had I not planned on being a professional pilot, I probably would have gotten a more specific degree.
 
I think any degree will certainly help if a degree is desired for employment. I have a bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management and I doubt I'll ever use it.
 
Thanks all.

Not changing majors, just wanted to hear some opinions for kicks. I like the fact that I’m on a track in a specified field. Anticipated salaries are favorable too.
 
I have a BS in Aviation Management. I could have, and probably should have, gotten a different degree to have a broader field to go into. But at least I can be a professional airport bum.
 
Ryanb said:
So I’m currently going into my senior year as a Healthcare Administration Major.

Thanks
Click to expand...

If it were me, I would stick with Healthcare Administration... there are nuances to running hospitals and multi discipline medical practices that are not germane to your run of the mill BS Business degree... and you will always be able to find a job.. at least that is how I am seeing it.

That said, I have a BS in Business Admin with a strong flavor of accounting... only once has the fact that I had a degree come up, my first job interview after college, and it could have been in basket weaving for all they cared..
 
Business Admin? Is that the same as "BBA"? Nope.
--BS Mechanical Engineering
--MS Engineering
Still respect the work done to get an MBA, but they're rather common these days . . .
 
1. There had to be a reason you chose your major. IMO, you picked a good one, so unless there's a really good reason I wouldn't change it.
2. Unless you're going into a specialized field like IT, engineering, nursing, etc. I don't think it makes a bit of difference what your degree is in. More than anything it just shows that you wanted more education after high school and had the drive to see it through.
3. When the loosened the purse strings on student loans colleges couldn't soak up enough of the funds and the Education Industrial Complex was born. The cost of higher education has gone through the roof for no reason other than they could raise the prices and an unlimited number of people would still pay. It's absurd, but irreversible.
5. Most people are terrible with numbers.
6. My son will be attending our state university in a few months. It's supposed to be one of the cheapest in the nation at $285/credit hour. Sounded too good to be true, and once we started the registration process we realized it really wasn't true. These are all mandatory fees:

* A residential housing application waiver fee to live off campus. He changed his mind....but the same fee applies to live on campus.
* $7800 to share a dorm room for 8 months.
* $3,700 for the 2 meals/day plan for 7 months.
* $300 registration fee. I asked what that was for. "to register" stupid me.
* $40/credit hour course fees. (just a way to make their price per hour tuition look lower than it really is. this was put in place because there's a state law that caps the amount the state university is allowed to charge for tuition)
* $14/credit hour IT fees.
* $200 Student Health fees. (never mind that he's on my health insurance)
* $300/year rec center fees, whether he uses it or not
* $450/year student activity fees.

Sorry, I got off topic. Just hit a hot spot with me.
 
Gerhardt said:
1. There had to be a reason you chose your major. IMO, you picked a good one, so unless there's a really good reason I wouldn't change it.
2. Unless you're going into a specialized field like IT, engineering, nursing, etc. I don't think it makes a bit of difference what your degree is in. More than anything it just shows that you wanted more education after high school and had the drive to see it through.
3. When the loosened the purse strings on student loans colleges couldn't soak up enough of the funds and the Education Industrial Complex was born. The cost of higher education has gone through the roof for no reason other than they could raise the prices and an unlimited number of people would still pay. It's absurd, but irreversible.
5. Most people are terrible with numbers.
6. My son will be attending our state university in a few months. It's supposed to be one of the cheapest in the nation at $285/credit hour. Sounded too good to be true, and once we started the registration process we realized it really wasn't true. These are all mandatory fees:
Click to expand...

What happened to number 4?
 
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