Business Minor

An engaging and interactive curriculum studying business concepts in real-world contexts.

The Business Minor at the Rady School of Management provides students with a broad understanding of business theory, practices, and applications. Each course covers the application of business principles to a broad variety of fields within the wide range of academic interests and majors among the UC San Diego undergraduate population. Rady School business courses are application-oriented, exploring theoretical approaches, and emphasizing the implementation of those theories across a wide range of real-world contexts.

Declaring the minor

The business minor is open to registered UCSD students pursuing a bachelor's degree. There is no separate admissions process. While you may declare a minor throughout your first few years, we strongly recommend you do it at your earliest convenience. Rady sends important information regarding class offerings and policy changes to our minors to declared students through our minor list.

You may declare a minor through Tritonlink. For a step-by-step video tutorial on how to declare please visit our main Rady Advising page.

Students majoring in International Studies - International Business and/or Business Psychology cannot earn a minor in business. Students who have declared the business minor, cannot declare the Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor due to overlap of core requirements. 

Before declaring a minor, please contact your college advisor in order to ensure that you will not exceed the maximum unit limitation by pursuing a minor.

Minor Requirements

Students must complete a total of 28 units (20 must be upper-division units) to satisfy the requirements of the business minor. Only eight lower-division units may be taken for the business minor.

Required coursework focuses on business operation fundamentals, project management, business ethics, and entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Many Business Minor courses are team-focused, encouraging the development of skills in team interaction, consensus building, conflict resolution, group presentations,  and organizational leadership. Additionally, Rady School courses provide learning opportunities for undergraduate students that are unique to the UC San Diego campus. Students who complete the minor will bring a much-valued perspective to their initial employment.

Find the list of tentative Rady classes for the academic year on the undergraduate homepage.

 

Business Minor Courses

Ethics (4 units)

Choose between
  • MGT 16: Personal Ethics at Work
  • MGT 166: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Accounting (4units)

Choose between:
  • MGT 45: Principles of Accounting (4 units)
  • MGT/ECON 4 Financial Accounting  AND  MGT5 Managerial Accounting (8 units, both classes must be completed to fulfill the accounting requirement)

 

Core (12 units)

All courses are required.
    • MGT 103: Product Marketing and Management
    • MGT 181: Enterprise Finance
      Prerequisites: Either MGT 3 or MATH 10A or MATH 20A
      AND  MGT 45 or both MGT/ECON4 and MGT 5

    • MGT 112: Global Business Strategy
      Prerequisites: MGT 181 AND  MGT 103

Elective Courses (8 units)

Because business principles are applicable to a broad range of fields, we accept business-related electives completed either at the Rady School or from other departments. Please consult with the appropriate department for enrollment and prerequisite inquiries. Only eight units of lower-division courses allowed for the minor. If you have taken both MGT 16 and 45 for the core business minor courses, all elective courses must be upper-division. 

Rady Courses:

  • MGT 12: Personal Financial Management
  • MGT 16: Personal Ethics at Work
  • MGT 18: Managing Diverse Teams
  • MGT 102: E-Commerce*
  • MGT 105: Product Promotion and Brand Management
  • MGT 106: Sales and Sales Management
  • MGT 107: Consumer Behavior*
  • MGT108/R: Applied Market Research*
  • MGT 109: Topics in Marketing*
  • MGT 117: Business Law*
  • MGT 119: Topics in Business*
  • MGT 121A: Innovation to Market A
  • MGT 121B: Innovation to Market B
  • MGT 129: Topics in Entrepreneurship*
  • MGT 153: Business Analytics*
  • MGT 162/R: Negotiation*
  • MGT 164: Business and Organizational Leadership
  • MGT 166 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
  • MGT 171: Operations Management* 
  • MGT 172: Business Project Management
  • MGT 175: Supply Chain Management*
  • MGT 176: Strategic Cost Management*
  • MGT 177: Analytics and Spreadsheet Modeling in Supply Chain Management*
  • MGT 183: Financial Investments
  • MGT 184: Money and Banking
  • MGT 185: Investment Banking
  • MGT 189: Topics in Finance
  • MGT 198: Directed Group Study* (Subject to department approval)
  • MGT 199: Independent Research Project* (Subject to department approval)
  • AIP 197: Internship* (Subject to department approval)
For MGT 199:  The Research Experience & Applied Learning (REAL) Portal helps students discover internships and other hands-on experiential learning opportunities.

Approved courses from other departments:

  • COMM 110G: Communication in Organizations
  • COMM 109D: Advertising and Society
  • COMM 162: Advanced Studies in Cultural Industries
  • COMM 106F: The Film Industry
  • COMM 106I: Internet Industry
  • ENG 100B: Engineering Leadership*
  • ENG 100D: Design for Development (open to all majors)*
  • ENG 100L: Design for Development Laboratory (open to all majors)* 
  • ENG 201: Venture Mechanics
  • ENG 202: Enterprise Dynamics
  • ENG 203: Applied Innovation
  • MATH 193A: Actuarial Mathematics
  • MATH 193B: Actuarial Mathematics*
  • MATH 194: Mathematics of Finance
  • PSYC 178: Organizational Psychology
  • SOCI 121: Economy and Society
  • SOCI 132: Gender and Work
  • SOCI 140F: Law and the Workplace
  • SOCI 148E: Inequality and Jobs

 *Students must contact Rady Advising to have class manually applied as a business minor elective to their degree audit.


Business Minor Program Requirements

Take all business minor classes for a letter grade.
(the math prerequisite may be taken for P/NP for minor purposes)
Earn at least a C- in each course used for the minor.
 At least 20 units must be upper-division units (courses numbered 100+)
At least five classes for the minor must be taken at UCSD.
Finish the minor with an overall minor GPA of 2.0

"Mini-Concentrations"

Students may take two electives in the same functional area and thus have an informal "mini-concentration" in that specialty.  Mini-concentrations are not official and will not show up in your diploma or your degree audit. These mini-concentrations are:

Operations:

COMM 162, MGT 171, MGT 172, MGT 175, MGT 176, MGT177, MGT 153

Marketing:

MGT 102, MGT 105, MGT 106, MGT 107, MGT 108R, MGT 109, COMM 109D, COMM 106I

Organizational Behavior:

MGT 18, MGT 117, MGT 162, MGT 164, COMM 106F, COMM 110G, SOCI 121, SOCI 132, SOCI 140F, SOCI 148E, PSYC 178

Finance:

MGT 12, MGT 183, MGT 184, MGT 185, MATH 193A, MATH 193B, MATH 194

 

Frequently Asked Questions - Business 

How many electives do I need for the business minor?

You need 8 units of electives for the business minor. In most cases, that will be two - 4 unit courses. However, some electives such as MGT 162 are only worth 2 units and will require two - 2 unit courses and one - 4 unit course. 

Both MGT 12 and MGT 18 show in your list of allowable electives. May I take both to fulfill the minor electives?

A maximum of two lower-division courses may be applied toward the minor (MGT4 and MGT5 taken together count as one lower division class that substitutes for MGT45 when applied toward the Business Minor). After this class is taken into account, this will only allow you to take one additional lower-division course. Students can select between MGT 12, MGT 16 or MGT 18 as their second lower-division course.

How many lower-division courses can I take toward my minor?

A maximum of two lower-division courses can be taken for any Rady minor. For the business minor, MGT4/ECON4 and MGT5 will count together as one lower-division course. You can watch a video about the lower division rule below.

What is a mini-concentration?

A mini-concentration is an unofficial designation for students that take two courses in an area of business. It is meant to be a guideline for people interested in a particular career track of business to take courses that are relevant to that area. There are four mini-concentrations: Marketing, Finance, Operations,  and Organizational Behavior. If courses are not offered for a mini concentration we encourage you to seek another business elective to make sure that you finish your program in time.

I've decided to take different electives than the two I listed on my minor declaration form. Should I submit a petition?

You do not have to contact us if you decide to change your course plan for the minor, as long as the elective courses are from the list of approved minor courses. Please make sure that you adhere to the two lower-division rule and you do not take three or more lower-division courses.

What courses should I choose to fulfill my accounting requirement?

Students can fulfill their accounting minor by either taking one course or two courses. Students who have not taken accounting before and do not need an accounting course for any other program requirements (i.e. Major or Accounting Minor) are encouraged to enroll in MGT 45 Principles of Accounting. Students who have taken an accounting course sequence at a Community College or need accounting courses for their major may take both MGT/ECON4 Financial Accounting and MGT 5 Managerial Accounting to fulfill the accounting requirement. 

Can I take pre-requisites concurrently with the upper-division MGT course?

Lower-division pre-requisites for core courses may not be taken concurrently, no exceptions. Upper-division pre-requisites for core courses may be taken concurrently by petition only. Students must submit a formal Undergraduate Petition Form to receive an exception to the policy. 

Can I overlap courses between my major and my minor?

Students can overlap lower-division courses and two upper-division courses between their major and minor. All approved courses will automatically appear on the student's degree audit and fulfill both the major and minor requirements for up to eight units. If your approved courses are not overlapped automatically, please contact us by submitting a VAC message. Students majoring in International Studies - International Business and/or Business Psychology cannot earn a minor in business due to curricular overlap.

 

What is the process to receive departmental approval to use my AIP 197 as a business elective?

For department pre-approval, submit your AIP Learning Agreement Form to the advising office or to undergrad@rady.ucsd.edu after your faculty advisor has signed it. For formal approval to use AIP 197 as a business minor elective, please submit a Rady Student Petition and include a copy of your Learning Agreement as well as your final project assessment. A maximum of one AIP197 class can be applied toward the business minor. If an AIP project is more than 8 units, it will still only fulfill one business minor elective. For complete instructions, review the AIP 197 for Business Minor Credit document below. 

Find more information about the AIP program here: http://aip.ucsd.edu/.

AIP197

 

Can business minors take entrepreneurship courses for business minor credit?

Generally, courses designed specifically for the E&I minor will not fulfill your Business electives. These courses include MGT 187, MGT 127, MGT 128R and MGT 167. In the descriptions of these courses in our tentative schedule, you will only see it listed as Entrepreneurship and Innovation courses.

However, the topics of some courses are broad enough that they are relevant to both business and entrepreneurship. For example, MGT 121A, MGT 121B, and  MGT 105 will fulfill both minors to allow students to explore both minors. The course descriptions on the list of tentative classes for the academic year will indicate which classes are allowed in both minors. 

 

Can courses from another Institution fulfill Business Minor requirements?

Yes, courses that are clearly equivalent in scope and content to lower-division Rady School courses required for the Business minor will be accepted from regionally accredited United States institutions and from foreign institutions recognized by the Rady School of Management. You can transfer up to 2 courses total from Study Abroad, Community College and other 4 year institutions.

For California Community Colleges: All preapproved courses taken a California Community College will be listed in assist.org.

For 4 Year and Out of State Institutions: please fill out a Undergraduate Petition Form for the course and submit it alongside the syllabus for the course. 

Study Abroad: Before studying abroad, submit your Academic Planning form to Rady's advising department along with course descriptions or syllabus of the courses you would like to apply toward your minor. Allow approximately one to two weeks for review and approval.

What is the process to petition my abroad courses to Rady?

Students may take classes abroad and apply two courses (eight units) toward their minor by petition only. Before studying abroad, submit your Academic Planning form to Rady's advising department along with course descriptions or syllabi from the courses you would like to apply toward your minor. Allow approximately one to two weeks for review and approval.

Upon return, and once your coursework appears on your Academic History on Tritonlink, you will need to submit an Undergraduate Petition Form and course syllabus for each class you want to apply toward your minor for approval. Additional documentation such as papers or exams may be requested.

Note that Rady accepts a maximum of two transfer courses to be applied toward a minor (this includes lower-division courses transferred from a community college).

 

How can file a petition?

Students may submit a petition to request an exception to policy due to exceptional circumstances.  To file a petition, please submit the Undergraduate Petition Form.

 

Is your question not here? Please feel free to contact us or visit us during our walk-in hours! 

Current UCSD students: Please submit your questions via the VAC and an advisor will respond in 1-3 business days.

Non-UCSD students: Email us at undergrad@rady.ucsd.edu.