MBA Prerequisites - Helzberg School of Management

Most of the prerequisite courses are met with a bachelor's degree in business and prerequisites may be taken in tandem with graduate work. To meet the core prerequisite requirements, all courses need to be completed with a grade of C or better. These courses are offered in certain terms throughout the year and are either an 8-week or one-day course. You may also complete and transfer the equivalent coursework from another academic institution. Contact the Graduate Business Admissions team at 816-501-4632 or gradbus@rockhurst.edu if you have questions regarding prerequisites.​

3 Credit Hour, 8 Week Courses

  • AC 4500 Principles of Accounting (covers Financial and Managerial Accounting)
  • FN 3000 Essentials of Finance (or equivalent; interchangeable with FN 6010)

1/2 Credit Hour, One-Day (Saturday) Courses

  • EC 6002 Essentials of Economics (covers macro/microeconomics)
  • MK 6000 Essentials of Marketing (or equivalent)

1/2 Credit Hour, Online Module, 8-Week Courses

  • FN 6010 Basics of Finance (or equivalent; interchangeable with FN 6010)
  • BIA 6205 Statistics Module (or equivalent)
  • BIA 6206 Math Module (or equivalent)

AC 4500 – Principles of Accounting

The course provides a foundation for students with no prior accounting experience. Financial and management basics are taught, but the emphasis is upon attainment of an overall understanding of the field. General topics include the preparation and interpretation of basic financial statements and the use of accounting information for managerial decision-making. Specific topics include the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, cost behavior, cost-volume-profit analysis and relevant cost analysis.

FN 3000 – Essentials of Finance

An introduction to the important areas of corporate, managerial finance. Emphasis is placed upon developing an understanding of the tools and methodologies available to the financial manager for decision making in such areas as capital budgeting, working capital management, capital structure and profit planning and control.

EC 6002S Essentials of Economics

This one-day course covers the principles in macro and microeconomics, including how consumers and producers interact through supply and demand within the economy.  Students will examine the structure of market behavior, performance in the marketplace and optimizing behavior regarding consumer demand. Certain analyses will be covered, including a PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) analysis and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

MK 6000S Essentials of Marketing

This one-day course introduces you to the role of marketing in business and how to make informed decisions based on market analysis and research. Topics include the four P’s (product, placement, promotion, pricing) of marketing, the marketing function and how to develop successful marketing strategies, as well as how to view and extract insights from market research.

FN 6010 Basics of Finance

This self-paced course with a proficiency exam provides the basics of finance to prepare the student for their first MBA core finance class.

The Finance Online Course provides a fundamental understanding of the principles, analytical tools, and knowledge needed to make good investment and financing decisions. The course introduces students to finance ratios, forecasting methods, capital structure theory and risk-return analysis and then asks them to apply these concepts in several different approaches to valuing a business. In the course, students consider purchasing a small family-owned business in northern California. Students work through a series of exercises to determine the value of the investment, analyze current financial conditions and forecast the firm's likely performance based on different variables. Course topics are presented in an engaging format using narrated animations and videos. Self-correcting practice exercises and Microsoft Excel worksheets are included to reinforce the concepts. The course includes pre- and post-assessments.

BIA 6205 Statistics Module

This is a self-paced course to satisfy the statistics prereq component of the MBA program. This is a self-guided class meant for highly motivated students who can complete the material with little instruction. You will complete a statistics tutorial that will cover basic descriptive, inferential and basic regression. You must pass the final exam (75% or higher) to pass the course.

BIA 6206 Math Module

This is a self-paced course to satisfy the mathematics component of the MBA program. This is a self-guided class meant for highly motivated students who can complete the material with little instruction. The course will cover basics in college algebra and precalculus concepts. You must pass the final exam (75% or higher) to pass the course.

Additional Programs

For more information about the suite of graduate business programs from Helzberg, please click here: School of Management Programs.