This joint program enables students to obtain both an M.B.A. in the Graduate School of Management and an M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE) in three years.  Students complete the full requirements of the M.B.A. and of the Plan II M.S. in ARE.  A maximum of 12 units may be counted towards both degrees.  Since the Plan II M.S. in ARE requires 36 units and the M.B.A. requires 72 units, the total number of units required by the joint degree ranges from 96 to 108.

Agricultural & Resource Economics M.S.

Under Plan II, 36 units of upper-division and graduate course work and a comprehensive written examination are required. At least 24 of the 36 units must be in graduate courses in the major field. No more than six units may be in 299-numbered research courses.

Coursework Requirements

Core Required Courses

Under either plan, students complete a common set of core requirements in microeconomic theory and applications (ARE 204A, ARE 204B), econometrics (ARE 256A, ARE 256B), and research methods (ARE 258).

Field Courses

Students must complete three of the following five field courses under both plans: ARE 214: Development Economics (4 units), ARE 223: Economics of Agriculture (4 units), ARE 275: Economic Analysis of Resource and Environmental Policies (4 units), 271: Financial Economics (4), ARE 252: Optimization with Economic Applications (4 units).

Elective Courses

Under Plan II, students must complete elective coursework totaling at least 4 units. Students may choose from other graduate courses or upper division undergraduate courses that meet the general program objectives of the student. Allowable upper division courses do not include core undergraduate courses in Economics and Managerial Economics such as ARE 100A-B, 106, 155 and their prerequisites. Neither 299 nor 396 units can be counted towards the required unit total.

Graduate School of Management M.B.A

Coursework Requirements

Core Courses (10 courses, 32 units). The M.B.A. core requires 32 units of coursework (9 courses, each 3 units and one capstone, 5 units). In the first year of the M.B.A. program, students take the first nine courses listed below. In the Fall quarter of the second year, students complete the Integrated Management Project capstone (MGT 440). The full list of core courses is as follows:

• MGT 200A: Financial Accounting
• MGT 201A: Individual and Group Dynamics
• MGT 201B: Organizational Strategy and Structure
• MGT 202A: Markets and the Firm
• MGT 203A: Data Analysis for Managers
• MGT 204: Marketing Management
• MGT 205: Financial Theory and Policy
• MGT 252: Managing for Operational Excellence
• MGT 268: Articulation and Critical Thinking
• MGT 440: Integrated Management Project

In addition to the required core courses, students must complete a total of 40 units of approved elective courses. The number of courses required to complete these units will depend on the number of ARE units counted towards both degrees. If no ARE units are counted towards the MBA degree, then students must complete 40 units of approved courses. If the maximum of 12 units from ARE are counted towards the MBA degree, then students must complete 28 units of approved courses. Approved courses include electives (200s), 100s by approval of the GSM Graduate Advisor, directed group/individual study (298/299), and directed group/individual practicum (498/499) courses offered by the GSM. A full listing of the GSM elective courses may be found on the GSM website.

Timing of Coursework

The total time required to complete the joint program is three years.  Students typically complete the two programs sequentially with the order being chosen by the student in consultation with their academic advisors.  Thus a student either completes all ARE requirements in year one and the M.B.A. requirements in years two and three or reverses the order and completes the M.B.A. requirements in years one and two and the ARE requirements in year three.

The table below presents a typical program for a student completing the ARE requirements in year on and the B.B. A. requirements in years two and three.  In this example, the student takes 7 elective in the GSM, for a total of 21 units, and thus would need to count at least 6 ARE units towards both degrees.  This could be accomplished, for example, by counting ARE 222 (4 units) and ARE 275 (4 units) towards both degrees.

Typical Timeline for Joint M.S./M.B.A Student