Master of Arts in Theological Studies/Master of Business Administration

DUAL DEGREE

Those called to pastoral ministry and other ministry-related leadership vocations in the 21st century are well-advised to have an understanding of the “business side” of their particular ministry context. The MA in Theological Studies/MBA dual degree program is creatively designed to address the unique needs of current and potential students who are seeking graduate-level education and training in the areas of ministry and business administration.

ADMISSION

In order to pursue a Dual Master’s Degree program, the applicant must apply to, meet the existing admission requirements for, and be accepted into each of the master’s degrees which comprise the dual degree program.

Note: Church Membership Requirement (for admission into Master’s Ministry Degrees, Advanced Ministry Certificate Programs, the EDD in Educational Leadership—all concentrations, and PHD in Leadership Studies’ Ministry Concentration): Within the last 12 months, the applicant must have been an active member of a Christian church that holds Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who holds solely the Old Testament and the New Testament as sacred Scripture.

Graduate School of Ministry Portfolio

Dallas Baptist University’s Ministry Degree Programs seek to provide an academic experience that enables all candidates to engage and impact Christian Ministries of the 21st century. The Portfolio is designed to be an individualized collection of documents that represent the candidate’s preparation for future ministry positions, demonstrating the candidate’s ongoing knowledge, skills, and ministry experiences.   

The Graduate School of Ministry provides candidates the opportunity for self-reflection through the compilation of documents in an electronic Portfolio. Documents in the Portfolio may include Signature Assignments, Resume, and Philosophy of Ministry among others.  

Throughout the program, the candidate will collect designated documents and upload them to the Portfolio within Blackboard. The Portfolio will be used to assess development as the candidate proceeds through their designated ministry program.  It is the candidate’s responsibility to meet with their GSOM Program Director to discuss the Portfolio required documents prior to graduation.

MA IN THEOLOGICAL STUDIES REQUISITES

• Old Testament Survey 

• New Testament Survey

Requisites may be met with equivalent courses from another institution or from a passing grade on the GSOM Old Testament and New Testament equivalency exams and do not count toward degree completion.

MBA FOUNDATIONAL REQUIREMENTS 

As the MBA is a generalist master's business program designed to meet the further educational needs of the broadest range of working professionals with potentially non-business-related undergraduate degrees, no foundational courses are required.  

Nevertheless, three-session self-study requisite courses are included with certain MBA courses and are designed to specifically prepare non-business graduates for the requirements of the MBA level course. The requirement for a student to complete a requisite course is determined by the MBA Program Director. All requisites must be completed by the end of the third semester and before continuation to the balance of the MBA program.  The requisite courses carry no credit or tuition fees. The pass to proceed threshold is 85%. 

BASIC CONCEPT REQUISITES POLICY

The following table indicates the criteria by which decisions are normally made in relation to prerequisite exemptions. 

	BUSINESS GRADUATE APPLICANTS		NON-BUSINESS GRADUTE APPLICANTS
	Business Experience Accounting/Finance	Business Experience Non-Accounting/Finance	Business Experience Accounting/Finance	Business Experience Non-Accounting/Finance
Basic Concepts in Accounting	Exempt	Exempt/Non-Exempt*	Exempt/Non-Exempt*	Non-Exempt
Basic Concepts in Finance	Exempt	Exempt/Non-Exempt*	Exempt/Non-Exempt*	Non-Exempt
Basic Concepts in Quantitative Analysis	Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt
Basic Concepts in Business Economics	Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt
Basic Concepts in Business Law	Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt	Non-Exempt
*Subject to an evaluation of the particulars of both education and experience.

PROGRAM CONTINUANCE

Continuance in the program past the first 12 is pending submission of a satisfactory score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®).

MA IN THEOLOGICAL STUDIES REQUIRED CURRICULUM- 30 hours (excluding requisites)

COURSE	CREDIT HOURS
Required Curriculum	30
MINS 5302 - Ministry Research and Writing Across Media MINS 5303 - Foundations of Spiritual Life MINS 6305 - Ministry Mentorship (S-L) THEO 5307 - Old Testament Literature and Interpretation THEO 5308 - New Testament Literature and Interpretation THEO 5313 - Applied Hermeneutics THEO 6305 - Christian History and Heritage THEO 6306 - Systematic Theology Select two courses from the MA in Theological Studies with approval of Program Director or Academic Advisor.

MBA REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 31.5 hours (excluding requisites)

COURSE	CREDIT HOURS
Required Curriculum	31.5
ACCT 6321 - Managerial Accounting (Requisite: see Foundational Requirements. Self-study three-week requisite course passed with a minimum of 85% course grade.) FINA 6301 - Corporate Finance (Requisite: see Foundational Requirements. Self-study three-week requisite course passed with a minimum of 85% course grade.) MANA 51.523 - Critical Thinking, Research, and Writing MANA 6302 - Quantitative Analysis and Modeling for Decision-Making (Requisite: see Foundational Requirements. Self-study three-week requisite course passed with a minimum of 85% course grade.)  MANA 6310 - Leading Innovation MANA 6341 - Strategic Management Decisions (S-L)* (MBA Capstone course - must be taken in the last core semester in the program.) MANA 6344 - MBA Program Capstone Course (Requisite:  Course may not be started until beginning of next to last semester of the program. Completion of 25.5 credit hours at a minimum mean of 3.0 GPA.) MISM 6314 - Management Information Systems MRKT 6301 - Advanced Marketing Strategies (S-L) Select two courses from MBA concentrations with approval of Program Director or Academic Advisor.

TOTAL HOURS
30 hours	MA in Theological Studies Required Curriculum
31.5 hours	MBA Required Curriculum
61.5 hours	TOTAL Dual Degree (excluding requisites)

*(S-L)=Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.