Business Degrees at Columbia Southern
Columbia Southern University appears in our ranking of the Top 24 Most Affordable Online Bachelor’s in Project Management.
Columbia Southern University offers online and distance education business degree programs in 14 different areas. Its most popular program allows students to earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Though students can select a general concentration and study various areas of business, they can also opt for concentrations in finance, health care management, human resource management, marketing, project management or public administration. Students will take at least 12 credits from within their concentration and take 34 credits of required classes. Those courses include Human Resource Management Methods, Business Ethics and Strategic Management and Business Policy.
The Master of Public Administration program available from the university is available as a standard program or with a concentration in criminal justice or emergency services. Its emergency services concentration is best for students who want to work in fire and police departments, while the criminal justice concentration is a good choice for students who want to work in the legal field. No matter which concentration they choose, students will take 24 credits of required public administration classes, including Public Policy, Strategic Planning and Public Finance and Budgeting.
Business majors will also find a number of undergrad and certificate programs available from the university. Columbia Southern offers both a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Sports Management and a sports management certificate. Students can earn a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in another area such as marketing. Columbia Southern University now has a Master of Public health program with an emphasis in business too.
About Columbia Southern University
Distance education colleges offer opportunities for students that traditional students do not. Columbia Southern University is an example of a distance education college. Though the university has its headquarters in the Orange Beach area of Alabama, it allows students to take classes from anywhere in the United States. It also accepts military students stationed overseas and students living outside of the nation. When originally established in 1993, the university offered just two degree programs. Those programs allowed students to earn degrees in occupational safety or environmental engineering. As students asked for new programs, the university responded and brought in new degree options.
The business programs offered by the university are popular today because these were some of the first degrees offered and awarded. Students can also study different areas of administration and earn degrees in criminal justice and computer science. Also called Columbia Southern and CSU, this university partnered with Waldorf University to increase the number of available opportunities for online students. The two schools worked together to create online programs that let students take classes over the internet. This marks a sharp change from its old degree programs, which required that students submit their assignments through the mail. Nearly 6,000 graduate and doctoral students now attend Columbia Southern University.
Columbia Southern University Accreditation Details
Accreditation is a term that many students hear but do not understand. This term refers to the approval that a school has for its degree programs and includes both regional and specialty accreditation. Specialty accreditation only applies to topics and certain programs. Students thinking about applying to CSU will find that the university does not have either type of accreditation. The only accreditation that it has comes from the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). DETC is a specialized organization that accredits distance education and online schools. Students may have a hard time transferring credits from this university or when applying for financial aid.
Columbia Southern University Application Requirements
Any student who wants to attend Columbia Southern must use an online application. The university offers separate applications for undergrads and graduate students as well as doctoral candidates. Students must answer some personal questions and provide contact information, including a social security number and a home address. Undergrads only need a high school diploma or the equivalent of that diploma. The university may request a transcript to see what high school courses the student took and his or her grade point average.
Transfer students who earned up to 12 credits must submit transcripts from both the high schools and the colleges they attended. If the student wants to bring in more than 12 credits, the university only requires a college or university transcript. The university asks grad students to submit official transcripts that show they earned their bachelor’s degrees from schools with accreditation approved by the Department of Education. Any applicant applying to a doctoral program must submit official transcripts that show they have both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The university also requires that doctoral candidates submit a statement of purpose and a resume. Students can use the statement of purpose to describe why they want to study at CSU and their goals they have for the future.
Tuition and Financial Aid
CSU offers a flat tuition rate that includes all fees and other costs. Graduate students pay just $300 per credit hour for most classes, while undergrads face a rate of $225 per credit hour. The university also has a learning partners rate that applies to students who attended certain campuses and those who worked for specific employers. Those students pay $202.50 per credit hour as an undergrad or $270 per credit hour as a grad student. The university offers affordable rates for doctoral students too. These figures include the cost of tuition and fees as well as any of the textbooks that students need.
As the university does not have regional accreditation, students may have some issues when it comes to obtaining financial aid. They can still submit the FAFSA to see if they will get a Pell grant or a loan for the coming school year. Grants typically only go to undergrads, but students at all levels can apply for loans. Graduate students receive unsubsidized loans, while undergrads receive subsidized loans. Students at all levels can apply for alternative or private loans also.
The university also offers a number of different scholarships. While it only awards select scholarships to those majoring in certain fields, it gives out funds to a large number of students every year. The Forever a Hero scholarship goes to students who are military veterans and want to go back to school. A different scholarship fund awards money to the wives and children of veterans and currently enlisted military personnel. Columbia Southern University offers its scholarship applications online.