A&M-Corpus Christi’s New Online BBA Completion Offers Work-School-Life Balance

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The College of Business (COB) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is responding to a need expressed by adult learners who wish to complete a four-year business degree but have found balancing existing obligations with school to be an insurmountable challenge. The Online Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Completion was developed by Island University faculty to allow those who have completed first and second year lower division courses through a community college to complete the final two years of a business degree online.

Mary Guerra fits that profile. She is a Del Mar College student who works full-time and has three children. She wants to earn a BBA, but said attending day or evening classes at a four-year institution would be near impossible.

Dr. John Gamble, COB dean at A&M-Corpus Christi, said the online BBA program includes majors in accounting, general business, management and marketing, and was created to offer work-school-life balance to students like Guerra.

“The program is designed to allow students to complete their first two years of a business degree either on-campus or online through a community college,” Gamble said. “After completing those two years, students can complete all upper division courses needed for a BBA at the Island University totally online. The courses are scheduled to allow for degree completion in less than two years once all community college prerequisites are completed.”

Guerra said A&M-Corpus Christi’s new online BBA program is a gamechanger.

“It’s definitely a blessing because I can prioritize and plan my schedule,” Guerra said. “It allows me to continue on my educational path with my full-time work schedule and my family life.”

Also beneficial to the student is the ease of transferring to A&M-Corpus Christi because of the partnership between the Island University and area community colleges, including Coastal Bend College and Del Mar College.

“For many years, students have been able to earn their Associate in Business Administration online at Del Mar,” said Jennifer Sramek, chair of Business Administration at Del Mar College. “But their options to continue online towards a BBA were not great. A&M-Corpus Christi’s new Online BBA program really opens doors to these students.”

The Island University is well equipped to offer online programs that deliver AACSB-accredited courses. The University’s Online MBA program has proven to be a highly successful endeavor which has grown from 75 students four years ago to over 600 students today. COB leaders are confident the BBA program will prove as beneficial for undergraduate students.

“We suspect there’s an equal number of students that would like to complete their bachelor’s degree in an online format,” Gamble said. “We feel we have a responsibility to deliver that degree to a student in whatever manner is most convenient for them – whether that’s a day or evening class or online course. We want students, regardless of their circumstances, to be able to access all of our programs.”