Graduate Programs

MS in Management: No leveling classes are required to enroll. 

MS in Information Systems: The MS: Information Systems program has no leveling requirements. Rather, students are required to take BCIS 5311: Managing Information Systems their first semester. This course must be completed before any other core courses are attempted.

MBA and MS in Human Resource Management: Leveling courses are required if you don’t have the six classes required to start a master’s degree at Tarleton’s College of Business. The six classes are:

• Management (any Business MGMT course)
• Marketing (any Business MKTG course)
• Financial Accounting (ACCT 2301)
• Statistics (any Stats class, Business Statistics is 3311)
• Principles of Finance (FINC 3301)
• Macro Economics (ECON 2301)

Masters in Accountancy: The MAcc Degree requires the same leveling courses that MBA and MS in Human Resource Management require as well as the following prerequisite classes:

• ACCT 3303 – Intermediate Accounting I
• ACCT 3304 – Intermediate Accounting II

We are offering Fed Tax 1 as a graduate-level class, ACCT 5305, so it can be taken as a graduate-level elective if you prefer.

 Completing the Prerequisites

If you have taken all six of these classes, you do not need leveling. If you have not taken one or more of these classes, there are several ways to prepare for your master’s degree in business. You can:

• Take the classes as undergraduate classes. 
• Take CLEP exams to test out of Management, Marketing, Macro Economics, and/or Financial Accounting. The others do not have CLEP exams available. View more information about CLEP exams. Each exam costs $89 and military service members may be able to waive this cost.
• Complete the leveling course(s). Each course is 1.5 hours:
  • COBA 5100 : Foundations of Management
  • COBA 5101 : Foundations of Accounting
  • COBA 5102 : Foundations of Finance
  • COBA 5103 : Foundations of Statistics
  • COBA 5104 : Foundations of Economics
  • COBA 5105 : Foundations of Marketing

The leveling courses are master’s level courses but do not count towards your degree. They would be in addition to the 30 hours required for your degree, so you could wind up with as many as 39 hours. These classes are all offered online. (Reminder: Students interested in the MAcc will also need to complete ACCT 3303: Intermediate I and ACCT 3304: Intermediate II before beginning their program.)

Since we lowered the required hours for the MBA to 30, there are not enough hours to earn an emphasis/concentration in a subject. If you would like to have 18 hours in a field, you are welcome to take additional hours before you graduate, or you can come back and earn the extra hours later.

Alternatively, our Master of Science in Management program incorporates various concentrations designed to enhance numerous business careers.

Human Resource Management: Join the Cross Timbers Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Email Brian Martinson, martinson@tarleton.edu, for more info. It looks great on a resume! Covering a variety of HR related topics such as on-the-job injuries, participation adds a new dimension to your program and experience, and it is a great way to network to identify internship and employment opportunities! You can even get honor cords!

Information Systems: The Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) welcomes all majors interested in Computer Information Systems. Participating in competitions where students earn prize money and identify employment opportunities, participating in AITP is well worth your while. Contact Mr. Art Dearing, dearing@tarleton.edu for more information!

Tarleton College of Business: Delta Mu Delta is an honor society for the top 20% of Business majors at both the undergraduate and graduate level. If you want to become a member, contact Christi Foster at cfoster@tarleton.edu.

If your GPA falls below a 3.0 in any semester, but not lower than a 2.0, you will be on “Unsatisfactory GPA” and you have one semester to bring it up or you will be placed on suspension. The best way to raise your GPA is to retake a class you did poorly in and do better. Especially if you are just starting, you will have to do that because in the 30-hour master’s degrees it is very hard to overcome an F or a D without retaking classes. We cannot hold space in classes for you, however it is very important that you retake classes you didn’t do well in, so if at all possible, we will find room in that class for you.

If you are on suspension, all of your classes will be dropped, and you will be withdrawn from the university. After sitting out one semester, you can reapply through ApplyTexas– application and a fee only, no transcripts, essay, etc. After you are accepted back into the program, you have one semester to bring your GPA back up to a 3.0, or you will go on your second and final suspension. That means you can no longer take classes at Tarleton. If you have been on suspension and come back, you will only be able to register for one semester. You will have to bring your GPA up to at least a 3.0 before you will be allowed to register for another semester. Then your suspension hold will be lifted, and you can register for classes.

If you think you are going to fail a class, it is usually better to drop it. You can check for drop dates in the Academic Calendar in the online catalog at:

• University Calendar and Final Exam Schedule

If you were accepted into the program with full admision (i.e., not conditionally or probationally), you are eligible for one appeal. Often, the best approach is to serve your suspension by sitting out a semester, saving your appeal for a subsequent semester if necessary. To appeal your suspension, review the form below for deliverables and once collected complete and submit the form:

• Suspension Appeal Form

If you need/want to drop a class, go to www.tarleton.edu and in the search box type “Course Drop Form”. If you drop a class before the 12th class day (census day) it will be completely removed from your record. If you drop after census day, the drop will be recorded as a Q grade on your transcript.

Fill out the drop form and send it in before the last Q Drop day. The last day to drop is given in the third link below.

 You will get a Q on your transcripts, and it doesn’t’t affect your GPA. If you need to drop ALL courses for the semester, this is considered a withdrawal, and an official withdrawal request form will need to be completed and returned to the Registrar for processing. Completed withdrawal requests received by the drop/withdraw deadline (in the first link below) will result in a grade of W on your transcript. It doesn’t’t affect your GPA.

Here are links from the Catalog to offer you the official answers:

• Withdrawal Information
• Refund Schedule
• Drop Information

It is a good idea to get your Degree Plan on file as soon as possible and is required before you can graduate. Failure to do so makes it difficult for us to get program-specific information to you in a timely fashion. 

To declare your graduate business program, you need to have a degree plan on file. This ties you to a particular catalog year and program and allows you to track your progress through Degree Works. For more information or help completing the form, ask Ms. Dearing at jdearing@tarleton.edu, who can complete the rest of the form for you, obtain the necessary signatures, and submit it to the College of Graduate Studies.

• Degree Plan

Specific details for ceremonies may be found on the Tarleton Graduation website. 

Graduate students should arrive an hour before the ceremony with regalia (cap, gown, tassel, hood (not on), and anything extra you plan to wear such as honor cords you have been awarded, the purple “stole of gratitude”, etc. The “stole of gratitude”, which may be purchased at the bookstore, is meant to honor someone that has been particularly important to graduates (such as a sibling, parent, professor, etc) by including a written message/signature on the stole and present to that individual after graduation.

• The graduate regalia is a little different from the undergraduate one. It has “wings” on the sleeves. Some students wear their undergraduate regalia which is perfectly acceptable. You will need a cap and tassel and a hood. MBA and MAcc students need “drab” hoods and the MS HRM and MS IS will have “gold” hoods. That is the color of the velvet. They will all have purple and white satin on the inside.

You may purchase your regalia from the bookstore 254-968-9007 for approximately $80 plus any additional items you may wish to include. Visit the Commencement page for more information.