Curriculum

Unique Program Design: A Customizable Executive DBA

The Executive DBA curriculum consists of required classes all students take, four DBA research courses, and dissertation-related courses that allow students to personalize their research agenda under a faculty expert’s guidance.

Bauer College Executive DBA Curriculum | Program Format and Enrollment

The Bauer DBA program is designed to be finished in three years and accepts new students for the fall semester.

Years 1 & 2

During the first two years of the program, students will take three classes each in the fall and spring semesters. In each of these first four semesters, students will come to campus for three immersive three-day weekends with their fellow DBA colleagues. All other program instruction will be online. In the summers of the first and second year, candidates will work on Directed Studies.

Year 3

In year three of the program, students will complete their dissertation proposal (fall) and dissertation defense (spring). The summer of the third year, if needed, will focus on dissertation work.

The program is a total of 54 credit hours. Students must complete 30 core credit hours (3 credit hours each), 12 directed study hours, and 12 hours during their dissertation proposal and defense (6 credit hours each semester).

Residency Dates (2024-2025)

Spring 2024

  • First residency:
    Jan. 19-21, 2024
  • Second residency:
    March 1-3, 2024
  • Third residency:
    April 19-21, 2024

Fall 2024

  • First residency:
    Sept. 13-15, 2024
  • Second residency:
    Oct. 25-27, 2024
  • Third residency:
    Dec. 6-8, 2024

Spring 2025

  • First residency:
    Jan. 24-26, 2025
  • Second residency:
    March 7-9, 2025
  • Third residency:
    April 18-20, 2025

 

Year 1
Fall Semester Credits
Grand Challenges in Business and Society 3
Thinking Strategically in the Global Marketplace 3
Principles of Research Methods 3
Spring Semester
Research Symposium 3
Managing Change, Technology and Innovation 3
Quantitative Analysis 3
Summer Semester
Directed Study 1 3
Year 2
Fall Semester Credits
Creation of New Business Knowledge for Real-World Impact 3
Application of Quantitative Methods 3
Generating Business Insights using Qualitative Analysis 3
Spring Semester
Competing on Analytics 3
Current Topics in Finance, Accounting and Economics 3
Directed Study 2 3
Summer Semester
Directed Study 3 3
Year 3
Fall Semester Credits
Dissertation Research (Proposal) 6
Spring Semester
Dissertation Research (Defense) 6
Total Credits 54