Male student meeting with academic advisors smiling in cafe

Business Management Online Associate Degree Program

Can Be Completed in as Little as:

8 terms*

*2 terms per semester; each term is 7 weeks

Tuition

$335/credit

$1,005 3-credit course

Active Duty Military

truED Preferred Tuition

Credit Hours Required

60

Summer Term 1 Application Deadline

April 25

Upcoming Start Date

Summer 1: May 6

Summer 2: July 1

Explore Business Management

Whether you're just starting out, changing careers or seeking to advance in your field, an online associate degree in business management can help you reach your goals.

 

Build Your Career Future

In today's complex business landscape, individuals who can effectively work in day-to-day business operations are in high demand. Our online associate degree in business management arms you with the business acumen necessary to succeed in a variety of career paths, through business management classes and course studies that bring together multi-disciplinary skills in key specializations such as market research, data analysis and financial accounting. Your coursework will round out foundational business administration skills with in-demand soft skills that you can apply throughout your career. Plus, it's a solid stepping stone toward a full bachelor's degree in business management for those who are returning to school after time away, or embarking on their first degree. 

Fast Start Formula Career Offerings

Increasing the career mobility of our students is at the center of everything we do. As an associate degree student, you get free access to the Fast Start Formula Career Bundle for getting noticed and getting hired, taught by Jen Morris, a leading executive career coach that partners with us to support our students in their job search journeys. 

Take the next step

Academic Excellence and Recognition

New England Commission of Higher Education Logo

Regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education

US News & World Report Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs

Ranked among the Best Online Bachelor’s Programs by U.S. News & World Report

Military Friendly Badge

Designated as a Military Friendly School for our commitment to the military community

Intelligent.com ranks Champlain College Online among best schools with accelerated bachelor's degrees

Named the among the best schools with accelerated bachelor's degrees by Intelligent.com

Move Your Business Career Forward

Business and financial occupations are expected to grow 8% from 2020 to 2030, which is faster than the average growth for all fields⁠, as a result of an increasingly complex global business landscape. The median annual wage for these roles is $72,250.*

Graduates of Champlain's online business management associate degree program will be prepared to succeed in a variety of career paths across many fields and industries, including human resources, business analysis, administrative services, operations, and sales.

*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2020; jobs titles: Payscale, 2020

Top Jobs for Associate in Business Management Graduates

  • Administrative Assistant
  • Executive Assistant
  • HR Assistant
  • Office Manager
  • Operations Support Specialist
  • Payroll Administrator
Business management professional at the office in front of white board

Program Details

Learn more about Champlain's 100% online associate degree in business.

Champlain's online business management courses encompass the top skills needed by today's business professionals. Graduates of the program are required to complete the following courses.

Professional Courses (27 credits)

Business Electives (6 credits)

General Education Courses (21 credits)

  • Written Communication
  • Oral Communication
  • Inquiry & Analysis
  • Quantitative Literacy
  • Scientific Literacy: Natural Sciences
  • Social Sciences or Arts & Humanities

General Electives (6 Credits)

Professional Courses

Accounting is the language of business. This course introduces the student to accounting from the point of view of the user of financial reports and is appropriate for personal as well as business applications. Students explore the impact of transactions on the financial position and profitability of a business, and analyze financial reports of real-world corporations.

Managerial accounting focuses on the needs of management for accounting information to make informed decisions in the internal operations of a company. Topics include decision-making, accounting for planning and control, cost-volume-profit relationships, and budgeting.

Prerequisites

ACCT-130

Provides an overview of the entire legal system, with an emphasis on contract rights. Discusses the essential elements of a contract, the breach of contracts and the remedies for breach. Presents business and consumer laws, including white-collar crime, landlord-tenant rights, real property interests and administrative law.

The American Marketing Association defines Marketing as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. In this course, students will learn marketing terminology and principles including the marketing mix, marketing segmentation and how external forces impact marketing strategy as well as how marketing fits into the organization.The impact of ethical issues, diversity, globalization and social responsibility on marketing decisions will also be examined.

Students will learn about the application of positive individual and group strengths and capacities that can be recognized, evaluated, and expanded to advance organizational well-being. This course encourages students to apply positive organizational behavior processes to everyday challenges organizations face to drive positive workplace behaviors and outcomes. This course also helps students to practice and gain skills, knowledge, and competencies to become positive and impactful leaders and change-makers from whatever position they hold.

All businesses have information systems, and the vast majority of them are computerized. Students will study the development and use of information systems to achieve organizational goals. From a management perspective, students will learn how information systems enhance business processes, how to use information systems as a competitive advantage and their usefulness in integrating across organizations. Other topics include IS security, ethical issues surrounding information systems and the consequences of its international reach.

MGMT 240 is a finance course for managers. It explores financial measurements, the artful application of numbers to solve problems, building financial analysis skills, and the big-picture context needed to understand why finance matters in business management and decision-making. A subset of topics covered in the course include the time value of money, financial statement analysis, ratio analysis, investments, and capital management.

Prerequisites

ACCT-130 or ACCT-140, or equivalent introductory accounting course

Project Management is the formal application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project-based activities to meet organizational requirements. Project management is accomplished through the use of processes such as Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. Project managers can divide projects into these phases to provide better management control with appropriate links to the ongoing operations of the organization. Collectively, these phases, known as the project life cycle, form the foundation for the practice of project management and are guided by the Body of Knowledge from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

The perspectives, beliefs, and preferences of employees in today's workplace are more diverse than perhaps ever before. Today's high-performing managers are those who foster inclusive, positive, and responsive organizational cultures for their people. But with such varied perspectives, what cultural considerations make the most sense for an organization? Management in the 21st Century will teach students how to foster a workplace environment where people can flourish and are motivated to meet objectives and ambitions for the organization.

At the very base, businesses organize resources to earn a return on investments. Students are introduced to this concept from a process-based and integrative perspective; i.e. understanding how assets and people come together to accomplish their goal. They also learn about factors that can impact a business's success including socially responsible factors, globalization, innovative thinking and technology. Students use current articles and discussions to develop informed opinions about the place of their organizations and their leaders in the global economy.

Business analytics and data visualization transform data into business insights to allow for better decision-making. This course utilizes a combination of existing datasets and common analytics tools to teach new and emerging managers, without backgrounds in data science, how to evaluate data, consider available options, and present a graphical representation of data outcomes for decision-makers.

Prerequisites

MATH 170: Statistics & Data Visualization OR Approval from appropriate business or IT program director

Principles of Economics introduces the fundamental concepts of economics - the study of how people manage resources, and how they react to scarcity. This course focuses on both microeconomics (the behavior of consumers and companies) and macroeconomics (large-scale economic factors such as employment and interest rates), so that you'll gain a broad understanding of how a modern market economy functions, how decisions in business settings are informed by economics, and how economics applies to your everyday life.

Written Communication

Complete these two courses, unless a specific course is required by your program:

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts needed to communicate effectively in writing for academic study and professional development. Students will also learn to read critically to evaluate an author's message. Students will be introduced to rhetorical modes and their role in the development of written communication. Students will also learn how to use revision strategies to create written communication that meets its intended purpose for its intended audience

This course builds on students' proficiency in the writing process and rhetorical modes to introduce the use of sources in written communication. Students will practice information literacy as they learn to determine information needs from sources, develop effective search strategies, and incorporate sources in written communication, legally and ethically.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-100

Oral Communication

Complete this course, unless a specific course is required by your program:

This course draws on fundamental concepts of contemporary communication research to help students identify and develop strategies to become effective and versatile communicators across media and settings. Students will examine and respond to a range of interpersonal situations through the critical evaluation of the three essential components of all communication: its purpose, audience, and context. Students will leave the course with the ability to reflect on and adapt their strategies to successfully and consistently communicate for a range of purposes across diverse settings.

Inquiry & Analysis

Complete this course, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Students will learn and apply critical inquiry skills to analyze persuasive communication created by others and to develop persuasive communication/arguments of their own to solve problems in professional, civic, social, and personal contexts. Specifically, students will learn to recognize fallacies in logic; apply inductive and deductive reasoning strategies to the interpretation and development of persuasive communication; evaluate the validity of sources; and develop logically sound persuasive communication. Students will explore the roles of self-awareness, empathy, and ethics in the context of critical inquiry and the development of arguments.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-110.

Quantitative Literacy

Choose any one of the following, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Mathematical reasoning, when applied to everyday and professional lives, has two dimensions: logic for deterministic situations and probabilities for non-deterministic situations. This course aims to help students develop these mathematical reasoning skills.

Accurate and appropriate visual data representation is increasingly critical in today's work environments. Students will develop skills in data organization, manipulation and interpretation in a way that supports data-driven decision-making and effective communication of numerical data

Scientific Literacy: Natural Sciences

Complete any one of the following, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Introduces students to the biochemistry and physiology of nutrition and exercise. Emphasis will be placed on human body systems such as musculoskeletal, digestive, respiratory and circulatory, and their relationship to nutrition and fitness. Students will also study the biochemistry of energy conversion as it relates to exercise physiology. Laboratory sessions are designed to reinforce, by a hands-on approach, the principles discussed in lecture. Course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students learn the biology, genetics, chemistry, and physics involved in the forensic investigation of crimes. A wide range of topics are studied including DNA, entomology, fingerprinting, trace evidence, serology (blood, saliva, and semen), blood spatter, and chemical analysis of drugs, alcohol, and other compounds. Students apply their new knowledge of forensic science through the use of case studies and laboratories. This course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students will develop the ability to apply scientific methods to understand the natural world, to identify scientific aspects of daily life, and to evaluate the quality of scientific information based on its source and the methods used for its generation.

Social Sciences or Arts & Humanities

Complete any one of the following courses, unless a specific course is required by your program:

With pressure and release, a window opens and closes, recording light on a sensor. The simple action captures the instinct, judgement, and skill of the person behind the lens. This class will begin a study of the art and craft of photography. Students will develop their vision and their understanding of how to achieve it. Solid skills will be learned and many doors will be opened.

A survey of the continuing change experienced in art since the 15th century. Students will examine how an image is achieved as well as the significance of the subject represented. Individual inquiry concerning the nature of art is encouraged.

Students learn to appreciate films through the critical analysis of various elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. The course introduces the conventions of classical Hollywood cinema, considers the work of one major director (auteur), and surveys selected international and independent films. Students view and discuss films each week.

Students will apply communication theory and research to address the particular challenges to communicating effectively in organizations. Students will learn how to identify organizational communication problems, analyze those problems, and generate effective solutions. Students will examine the relationship between organizational structure and specific communicative practices, and how communication practices by organizational members establish, maintain, or change organizational culture. They will also learn how to anticipate communication deficiencies in organizations, and use communication as a means to facilitate organizational development and innovation.

Prerequisites

Complete COMM-130

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals of substantive criminal law. Students will learn the essential elements of crimes and the rationale underlying criminal law. The nature of jurisdiction, the criminal act, the criminal state of mind and matters affecting responsibility for criminal conduct are included.

This course focuses on the rules and procedures governing how the American criminal justice system must process individuals suspected, accused, and convicted of law violations.

This course provides students with a broad overview of the history, theory, and fundamentals of criminal investigation. Students are introduced to the basic responsibilities of investigators and protocols for report writing, evidence collection, and preparation of cases for trial. They also learn specific investigative techniques for different types of crimes, such as crimes involving violence and property, terrorism, and hate crimes, and, where appropriate, compare investigative protocols from other legal cultures.

Prerequisites

Take CRIM-120, CRIM-121.

Principles of Economics introduces the fundamental concepts of economics - the study of how people manage resources, and how they react to scarcity. This course focuses on both microeconomics (the behavior of consumers and companies) and macroeconomics (large-scale economic factors such as employment and interest rates), so that you'll gain a broad understanding of how a modern market economy functions, how decisions in business settings are informed by economics, and how economics applies to your everyday life.

Students will study important themes in the social history of the United States since the Civil War. This course allows students to expand their critical thinking skills through an examination of primary and secondary sources. Themes might include: the evolving status of women; the immigrant experience; the concept of the American dream; the paradox of freedom vs. slavery; the minority experience; the tensions between social classes. Students will be evaluated primarily on writing assignments.

Students will learn how to create conditions for successful conflict engagement, a necessary skill for any professional. The course focuses on the foundational capacities to remain calm and connected with oneself and others. In this state students can access helpful ideas and responses and be their best selves regardless of environment. Improving facility for conflict creates stronger relationships and reduces fear. By the end of the course, students will understand that disagreement and difference can become a source of personal and interpersonal growth.

Ethics refers to accepted standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do in various contexts, typically in relation to rights, obligations/duties, benefits to society, fairness, consequences, and virtues. In this course, students will explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of ethics in order to 1) define ethics and identify ethical positions and principles, 2) critically reflect on how ethics impacts individual and collective responsibility, decision-making, and action, and 3) apply ethics to the personal, civic, and professional contexts.

Prerequisites

ENGL-110

In this course, students will explore broad, foundational knowledge in psychology, including its history, major theorists and a survey of psychology subfields such as developmental, cognitive and social psychology. Students will also describe and assess the role of ethics and social responsibility in the study and application of psychological theory and practices.

In this class, students will explore how social relationships, groups, societies and culture develop and change over time. From a sociological theory foundation and employing the sociological imagination, students will examine the impact of social structures, institutions, and systems on individual lives. Students will apply sociological research methods to investigate sociological phenomena in their own lives.

This course explores the complex and evolving relationship between human beings and technology. Through a multi-disciplinary approach that draws on fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and history, students will examine the ways in which technology has shaped human culture, identity, and values, as well as how humans have influenced and continue to influence the development, adoption and use of technology.

Graduates of the business management associate online program will demonstrate the following skills, knowledge, and competencies:

  • Utilize Strengths: Cultivate and leverage an organization's assets and human strengths to help transform workplace culture and optimize performance

  • Use Business Acumen. Identify, contextualize, and utilize core business functions to address business challenges

  • Communicate Effectively. Make use of communication approaches that motivate, articulate, generate and achieve desired results

  • Use Business Technology For Advantage. Identify technology that captures, analyzes, and shares organizational data and information, and creates business value

Champlain College Online's business faculty, led by Department Chair Dr. Albert Orbinati, are expert practitioners in the field. Their industry expertise ensures that our business management curriculum is aligned with the needs of employers, and reflects the skills today’s business professionals need for success. Classes led by our seasoned experts will give you real-world insight into the business world, and create a rich community of career-focused learning.

Alumni of the Champlain College Online associate in business management program work in corporations, small businesses, government organizations, and non-profits nationwide, including:

  • Comcast Communications
  • Defense Travel Management Office
  • Forrester Research
  • Fresh Tracks Capital
  • IBM Corporation
  • Keurig Dr. Pepper
  • Liberty Mutual 
  • UVM Health Network Home Health & Hospice

Titles our alumni hold include:

  • Assistant Manager, Receivables
  • Bookkeeper
  • Client Success Specialist
  • HR Business Partner
  • Officer Manager
  • Practice Supervisor
  • Production Coordinator
  • Resource Specialist

Tuition & Costs

Online Undergraduate Tuition Fall '23 - Summer '24

$335 per credit
$1,005* per course
$290** per credit for alumni who earned a degree from Champlain, on-campus or online
$250 per credit for military service members (family members see truED tuition)
$150 One-time graduation fee

*Based on a 3-credit course; cost will vary if course is a different number of credits

** Starts Summer 2024, not retroactive 

See the undergraduate cost of attendance and fees here

What To Expect at Champlain Online

Expect Convenience

Go to school wherever and whenever is best for you, on the device of your choice.

Expect A Career Focus

Relevant and immediately applicable coursework gets you ready for your next career move

Expect Support

Your dedicated academic advisor provides the support you need to meet your academic goals

Expect Superior Faculty

Learn from practitioner faculty working in the field, with real-world experience and knowledge.

Why Champlain

Inna Aydinyan, Bachelor's Degree in Business Management

Affordability & Flexibility

"The affordability and flexibility I found at Champlain made obtaining my degree an achievable goal. The programs are rigorous, and the combination of the educational material with soft skills was invaluable and directly applicable to my workplace."

Inna Aydinyan Bachelor's Degree in Business Management
Hardware, IBM

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