Honours Business Administration BBA
Applicant Information:
Choose Laurier: High School Applicant Inquiries
Program Counselling: bbaadvising@wlu.ca
The BBA program is based on the concept that a general education involving an exposure to the liberal arts and sciences is essential for a career in management and for the complete development of an individual. The management portion of the BBA program emphasizes two main objectives for its students: first, on graduation, to prepare for meaningful responsibility immediately and second, to build a foundation for a career in management. The BBA program consists of 20.0 credits (or equivalent). There are 11.0 business credits of which 8.5 are required and 2.5 are BU or ENTR electives. Of the remaining 9.0 credits, 2.5 are required non-business credits, 5.0 are non-business electives and 1.5 is comprised of BU or non-BU electives.
Probation: refer to the Academic Regulations section of the Undergraduate University Regulations chapter. Students completing Year 1 are not eligible for probation.
Progression and Graduation Requirements for the BBA Program: refer to the Progression section of the Undergraduate University Regulations chapter.
Additional Information
- Program Notes and Regulations
- Leave of Absence from the Program
- Residence Requirement
- Transfer Students into Year 2 of BBA
- Transfer Students into Year 2 of BBA/BMath or BBA/CS (UW)
- Transfer Students into Year 2 of BBA/FinMath or BBA/BSc (WLU)
Honours Business Administration BBA Program Requirements
| Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of Program | Required Business Courses |
Required Non-Business Courses | Electives | Academic Regulations |
| 1 | BU111 BU121 BU127 |
EC120 EC140 MA129 or MA103 |
2.0 non-BU elective credits or equivalent |
|
| The required Business courses in Year 1 are assigned. First attempts at BU111 and BU121 must be completed by the end of Winter term. GPA requirements for both Business and non-Business courses must be achieved by August 31 for progression into Year 2. Total course repeats may not exceed a maximum of 1.0 credit. All credits taken during Year 1 will be included in the GPA requirements for progression into Year 2. A total of 5.0 credits must be completed by August 31 for progression to Year 2. ENTR courses cannot be included in the 5.0 credits. | ||||
| 2 | BU231 BU247 BU255 BU275 BU283 BU288 |
EC250 or EC260 |
1.5 non-BU elective credits. | If both EC250 and EC260 are taken, one may be used as a non-BU elective. |
| The required Business and Economics courses in Year 2 are an integrated set which must be taken concurrently and as assigned. A minimum of 5.0 credits must be taken in each of Year 1 and Year 2. ENTR courses cannot be included in the 5.0 credits. A total of 10.0 credits must be completed by August 31 for progression to Year 3. |
||||
| 3 | BU352 BU354 BU362 BU375 BU393 BU398 |
None | 1.5 non-BU elective credit; 1.5 BU or non-BU elective credit; 2.5 BU or ENTR elective credits to be taken during Years 3 and 4 of the program. |
The required Business courses in Year 3 are an Integrated set which must be taken concurrently and as assigned. Students are required to take a total of 20 half-credits during Year 3 and Year 4 of the program. Of the 11 half-credit electives, a minimum of three and a maximum of six half-credit courses must be non-Business. The remainder would be BU courses. All BBA students must remain registered with full-time status for Year 3 study terms. A total of 15.0 credits must be completed by August 31 for progression to Year 4. BBA non Co-op students who have successfully progressed to Year 4 of the single-degree BBA program are responsible for their own registration and their status may be full-time or part-time. Students who choose to study part-time may defer the normal anticipated graduation date by up to 18 months. BBA Co-op students in Year 4 must study on a full-time basis and any deviation from the normal full-time work and study sequence must first receive approval from the Co-op Office. Refer to the Progression section of the Undergraduate University Regulations chapter. |
| 4 | BU481 BU491 BU415 or BU486 |
|||
- Students should familiarize themselves with the REGISTRATION and ACADEMIC REGULATIONS of Wilfrid Laurier University. Both the university regulations and the school/department regulations must be adhered to.
- Course repeats may not exceed a maximum of 2.0 credits for the duration of the BBA program, including repeats from Year 1 (maximum of 1.0).
- A student's program that seeks to depart from normal course content or sequence requires approval, in advance, from the BBA director.
- A student wishing to take seven courses in a term requires a GPA of 9.00 (B+) and approval of the BBA director.
- Students in Year 1 and 2 may work ahead on non-BU electives. These courses are included in the current academic year GPA and are used within the GPA calculation for progression. Students in Year 3 and 4 may take additional BU or non-BU electives. Additional electives are included in the current academic year GPA and are used within the GPA calculation for progression and graduation.
- BU elective credits cannot be used for progression during Year 1 or 2. However, as an additional elective credit, the elective will count in the GPA.
- ENTR courses are considered BU electives but are included in the non-BU GPA.
- BBA students are excluded from registering in Leadership (OL) courses and may not complete the Leadership Option nor the Leadership Minor.
- No more than 3.0 irregular credits may be counted towards an Honours BBA degree. An irregular course is defined as a course offered under a Business seminar heading or the BU480, BU490* or BU499° course code. No more than 1.0 credit may be BU480 or BU490* and no more than 0.5 credit may be BU499°.
- The Honours BBA program is not available as a sequential degree.
A senior student (not in Year 1) may apply to withdraw from the BBA program for one, two or three academic terms. Please note that the length of leave permitted may be restricted based on the availability of core courses. The application, available through BBA Advising, should indicate the length of leave requested, include the reasons for the requested leave of absence, and supporting documentation if necessary. Note that students in the Coop program must normally be absent for a period of one full calendar year. Approval from the Coop Office is required for a leave request to be approved. The leave of absence, if granted, will permit the student to re-enter the program at the beginning of the designated academic term without the necessity of review by the Lazaridis Admissions Committee. Leaves of absence, when granted, are conditional upon the student being in good academic standing (all Undergraduate Calendar requirements have been met) at the time the leave is to become effective.
Normally, a student who unilaterally withdraws from the BBA program will not have the opportunity to return to the program. A student who withdraws from the BBA program without having obtained prior approval of a leave of absence and who later wishes to return to the BBA program must reapply to the Lazaridis Petitions Committee for readmission and describe all intervening academic and work related activity. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Any student who has attended any other post-secondary institution in any program in the interim will not be permitted to return to the BBA. Failure to report attendance at any other post-secondary institution will be considered misrepresentation, will invalidate any offer of readmission to the BBA, and will result in immediate removal from the BBA program if discovered after readmission. The BBA program is not available as a sequential degree.
A leave of absence made during a current term must adhere to University course withdrawal dates. A student may take a maximum of 1.0 non-business elective credits per term during the period of a leave of absence.
Any student desiring to obtain a BBA degree must fulfill the minimum requirement as a full-time student in Year 2 and Year 3 of the program. Normally, all required business courses and all non-business required courses must be taken in-class and at WLU (Waterloo Campus) for the first attempt.
The Lazaridis Admissions Committee will consider applicants from other faculties or recognized universities based on the following criteria:
- Transfer to the BBA program is very competitive, and applicants are reviewed, comparatively with other applicants, on the basis of their Year 1 academic performance only. Please note that meeting the GPA minimums to apply does not guarantee successful transfer.
- Internal (Laurier non-BBA) candidates must ‘mirror’ Year 1 of the BBA Program (i.e. students must take non-BBA sections of the same courses required of Year 1 BBA students), and must have all requirements completed by April 30th of their first year.
- External (non-Laurier) candidates must have completed Year 1 of a similar business program on a full-time basis (100% course-load), and the courses in that program should be similar to the business and economics courses required within the Lazaridis BBA program. Please contact Recruitment & Admissions chooselaurier@wlu.ca
- Students having completed more than one year of post-secondary study will not be considered for transfer to the BBA or associated double degree programs (a student may hold no more than 7.5 credits, or equivalent, for consideration). The only point of transfer to the BBA program or an associated double degree is the Fall semester (the beginning) of a student’s second year of post-secondary study.
- Students hoping to transfer to the BBA or double degree should not enroll in any senior BU courses prior to a successful transfer. Internal applicants who have completed senior Laurier BU courses will not be considered for transfer. External applicants who hold the equivalents to senior BU courses will normally not be considered for transfer, except by special review of the Admissions Committee. Successful external applicants for transfer to BBA or BBA joint degrees may not hold prior credit for senior Business courses. Any senior BU transfer credit considered or awarded by Laurier during the admissions process will be forfeited if a student is selected for transfer, as core courses are assigned as a concurrent set during Years 2 and 3.
- Students will be considered based upon their overall academic record in Year 1 of undergraduate study. The level of achievement must be no less than a 9.50 GPA (79%) overall, including a minimum of a 9.50 GPA (79%) for all BU courses, to apply. Please note that performance in individual required courses is also considered. Students will not be considered for transfer who have a ‘CR’ grade in a required course for the requested program.
- It is expected that applicants complete a full course load each term of Year 1. Normally, a total of ten 0.5‐credit courses (or equivalent) must be completed by April 30th for consideration. Course repeats are not reviewed favourably. Internal applicants must review the Laurier undergraduate academic calendar for possible course exclusions.
- Space is limited, where the number of applicants with minimum qualifications exceeds the number of places available candidates will be rank‐ordered solely on the basis of their academic records.
- Students interested in transfer to either Laurier-based double-degree program must first meet requirements to transfer to the single-degree BBA program.
Inquiries concerning a transfer into the Honours BBA program should be made through the Lazaridis Undergraduate Programs Office. Application for transfer into Year 2 of the Honours BBA program should be made through your LORIS account in May for current Year 1 Laurier students. External students should contact the Admissions Office.
Credit held in courses that are exclusions to BBA core courses may be lost upon acceptance to the program (i.e., OL140, ENTR100) .
Admission to the WLU/UW double degree programs is direct-entry from high school only. Year 2 transfer requests will not be accepted.
Students requesting transfer to the BBA/FinMath or BBA/BSc (WLU) double degree program must meet the following criteria:
- Non-BBA students (students not currently in the BBA program), must first meet the transfer requirements to enter the BBA program by the end of April of their first year. Second, apply for transfer to the desired double degree program in August. Students will apply for transfer to the BBA program on LORIS in May, following their first year. See BBA transfer requirements here. Students not meeting requirements to transfer to the single degree BBA program by the end of April of their first year will not be considered for transfer to the double degree program.
- Current BBA, or students in other double degree programs, must ‘mirror’ the double degree program they are interested in transferring to during their first year, and must complete all applicable program requirements by the end of August of their first year. Students who have not completed all program requirements for their desired program by the end of August of their first year will not be considered for transfer in any subsequent term.
- The only point of transfer into any BBA or double degree program is Fall of a student’s second year.
- Students will be reviewed, competitively, based on academics only, and the students with the highest GPAs will be selected for the available spaces. Spaces will vary by year. Five courses must be taken in each of Fall and Winter of a student’s first year. Decisions will be made for DD decisions in August, just prior to a student’s second year).
- An applicant must have successfully completed Year 1 of the BBA program. The courses in that program should be similar to those required within the BBA/FinMath or BBA/BSc (WLU) program, including all Business and Economics courses. Consult with an Academic Advisor.
- Students will be considered based upon their overall academic record in Year 1 of undergraduate study. The level of achievement must be no less than a 9.50 GPA (79%) overall, including a minimum of a 9.50 GPA (79%) for all BU courses, to apply. For Math and Computing courses, each respective department will determine their minimum grade requirements. Consult with an Academic Advisor from the appropriate Department. Please note that performance in individual required courses is also considered. Students will not be considered for transfer who have a ‘CR’ grade in a required course for the requested program.
- It is expected that applicants complete a full course load each term of Year 1. Normally, a total of ten 0.5‐credit courses (or equivalent) must be completed by April 30th for consideration. Course repeats are not reviewed favourably.
- Space is limited, where the number of applicants with minimum qualifications exceeds the number of places available candidates will be rank‐ordered on the basis of academic record.
All admission decisions will be made jointly between the Lazaridis Undergraduate Programs Office and the respective Department from the Faculty of Science.
