Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Portland
At a Glance
14 MonthsProgram length
Portland or OnlineLocation
Format
In person or remote, part time
Semester Credit Hours
32
Cost per Semester Credit Hour
$910*
Tuition Cost for Entire Program
$29,120*
Accreditation
ACBSP (Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs)
Average Class Size
15 to 25 students
* All stated financial information is subject to change. Financial aid available.
Why Earn an MBA at George Fox?
Let’s face it: MBAs are everywhere. You could earn one from any number of institutions across the country. Why choose George Fox’s MBA program?
Our program gets results. You will find our graduates in the world’s most-recognized companies, from Nike and Hewlett-Packard to Verizon, Intel and Fidelity Investments.
In short, whether you are looking for career growth, desire a career change, or seek professional and personal enhancement, an MBA from George Fox University will provide the tools necessary to achieve your personal goals and give you an opportunity to increase your salary and improve your business acumen.
Beyond that, our program offers:
A consistently ethical perspective on business
A character-building leadership focus
Small cohorts and regular interaction with other students and faculty
Part-Time MBA: Student Experiences and OutcomesClose
What Sets Us Apart
Development of Soft Skills
What sets our program apart? Like most MBA programs, we cover foundational knowledge and practical application, including quantitative methods, finance, and strategy. But here’s what sets us apart: our emphasis on developing the soft skills – communication, presentation, critical thinking, decision-making, emotional and cultural intelligence, and leadership. That’s what will give you the leg up against the competition.
Flexibility
Virtually all of our students continue to work while in our program. We offer the option of either an in-person or remote format, and our program is mapped out so you can plan on all the details – including dates, costs and requirements – in advance.
Practical Application
Apply what you learned in class on Monday to a project at work on Tuesday. Our program is designed for real-world application. Class discussions and readings are balanced with projects and case studies to demonstrate how theory is applied in the real world. Your final project in the program is client based and will utilize all of your skills and knowledge to meaningfully contribute to an organization of your choice.
An Emphasis on Servant Leadership
A George Fox MBA is known for preparing competent leaders who are ethically grounded, globally engaged and socially responsive. That’s because we emphasize a business-beyond-the-bottom-line approach, incorporating courses on building ethical organizations, developing world class leaders, and personal and organizational effectiveness.
Our Cohort Model
Looking for community? You will find it in our program, as you will progress through the entire sequence of courses with the same cohort of experienced professionals. Our cohort model encourages interdependence and social support that often continues after you graduate. An additional benefit is a strong network of professional contacts.
Individualized Attention
As a Christian university, George Fox seeks to develop the whole person, academically, socially and spiritually. We limit our class sizes to ensure our experienced faculty give personal attention to each student. At George Fox, you'll be in a place where everyone – faculty, staff and classmates – knows your name.
Remotely via Zoom (classes are conducted live by an instructor and with active student engagement)
Choose the schedule that fits your life:
Weekly on Tuesday or Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. (cohort begins each year in the fall)
Weekly on most Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with some weeks off (cohort begins each year in the spring)
Curriculum
Our curriculum is streamlined to get you in and out in 14 months — there's no fluff here, but we still have everything you need. Take a look at what you'll be studying and imagine what these skills could do for your career.
This course explores both theory and application of competencies that contribute to effectiveness in an organizational setting at the individual, team and organizational level. This is the introductory course to the George Fox University MBA Program. It is intended to demonstrate the unique and distinctive ethos of the university. The approach features readings, case studies, class discussion and interaction, and written material and oral presentations.
This course explores how organizations are formed, managed and led in an environment that is increasingly global, diverse, and unpredictable. We probe the nature of organizations, their behavior, their culture, how they change, and the human impact of those changes. Students will conduct a criteria-based examination of a specific organization, exploring the question, "What is a world-class organization?" We will also investigate proven approaches for managing change and transition in organizations.
This course examines the fundamental accounting principles underlying the balance sheet, income statement, statement of stockholders' equity and statement of cash flows. An emphasis is placed on financial analysis as a basis for operational and financial decision-making within various companies and industries. Key internal accounting and operating controls are identified as a basis for the processing of critical business and transactional information through the accounting and operating systems of an organization.
This course focuses on the economic operating environment and examines the underlying assumptions, concepts and methods of microeconomics and macroeconomics, with emphasis placed on the application of economics to managerial decision-making. Competing economic theories and the role of economic institutions will be investigated. This course is also intended to raise economic awareness in business leaders to enhance responsible and ethical engagement with the economy. Prerequisite: This course is for part-time MBA students.
In this course, you will examine marketing strategy from idea generation and existing product/service development to positioning the product/service in the consumer or business market and communicating the value offering. Identify marketing research and analysis tools and techniques to inform marketing decision-making. Learn how to successfully guide a digital-first marketing operation and manage decisions that include ethical considerations, privacy, emerging tech, social responsibility and sustainability, segmentation, targeting, pricing, delivery/distribution, and promotional strategies.
This course covers the fundamental concepts, techniques, and practices necessary for financial leadership within a broad variety of organizational settings. It is designed to help students develop the critical thinking and quantitative skills they need to make effective financial management decisions, mitigate risk, and maximize returns in the face of uncertainty and complexity. Topics will include the interpretation of financial statements, ratio analysis, cash flow, and financial forecasting. Students will emerge from the course with the financial leadership skills necessary to make sound investments related to talent, technology, and risk within organizations.
This course introduces practical ethical issues that arise in the work environment and the ethical tools to understand and inform day-to-day activities in the workplace. This course focuses on building understanding of ethical issues inherent in dealing with the structure of legal systems, business litigation, contracts, employment issues, intellectual property, competition and sales, and international law. The course will help students develop the ability to anticipate and recognize key legal issues for ethical decision making. Christian values run throughout the course and are covered specifically in several topics. Prerequisite: This course is for students in MBA Part-time program.
This course will prepare students to take the lead on key initiatives in a broad array of fields within the private, public, and non-profit sectors by developing skills in project management and process improvement. Students will be introduced to the Project Management Institute (PMI) approach to assembling and leading teams for effective initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control, and closure of projects, including Agile and Lean methods. Students will work in collaborative teams to define and propose solutions to address strategic opportunities and solve critical problems.
This course prepares students to be more effective users of quantitative data and better researchers focused on business decisions. Coursework emphasizes problem identification, the need for information to support decision making, business research techniques, data analysis, and interpretation. Specific attention will be given to separating information from noise, exploratory data analysis, predictive analytics, and optimization to support business decision-making.
This course explores both historical and contemporary leadership theories and models. Particular emphasis is given to evaluating leadership theories from a values perspective and determining the ways in which they can be applied to the most current developments in organizational change strategies. Using this knowledge, students are presented with ways in which leadership can be conceptualized and applied to meet the requirements of today's increasingly complex organizations. Prerequisite: This course is for students in MBA Part-time program.
The focus is on the use of design thinking processes and the application of design thinking tools appropriate to situational context necessary for problem-solving and strategy formulation. The course contrasts the traditional, linear approach to problem-solving and strategy formulation with a more holistic, systems thinking approach. The objective, therefore, is to not only increase awareness and understanding of design thinking, but importantly enable learners to apply design thinking tools relative to business strategy to better navigate the challenges of complexity and change faced by leaders in any organization, in any industry today.
The Client/Capstone project is an opportunity for MBA students to apply what they have learned in their program to a project in a client environment. The course serves as an integrative, hands-on learning experience using analysis, management, and planning tools gained during the MBA, resulting in a major project that is implemented in a client environment. Students (individually or in teams) will work with a faculty mentor and a representative from the client organization to detail the specific requirements for the capstone. Work on the project will begin in BUSG 598 and be completed in BUSG 599.
The Client/Capstone project is an opportunity for MBA students to apply what they have learned in their program to a project in a client environment. The course serves as an integrative, hands-on learning experience using analysis, management, and planning tools gained during the MBA, resulting in a major project that is implemented in a client environment. Students will work with a faculty mentor and a representative from the client organization to detail the specific requirements for the capstone. This course will continue the work begun in BUSG 598.
Professional Certification Options
Want to add a specialization to your degree? Starting next year, George Fox will offer optional professional certification programs comprising one to three courses that you take toward the end of the program. Delve into business analytics or project management and level up your degree.
Business Analytics Certificate
The business analytics graduate certificate consists of the following three 3-credit courses that will be offered starting in spring 2023 (after completion of the BUSG 540 or 541 Business Analytics prerequisite):
BUSG 600 Business Analytics: Descriptive Analytics and Forecasting
BUSG 603 Business Analytics: Applied Analytics and Predictions
BUSG 606 Business Analytics: Prescriptive Analytics and Modeling
The cost per credit is $910, which means you’ll pay an additional $8,190 for the Business Analytics Certificate.
Project Management Certification Prep
The project management option consists of one 3-credit course that will be offered to start in spring 2023 (after completion of the BUSG 535 Project Management or BUSG 536 Managing People, Processes, and Projects prerequisite):
BUSN 485/585 Project Management PMI Prep
The cost per credit is $910, which means you’ll pay an additional $2,730 for the Project Management Certification Program.
We plan to offer other certification options in the future, so submit a request for information to join our mailing list and receive updates.
Richard Bacon
MBA graduate in Strategic Management, Class of 2020
The George Fox MBA program really opened my eyes to the concept of servant leadership and my responsibility as a business leader to help my team find intrinsic fulfillment in the work that they do. Through the MBA program, I learned what it means to be a leader—it isn’t about fancy job titles; it’s about empowering my team and facilitating their success. I’m thankful for the perspective I developed through the program because it has allowed me to more effectively contribute to the success of my company, as well as better understand what drives me to succeed at work each day.
