University of Washington Bothell Programs: A Comprehensive Overview

The University of Washington Bothell (UW Bothell), established in 1989 and opening its doors to students in 1990, stands as one of the three campuses comprising the esteemed University of Washington system. Ranked No. 7 in Regional Universities West and No. 4 in Top Public Schools by the 2025 edition of Best Colleges, UW Bothell offers a diverse array of undergraduate and graduate programs designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in today's rapidly evolving world. Situated in a suburban setting on a 128-acre campus, UW Bothell maintains a student-faculty ratio of 21:1 and operates on a quarter-based academic calendar. The university accepts the Common Application and employs a test-optional admissions policy.

A Focus on Business Education

The UW Bothell School of Business is dedicated to fostering the growth of individuals, organizations, and society through its leadership in business education and research. As an integral part of a public research university, the School of Business strives to create, disseminate, and apply business knowledge to cultivate principled leaders and organizations both within Washington and beyond. The school provides access to excellence in higher education through academic programs that encourage a spirit of discovery, critical and analytical thinking, ethical reasoning, and respect for cultural and intellectual diversity.

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (BA)

The Business Administration degree at UW Bothell is meticulously crafted to prepare students for the multifaceted challenges and opportunities that organizations encounter in the Puget Sound region and across the globe. The program emphasizes effective oral and written communication, teamwork in a diverse workforce, entrepreneurial management in high-tech companies, and skills for working in the global business environment. For students already employed in business, the program strengthens and refines critical skills and increases knowledge of the principles and techniques of sound business practice. For those seeking employment, the program offers a foundation for new careers in the rapidly changing regional and international economy.

In addition to a robust core curriculum, students have the option to select a specific concentration to delve deeper into a particular area of business practice. Alternatively, they can curate a self-directed study plan by choosing from a variety of upper-division electives. The program also offers opportunities for project courses, internships, independent research, and leadership development activities, enabling students to apply their acquired knowledge and skills in real-world scenarios.

Admission Requirements for BA in Business Administration

To be considered for admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration program, applicants must meet the following requirements:

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A minimum of 60 quarter credits (with 80 quarter credits preferred).
A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher.
Completion of two years of a single foreign language in high school or two quarters of a single foreign language in college.
Specific coursework in areas such as advanced composition, statistics, calculus, financial and managerial accounting, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business law.
General education requirements, including credits in English Composition, Natural Science, Arts & Humanities, Social Science, and Diversity.

Direct First-Year Admit (DFA)

UW Bothell's School of Business also offers a Direct First-Year Admit (DFA) program, which supports academically competitive and diverse students by providing early access to business school advising, student-faculty engagements, scholarships, and program activities. The department enrolls up to 20% of its incoming class directly from high school, prior to the completion of University-level prerequisites. First-Year applicants who have been accepted to UW Bothell and have specified Business Administration as their preferred major are automatically considered for DFA. Admission is offered to students based on a holistic review of their application and is for Autumn Quarter only. DFA applicants must have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.3 or higher.

First-Year applicants selected for Direct First-Year Admit (DFA) admission will enter UWB with “Business Undeclared” status. Business Undeclared students will be eligible to request placement into an Option or Concentration within the Business major after the completion of course work specified below. The School of Business will maintain an admission pathway for transfer students and current UWB students who were not admitted as DFA to the Business Undeclared cohort. This pathway will be very similar to the current admission process.

Completion Requirements for BA in Business Administration

To successfully complete the Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration degree, students must fulfill the following requirements:

Completion of 90 credits or more at the upper-division level (300-400).
Completion of at least 60 credits in business, with a minimum of 45 credits earned at UW Bothell. Transfer courses must be upper-division and approved by the program.
45 of the final 60 credits must be completed in residence at UW Bothell.
Achievement of a minimum grade of 1.7 in every business course applied to the major.
Completion of the required business core courses, capstone courses, and general electives.

The required Business Core (30 Credits) consists of:

B BUS 300 - Organizational Behavior, Ethics, and Inclusivity
B BUS 307 - Business Writing
B BUS 310 - Managerial Economics
B BUS 320 - Marketing Management
B BUS 340 - Operations and Project Management
B BUS 350 - Business Finance

The Capstone (10 Credits) consists of:

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B BUS 470 - Business Policy and Strategic Management
B BUS 480 - Global Environment of Business

Students must also complete 30 credits of General Electives. These can be any 300‐400 level classes from Business, Computer Software Systems, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, Education and Science & Technology Programs at UWB or approved comparable upper-division transfer courses, excluding any 300-400 level courses used for the Reasoning Requirement. A second business concentration or a minor may be completed.

Business Program at the Eastside Leadership Center (ELC)

The Business program at the Eastside Leadership Center (ELC) in Bellevue offers the same foundational knowledge in business theory, critical thinking, ethics, and communication skills as the program offered at the Bothell campus. The primary difference lies in the method of delivery, which utilizes a peer cohort model where students take courses as a group on a fixed schedule. Students pursuing their Business degree at the ELC can choose from available concentrations.

Options and Concentrations within the BA in Business Administration

The Business Administration program offers several specialized options and concentrations, allowing students to tailor their studies to their specific interests and career aspirations. These include:

Accounting Option: This option is designed to prepare students for careers in various accounting fields, including private, government, nonprofit, and public accounting. The curriculum covers financial statement preparation and presentation, the use of accounting and operational data for planning and control, auditing, accounting information systems, and tax planning. Students aiming to become Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) must complete a minimum of 225 quarter hours, which is 45 quarter credits beyond the standard undergraduate degree requirement.
Finance Option: The Finance Option enhances a student's knowledge of how firms make financial decisions and how these decisions affect individual organizations and society as a whole. Students also learn how firms acquire and allocate funds, how financial markets operate and the role these markets play in economic welfare. The study of finance includes the use of models to develop analytical approaches to problems.

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- Finance Option Core (20 Credits)
  - B BUS 451 - Financial Policy and Practice
  - B BUS 452 - Financial Modeling
  - B BUS 453 - Financial Institutions and Markets
  - B BUS 454 - Investments
- Finance Option Enrichment Elective (5 Credits) Students choose one course for 5 credits total.
Leadership and Strategic Innovation (LSI) Option: This option offers students a rigorous study of leadership, strategy, and innovation.
Marketing Option: The Marketing Option prepares students to thrive in customer-centric organizations by developing their analytical thinking, experiential learning, and professional experiences. Graduates can pursue careers in brand management, sales, marketing research and consulting, and digital marketing, or apply their skills to entrepreneurial ventures.
Supply Chain Management Option: This option equips students with the ability to manage suppliers across globally distributed locations and procure the right materials at the right time to meet company objectives. This option operates in the middle of all other major functional areas in a firm which creates numerous opportunities to expand horizons and face new challenges in the rapidly evolving global landscape.

Bachelor of Science in Economics (BS)

The B.S. in Economics equips students with essential quantitative, complex problem-solving, and critical reasoning skills that are highly valued in today’s data-driven and artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced industry, socioeconomic research, and policy making.

Admission Requirements for BS in Economics

The program is a minimum-requirement major, with the required classes being the necessary prerequisites for some of the core classes.

Transfer students: To be admitted into the program, transfer students must simply have a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in across all college coursework, as well as cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 in the following requirements-with a minimum grade of 2.0 in each:
- Statistics (5 credits): BIS 215, or B BUS 215, or B MATH 215, or STMATH 341 or STAT 220
- Calculus (5 credits): STMATH 124 or STMATH 125, or STMATH 126, or B MATH 144 or STMATH 114
- Microeconomics (5 credits): B BUS 220/BIS 200
- Macroeconomics (5 credits): B BUS 221/BIS 201
- Advanced Composition (5 credits): B WRIT 135 (C)
Internal matriculation: For internal matriculation, the process for our minimum-requirements B.S. in Economics works as follows. Students who apply to UWB upon graduating high school and who list Economics as their first-choice major are admitted into the program if they have a minimum 3.3 GPA. They are coded as Pre-Business, but are under the School of Business and declare the Economics Major as soon as they meet the minimal requirements listed above. For students admitted into UWB from high school but who either did not meet the 3.3 GPA bar for direct admission or who did not list the Economics Major as first choice at the time of applying to UWB, as well as for students who do not declare the major until their second or third year, admission into the program works similarly as that for transfer students. Provided they meet the minimum requirements, they simply need to declare the major.

Completion Requirements for BS in Economics

A business student needs to earn 55 credits to be awarded the Economics Major:

30 credits for core classes: B BUS 220/BIS 200 (Intro to Microeconomics), B BUS 221/BIS 201 (Intro to Macroeconomics), B BUS 210 (Financial Accounting), B BECN 302 (Intermediate Microeconomics), B BECN 303 (Intermediate Macroeconomics), B BECN 382 (Introduction to Econometrics);
25 credits from a list of approved electives.

The general education requirements for the B.S. in Economics are based on the Business Administration Major and the university graduation requirements:

English Composition (C) - 5 credits (A grade of 2.0 is required)
Additional Writing (W) - 10 credits
Reasoning (RSN) - 5 credits
Natural Sciences (NSc) - 15 credits
Arts and Humanities (A&H) - 15 credits
Social Sciences (SSc) - 15 credits
Diversity (DIV) - 5 credits (3 credits for students admitted to UWB prior to Fall 2023) Note: The DIV credits can overlap with General Education requirements above.

Business Minor

The Business minor is designed for undergraduate students in any non-business major to increase their understanding of business theory, practices and applications. The Business minor has much of the same rigor and content as the core courses taken by Business majors. Many of the courses also have a team component, encouraging the development of skills in team interaction, consensus building, and organizational leadership.

Completion Requirements for Business Minor

BBUS 300 Organizational Behavior, Ethics, and Inclusivity
BBUS 310 Managerial Economics
BBUS 320 Marketing Management
BBUS 340 Operations & Project Management
Elective ‐ Business Elective at the 300‐400 level

Three of the five courses in the Business minor must be completed at UW Bothell.

Economics Minor

Economics explores how individuals, corporations and societies manage their scarce resources. The study of economics emphasizes conceptual and analytical thinking, providing students an excellent way to acquire strong problem-solving skills and a logical, ordered way of looking at problems.

Completion Requirements for Economics Minor

25 credits
B BUS 220/BIS 200 Principles of Microeconomics
B BUS 221/BIS 201 Principles of Macroeconomics
B BECN 302 Intermediate Microeconomics
Electives ‐ two (2) Economics electives at the 300‐400 level

Students may not enroll in upper-division Economics courses until the Statistics and Calculus prerequisite requirements have been met. Three of the five courses in the Economics minor must be completed at UW Bothell. Acceptance of transfer courses must be approved via petition to the School of Business.

Retail Management Minor

The Retail Management minor provides students with the skills, competencies and experiences needed to pursue careers in the Retail industry. The curriculum facilitates the development of in-depth knowledge of retail analytics, merchandise acquisition, retail marketing, supply chain management, retail operations, and retail technology and leadership. Students also have the opportunity to work on actual problems with local retailers and present their ideas to top leadership.

Completion Requirements for Retail Management Minor

B BUS 300 - Organizational Behavior, Ethics, and Inclusivity
B BUS 320 - Marketing Management
B BUS 445 - Merchandising Acquisition
B BUS 446 - Strategic Retail Promotion
B BUS 447 - Retail Operations & Supply Chain
B BUS 448 - Retail Technology and Leadership

Students may take MGMT 300: Leadership and Organizational Behavior and/or MKTG 301: Marketing Concepts, at the UW Seattle campus to satisfy the requirements of B BUS 300 and B BUS 320, respectively. The UW Seattle campus courses are four credits each.

Technology MBA

The University of Washington Bothell offers three MBA programs, including the Technology MBA.

General Information about UW Bothell

UW Bothell's undergraduate enrollment totaled 5,248 students in the fall of 2023. The university's location provides a suburban environment conducive to focused learning, while its proximity to Seattle offers access to a wide range of cultural and professional opportunities. The university's commitment to sustainability is exemplified by its 58-acre wetland restoration project, one of the largest on the West Coast, which serves as both an ecological sanctuary and an educational resource.

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