Business Administration

An Augustana liberal arts education is good for business, and career-building experiences give you the edge. It’s not unusual for our business majors to graduate in four years with a job offer.

This is because you’ll develop the skills of a highly effective businessperson, in any of the major’s five concentrations:

• Business intelligence
• Finance
• International business* 
• Management
• Marketing

Many business majors add a second major or a minor, and any field has a place in business. Accounting and economics are popular choices. Others include data analytics, entrepreneurship, non-profit leadership, and graphic design, especially with a marketing concentration.

*In addition to the business major with a concentration in international business, Augustana also offers a major in international business.

Careers and internships

Internships range from a semester in Australia to the John Deere World Headquarters, here in the Quad Cities. About 90% of business students complete internships, compared with 75% nationwide. 

Recent placements include AT&T Global Accounts, Caterpillar, WGN-TV, Chicago Bears, John Deere, Edward Jones, Kraft Foods, Merrill Lynch, Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the American Red Cross.

Recent graduates

Here's a sampling of what recent business graduates are doing:

Abdou Allah Camara '23 is an audit assistant at Deloitte.

Kate Martino '23 is a business analyst for Amazon Web Services at its HQ2 in Arlington, Va.

Caleb Stone '23 is an L/S global equities analyst at Wexford Capital LP in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Maeve Sheridan '23 is a tax associate with Andersen.

Celine Pham '23 is in the master's program in engineering with a financial technology focus at Duke University. 

Zach Gooding '23 is pursuing an MBA in business analytics at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Ben Ford '22 is a soil conservation technician with USDA-NRCS in Cambridge, Ill.

Damon Hulick '22 is a supply management specialist at John Deere Horicon Works in Horicon, Wis.

Jake Schoeck '19 is an associate attorney at BrownWinick in Des Moines, Iowa.

Zhiqing (Janice) Wu '18 is a communications manager at Microsoft in Seattle. She was a 2018 Forbes Fellow.

Michael Daniels '17 is a lead financial reporting analyst at Baker Hughes, in Florence, Italy.

Distinctions

Augustana students shine in the annual CFA Institute Research Challenge global competition, which tests college/university students’ analytic, valuation, report writing and presentation skills. In only our second year, Augie won the silver in the Chicago region, beating the University of Chicago, among others.

The finance program has been a member of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program since 2018. The program awards our students scholarships to sit in the CFA level I and level II exams for a deeply discounted price. Augustana has nine scholarships to award each year. Please contact Dr. Lina Zhou for application guidance.

Like all Augustana students, business students benefit from devoted advisors and close relationships with professors in small classes. Business administration goes a step further with its own advising coordinator for students.

Augustana invests in business students’ ideas through the annual $10,000 Augustana Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Augustana Creative Enterprise Fund, giving monetary awards to students for their original business plans.

Students take part in the innovative work happening in the EDGE Entrepreneurial Center in CORE. Go to the EDGE Center for expert help in developing your personal business plan, and to learn through projects — including marketing, advertising, web development, graphic design, client communications and more — for real community clients.

Outside of class

Outside of class, you’ll have many opportunities for professional experience:

• The Advertising Developers Club develops an integrated marketing campaign for a corporate sponsor as part of the annual National Student Advertising Competition each year. 
• Business Club (Beta Upsilon Sigma)
• CFA Institute Research Challenge 
• Student Investment Club, managing a portfolio of about $100K in 2020