Business Administration DBA

Program eligibility requirements

The DBA Admissions Committee reviews the complete application, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Admission criteria include:

• An earned MBA or equivalent management-related master's degree.
• Course credits and professional experience in areas related to business and/or business administration. Students must have 20 credits of master’s level coursework in the following areas: a) organizational behavior, b) management information systems, c) finance, d) organizational strategy, e) accounting, f) economics, g) marketing, h) operations management, i) project management, j) research methods, and/or k) statistics.
• Five years of professional experience.
• Completion of DBA-level MBA Math
• Professional and academic references
• Admissions essay

If you intend to apply for the program and wish to include coursework from outside of the following areas listed in a) through k) above, you must include a rationale that helps to elucidate the connection between the DBA program and the coursework in question. Use this rationale to explain how the coursework is applicable to the 20-credit admissions requirement and/or DBA program more generally; consider including such things as course syllabi, course descriptions, or other material evidence that would help to strengthen your argument.

• The ideal applicant will have earned at least a 3.5 grade-point average.
• If the applicant is submitting GMAT or GRE scores, the ideal applicant will have a score above the 51st percentile.

Students seeking admission to the DBA program may complete required prerequisite courses in the Metropolitan State College of Management without being admitted to a COM graduate program if they meet the following criteria:

• Have earned an MBA or management-related master's degree
• Achieved a 3.0 GPA in their master's degree program
• Have completed at least five years of professional work
• Indicate in writing an intent to apply for the DBA program in a specific year

Application instructions

Deadlines

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until the cohort is full. The next cohort will begin classes in fall semester 2024 on approximately August 17, 2024. 

Application review

Completed application files are reviewed on a rolling basis until the cohort is full. The College of Management Graduate Admissions Committee will review all completed application files within two to three weeks following receipt of the file. 

Application packet

To be considered for full admission to the Doctor of Business Administration, applicants must submit both parts of the application packet (and part three if applying as an international student.) All application materials become the property of Metropolitan State University and are not returned.

Part one

Online Application - You will use your Minnesota State StarID to complete the application. If you don't have a Minnesota State StarID, you may create one at the beginning of the application.

• Current fee of $20 is waived for graduates of Metropolitan State, Veterans, and Active Military members.

Official transcripts - Transcripts must show a baccalaureate and master's degree or equivalent earned from a regionally accredited institution with grade-point average or narrative description describing courses completed.

• Transcripts from ALL schools attended after high school and from any graduate or professional programs are required.
• All transcripts from non-U.S. schools must be evaluated (course-by-course) by either ECE (preferred) or WES.
• Electronic transcripts should be sent to graduate.studies@metrostate.edu
• Paper transcripts should be sent directly from the sending institution (preferred) to:
  Metropolitan State University
  Attn: Graduate Admissions
  700 East Seventh Street
  Saint Paul MN 55106

Part two

• Current vita or resume
  • A vita documenting extensive professional work experience with significant responsibilities or significant full-time post-secondary teaching responsibilities.
  • Using StarID, upload via Applicant Portal
• Two professional references
  • Two reference letters, preferably one from a professional practitioner and one from an academic faculty member or administrator.
• Goals Essay
  • Using StarID, upload via Applicant Portal
  • Provide a brief description of your background, training and experience
  • Explain why you are pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration degree at this point in your career
  • What are your short-term and long-term objectives?
• Admissions Essay
  • Using StarID, upload via Applicant Portal

This admissions essay serves as both a writing sample for evaluation during the admissions process, and an indicator for faculty of the potential area of research interest. Your essay should reflect your perspectives and aspirations. It is imperative that the essay reflects your own work, however, cited outside sources integrated into the paper are welcome and encouraged.

Admissions Essay Instructions:

Please describe an area of interest that you would like to consider researching during the Doctorate of Business Administration program. This may be a) a problem that you have observed or experienced in your professional life, b) an area related directly or tangentially to your work, or c) a topic that has otherwise caught your attention. While the appropriate components of this essay will differ depending on the particular topic, your essay might incorporate:

• A clear description of the issue, including whether it is a problem, an opportunity, or a topic requiring greater knowledge development,
• A description of the issue’s context and the effects of context on the issue, which includes outside information that would help readers to understand the significance of the issue,
• Challenges in finding solutions to the issue if it is considered a problem or opportunity,
• Development of different, possibly competing, perspectives on the issue or problem,
• Perspectives provided by experts or other parties interested in the issue,
• A description of how you might research and/or analyze the issue at hand, including what data you may collect, how you would collect it, and from whom,
• How a graduate student, with the guidance of faculty, might gain additional insight into this issue.

Please include 5 to 10 outside sources that you have used as background information in addressing your chosen issue. The admissions essay should be approximately 1500 words in length, which is about 7-8 pages double-spaced. One of the standard writing formats should be used (APA, MLA, Chicago/ Turabian, etc.).

• Please note that students frequently (in fact, typically) change their research topics of interest during the DBA program as they are exposed to new ideas. As such, DBA applicants are not required to engage in research on issues described in the admissions essay during their academic program, assuming they are admitted. Rather, it is expected that your research topic may change over time as you are introduced to different fields of study and thought throughout the program.

Choose one of the following options:

• Option 1:  GMAT/GRE scores
  • Verifiable documentation of completion of GMAT quantitative, writing, and overall scores or GRE quantitative, verbal reasoning, and overall scores.
• Option 2:  Completion of the Doctoral-level MBA Math.
  • All sections must be completed at doctoral-level proficiency. For further information and directions, please use the Instructions for Doctoral-level MBA Math below.
  • Instructions for Doctoral-level MBA Math (PDF)

Questions about applying to the DBA program?

Please contact graduate.studies@metrostate.edu (preferred) or call 651-793-1302.