What is Business Administration?

A business can have a brilliant product or service, but without a solid foundation in business administration it may struggle to achieve its objectives in the marketplace or establish efficient operations.  

If you asked a dozen people, what is a business administrator, you may get a dozen different answers. That’s because the title can be applied fairly broadly, but typical business administration responsibilities include organizing and supervising teams, motivating employees and hiring new ones, managing resources such as budgets and materials, and overseeing and reporting on the major areas of the business.

For example, within a finance department, the business administration team is responsible for ensuring employees get paid promptly and appropriately. Similarly, a human resources team with established business administration practices may be able to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to recruiting, hiring and training. They work to ensure skills and staffing levels are sufficient to complete projects and achieve business goals.

The terms business administration and business management are sometimes used interchangeably, but if you’re planning to pursue a business career, you should be familiar with the differences between the two disciplines, and which career path may be a better fit for you.

If you’re preparing to pursue a career in business administration or move up in the career you already have, there are a couple different degree options that you can explore.

A bachelor’s degree is the highest level of undergraduate education and can be found at many colleges. Typically, these programs cover foundational courses of study in a wide range of disciplines such as finance, economics, business law and marketing to help students gain familiarity and practice with the theory and application of day-to-day business operations.

Here at DeVry, we offer a Bachelor’s in Business Administration degree program that examines general business concepts like accounting, management, marketing and the analytical skills that are the basis of sound business decision-making. You can specialize your course of study to align with the industry or field you’re working toward by choosing from 11 specializations in areas like Human Resource Management, Finance, Sales and Marketing, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Hospitality Management and more. 

DeVry University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. The University's Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. https://www.hlcommission.org/.¹

DeVry University’s Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) https://acbsp.org/.²

In our Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration program, you will take courses that will help you develop skills like critical thinking, judgment and decision-making as well as fundamental and business-focused courses across 4 crucial areas:

If you’ve already earned a bachelor’s degree, you may consider pursuing a postgraduate degree, such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In today’s rapidly evolving and technology-driven business environment, you may find that an MBA might help you stand out to employers or may even be a required qualification for upper-level management positions.

At DeVry and our Keller Graduate School of Management, we offer a 100% online MBA program that can help you to develop a deeper understanding of economics, corporate finance, strategic marketing and business practices for both domestic and international businesses. With coursework that focuses on leadership and organizational behavior, you’ll also get to sharpen your interpersonal skills in team building and collaboration and learn how to help companies’ human capital thrive.

Like our Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration program, our MBA program can be aligned to your professional goals and your personal interests by choosing from 10 specializations in Health Services, Entrepreneurship, Global Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Information Systems Management and Project Management, among others.

At DeVry, we don’t require a GRE or GMAT to apply. We also offer accelerated schedules, which can help you earn your degree in less time. You can earn a DeVry MBA in as few as 12 months on an accelerated schedule, or 2 years and 2 months on a normal one³, although if you choose to add a specialization, your time to complete and other details may vary.

³Normal time assumes completion of 7 semesters, enrollment in an average of 6 credit hours per semester and continuous, year-round enrollment with no breaks. Accelerated time to complete requires at least 9 credit hours of Prior Learning Credit. Assumes completion of 3 semesters, enrollment in an average of 10 credit hours per semester and continuous, full-time year-round enrollment with no breaks per 12-month period. Does not apply to MBA with Specialization. Time to complete and details vary by specialization. See the Keller Academic Catalog for complete program details.

And like our bachelor’s-level degree, our Master of Business Administration program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) https://acbsp.org/.²

The skills needed to be an effective business administrator can vary depending on the field you work in and the size of your company, among other things, but there are some core competencies that you can focus on developing to help position yourself for success.

Useful skills for those who want to work in business administration are mostly soft skills, but some jobs may require specific hard skills depending on the type of work they’re doing and the industry they’re in.

If you’re planning to pursue a career in business administration, you might want to consider developing your skills in:

As we mentioned, a career path in business administration can be found across industries like healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, service industries, transportation, retail and many more. 

It’s important to know that job titles and requirements are not standardized between business sectors, so while business administration graduates may meet the hiring standards for a particular role at one company, another company may have a very different set of hiring criteria.

According to occupational outlook data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the entry-level education requirement for many business and financial occupations is typically a bachelor’s degree. Career seekers who’ve earned a bachelor’s degree are typically able to pursue entry or intermediate-level positions in business administration.

Graduates of our Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration may explore careers such as:

Some employers, or higher-level positions, may require more advanced degrees or years of work experience.

Career opportunities for those with a graduate degree, such as an MBA from DeVry, may include management-level positions like:

The BLS projects employment of administrative services and facilities managers to grow 5% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 31,400 job openings each year, on average, over the decade.⁴ This growth is projected on a national level and local growth will vary by location. BLS projections are not specific to DeVry University students or graduates and may include earners at all stages of their careers and not just entry level.

The BLS cites that job growth for administrative services managers is expected to be strong due to the expanding adoption of cloud computing and the need for increased information management and data security needs.