California State University, Los Angeles, College of Business and Economics Admission
California State University, Los Angeles, College of Business and Economics Undergraduate Program
California State University, Los Angeles, College of Business and Economics Application

The Facts

California State University, Los Angeles is a rather large, public institution located, obviously, in the city of Los Angeles, California, and has a combined undergraduate and graduate population of approximately 19,000 students. The university's graduate College of Business and Economics is significantly smaller, and is home to about 460 graduate business students. Over 95% of the enrolled students have had an average of 7 years of full-time professional work, which the admissions committee takes into serious consideration when reviewing applications. As a result of this fact, the average age of enrollment is around 30, however, ages range from 28 all the way up to 50. Approximately 5% of enrolled students enter graduate business school directly from their undergraduate education, and about 5% of students already have a graduate degree of some sort. The College of Business and Economics offers students degrees in the Master of of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Accountancy (MSAcc), Master of Arts in Economics (MAEcon), Master of Science in Health Care Management (MSHCM), Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS), as well as an interdisciplinary program in health care management. Some of the most popular areas of study include courses in management, information systems, accounting, as well as marketing.

Admission to CSU, Los Angeles' College of Business and Economics is extremely competitive among those who apply. Last year, over 900 students applied for admission to the school and approximately 350 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 140 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.45, and an average GMAT score of 560. The admissions committee requires all applicants to have a minimum average undergraduate GPA of at least a 2.5 and a minimum GMAT score of at least a 500. Students may begin the MBA programs in either the fall, winter, spring or summer, and admission is usually done on a rolling basis.

The College of Business and Economics has 79 full-time faculty members, of whom 98% hold a doctorate degree. The school is also home to 2 part-time faculty members. The average graduate business class size is about 40 students, and most professors teach an average of 28 credit hours.

Placement Services

The school has rather limited placement services, however, most enrolled students have full-time professional jobs to begin with. In fact, some of the students' employers strongly encourage them to attend graduate school, and even pay for it in some cases, as it will only make them more valuable employees and stronger additions to the company. Placement and career development services are available to all alumni for an unlimited number of years after receiving their graduate degree, including a well-maintained online career database.

What's Good

"There are a lot of amazing faculty members here, most of whom are at the absolute pinnacle of their respective fields."

"The Los Angeles area is a very convenient place to go to business school; it is one of the epicenters of the business world."

"You come out of this school feeling very well-rounded in my opinion."

What's Bad

"There tends to be a lot of competition among students here. It can be a contest to see who's more savvy."

"I wish we had more of a placement service; if you don't already have a job, things are pretty tough."

"I think a lot of the classes are a bit too big. It makes discussion a bit chaotic."

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