Program Description

The business certificate programs from La Salle University are specially designed to help students quickly build the career-advancing professional competencies that make you stand out to prospective employers. Our flexible academic calendar and multiple start dates per year allow students to continue working while pursuing professional goals. All courses are taught by respected faculty with industry connections and all credits earned through the graduate certificate program can be applied to a La Salle MBA degree.

La Salle University provides an innovative course structure that enables students to develop and strengthen the leadership skills and functional knowledge necessary for the advancement of their current careers and life goals. It is a platform where experienced people from diverse professional backgrounds come together to connect, collaborate and learn.

We offer courses in a flexible format, which provides working professionals with greater flexibility and convenience as they move through the program. We have developed a learning experience that leverages the latest teaching and learning technologies to deliver an environment to deepen our students’ understanding of business and markets, and improve their decision making skills. With the Lasallian emphasis on the value and impact of personalized interactions among professors and classmates, our students are fully engaged in their education.

La Salle’s graduate programs teach our students the application of the latest business and analytical thinking and facilitates the development of their professional and people-oriented skills. In the virtual classroom, our faculty stress the interaction of theoretical knowledge with practical experience and shared ideas. They also challenge our graduate students to maximize their “natural” resources for success. Our professors are committed to the Lasallian tradition of teaching, which means being accessible, focusing on the individual, and contributing to a sense of community.

La Salle understands the lifestyles of its graduate students and is committed to making sure it is as easy as possible to register for courses, meet with a professor or take a semester off, if necessary.

The School of Business and the Graduate Certificate Programs are accredited by the most prestigious worldwide business school accrediting organization AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. 

Mission

School of Business' Mission 

Experiential and engaged learning is at the heart of everything we do. We provide excellence in business education through the integration of current business concepts with diverse experiential learning opportunities.  As a Catholic Lasallian university, we are committed to the principle that all knowledge is practical and empowering, filled with the capacity to transform lives.  Anchored by a foundation which affirms the value of both liberal arts and professional studies, our students are prepared to lead engaged and fulfilling lives marked by a commitment to the common good.

Graduate Business Certificate Program Mission

La Salle University’s Graduate Business Certificate Programs enable students to develop and strengthen the leadership skills and functional knowledge necessary for the advancement of their current careers and life goals. It is a program where experienced people from diverse professional backgrounds come together to connect, collaborate and learn.

Program Specific Information

Business education has been part of the La Salle curriculum since its founding in 1863. The School of Business, one of three schools in the University, was established in 1955, and its MBA program began in 1976.  As a business school in a Catholic, Lasallian University, students are taught fundamental business knowledge and skills within an ethical framework which emphasizes the primacy and value of human dignity. 

Accreditation 

The Business School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) which establishes standards designed to ensure excellence. Less than 5 percent of the world’s business schools are accredited by AACSB.  As an AACSB-accredited business school, the Dean’s office and faculty use continuous quality-improvement processes to ensure that the many offerings of the School of Business are of the highest quality.

Admission Deadlines

The deadline to complete an application for admission consideration is 2 weeks prior to the start of that term. Applicants must have all documentation submitted two Friday's prior to the start of that particular term to be eligible for admission consideration for that term. 

Contact the graduate business office if you have any questions at gradbusiness@lasalle.edu.

Admission Requirements

Students must have completed the Graduate Business Foundation Certificate to be eligible for the Executive Leadership Certificate. 

The Graduate Admission Committee evaluates each applicant’s interest, aptitude, professional experience and prior academic success to assess his/her potential for achievement in graduate business studies. 

Before an applicant will be evaluated, he/she must submit the following information:

• Application (Online)
• Official transcripts from the college/university from which a bachelor's degree was earned, and, if applicable, Master’s degree. Applicants will be notified additional transcripts must be submitted for advising purposes.
• Test scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), or, with permission of the Director, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Based on prior academic and/or professional success, the admission requirement to take the GMAT/GRE may be waived or deferred. Please see the section below "Waiver of GMAT or GRE".
• Professional resume

Waiver of GMAT or GRE Requirement

Applicants that have earned a master's degree or higher from a program accredited in its disciple will be waived from the GMAT or GRE exam requirement. Additionally, applicants with an undergraduate business degree from an AACSB-accredited program who have a minimum overall grade point average of 3.2 or above are not required to complete the GMAT or GRE exam for admission into the program.

The GMAT (or GRE) may be waived for additional applicants at the discretion of the Admission Committee upon reviewing an applicants overall profile.

The GMAT/GRE may be deferred and eventually waived if an applicant has graduated with a 3.0 GPA in any undergraduate discipline and has at least 2 years of business experience. These students are eligible to take up to 12 credits in the program. If the student achieves a B- or better in each course and an overall GPA of 3.3, the GMAT/GRE will be waived. Students that qualify for a GMAT waiver may not be eligible for financial aid loans until they are fully (regularly) accepted to the program.

Admission Process 

Students can begin the admissions process by completing an application on our website here.

All documents should be sent to the following:

            Office of Graduate Enrollment
            La Salle University- Box 826
            1900 W. Olney Avenue
            Philadelphia, PA 19141
            215.951.1100/ Fax 215.951.1462
            grad@lasalle.edu

Because each applicant’s background and profile is unique, the Admission Committee does not establish specific quantitative minimum requirements for admission; the admission committee’s decisions are based on evaluating many factors to determine a student’s potential for success in a graduate business program.

Please refer to the University's Nondiscrimination Policy in the General Reference section of this catalog.  Admission is based solely upon an applicant’s qualifications.

Transfer of Credit

Course credit may not be transferred into graduate certificate programs.

Certificate Earned

Executive Leadership Certificate

Required for Program Completion

• 4 Courses
• 12 Credits
• 3.0 GPA

Program Goals

The Graduate Certificate program's goals are to deepen our student's business knowledge, develop their organizational and leadership skills, and sharpen their decision making.

• Strategic thinking through integrating discipline-specific business knowledge
• Leadership Skills
• Business-related oral and written communication skills
• Awareness of how the business environment influences decision-making
• Knowledge and skill concerning financial analysis, reporting, and markets

Student Learning Outcomes

The Graduate Certificate program's learning goals are structured to advance our students skills and knowledge in the following areas:

Strategic thinking through integrating discipline-specific business knowledge

• Demonstrate the ability to integrate business disciplines to achieve strategic objectives.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate the usefulness of various competitive strategies (e.g., adaptive, market entry, positioning) that firms use within domestic and global markets.

Leadership Skills

• Demonstrates the ability to identify and analyze current leadership style and the ability to develop and enhance leadership skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a team.

Business-related oral and written communication skills

• Demonstrate the ability to prepare and deliver a professional presentation on a business issue.
• Demonstrate the ability to write a clear, concise, and well-organized professional presentation of a business issue.

Awareness of how the business environment influences decision-making

• Demonstrate the ability to identify and analyze ethical and legal business dilemmas and the ability to recommend and defend appropriate solutions and strategies.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how cultural, economic, and political factors shape the management of global business.

Knowledge and skill concerning financial analysis, reporting, and markets

• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate the financial position of for-profit organizations through the examination of financial information contained in balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and footnotes, as well as information gathered from other sources (such as public filings, business news publications, and websites) in order to enable stakeholders (management, shareholders, creditors, etc.) to understand a firm’s progress in maximizing its value to stakeholders.

Academic Standing and Graduation Requirements 

All students in La Salle University’s graduate business programs are required to maintain a cumulative scholastic average of 3.0, which translates to an overall G.P.A. equivalent to a B (a B- average is not sufficient). Students whose academic performance falls below this standard are subject to academic review by the Graduate Program Director, and may be required to withdraw from the program, revise their course of study or repeat specific classes.  

Students with a cumulative grade point average below 3.0 are automatically in academic jeopardy whether or not they receive written notification of this status, and regardless of the number of credits earned. Students with a G.P.A. below 3.0 should consult with the Graduate Program Director ascertain any potential actions to improve academic success within the program.

To graduate from a Graduate Certificate Program at La Salle, students must:

• Have a minimum of a 3.0 G.P.A. overall within the program,
• Maintain a “C” or better in all the required courses, and
• Receive no more than two grades of “below” a B- in the MBA program.

Should students:

• Fail a course; they may retake the course by paying the current pertinent tuition. No more than two course retakes are allowed in the program.
• Complete all required courses, but fall below a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. requirement, they will not be eligible to graduate. In this case, the students may retake up to two courses to improve their G.P.A. to a 3.0 or higher, as long as the total number of course retakes in the program does not exceed two courses.

In extraordinary circumstances, a student may be permitted to earn one additional "C" or retake one additional course at the Graduate Program Director's discretion, as long as all other graduation requirements are met.

Transfer of Credit

Course credit may not be transferred into graduate certificate programs.

Tuition and Fees

Students may find the tuition and fee schedule on the Financial Aid website.

Tuition Assistance

There are loan programs available for graduate students. Information about financial aid and the application forms may be obtained from Student Financial Services, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA 19141 or by calling 215.951.1070.

Academic Requirements

Students must complete 12 credits to complete the Graduate Business Executive Leadership Certification at La Salle University. 

Executive Perspective Courses

The executive perspective courses provide students with a greater understanding of leading people and organizations. Topics include: assessing and developing one’s leadership and managerial skills;  learning how to use technology for managing the vast array of data and information sources; applying the appropriate analytical tools and business factors in making business decisions and evaluating their financial impact; and developing the business, human resource and organizational perspectives needed by executives as they make both strategic and operational decisions.

The integrative capstone course is one of the final courses taken in the program. This course provides the opportunity to integrate what has been learned in the Core, Specialization, and Executive Perspective courses while adding global perspectives and reinforcing the ethical dimensions  of decision making needed for success in business today.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Executive Perspective Courses
MBA 810	Developing Your Leadership Skills	3
MBA 820	Information Technology for Decision-Making	3
MBA 830	Financial Statement Analysis	3
MBA 840	Frameworks for Socially Responsible Decision Making	3
Total Credits		12

Course Sequence

A student's course sequence and timing will be based upon the university's course schedules for each academic year. Upon acceptance to the program, students will receive a Model Roster with the course requirements and a recommended course sequence to complete their graduate certificate.

• It is recommended for students to take one course per term for those that are currently working full-time.
• Students must complete the Graduate Business Foundation Certificate before progressing in the Executive Leadership Certificate program.

We offer each executive perspective course in a fully online or hybrid format.

• The online courses are offered in 8-week terms, five times per year. The terms begin in August, October, January, March, and May. New students can enroll in any of the five-starts.
• The hybrid courses are each offered on campus, one time per year. The semesters begin in August, January, and May. New students can enroll in any of the three-starts.
  • MBA 810 is offered during the Fall semesters
  • MBA 820 is offered in an 8 week hybrid format in the Fall and Spring semesters
  • MBA 830 is offered during the Fall semesters
  • MBA 840 is offered during the summer semesters

Automatic enrollment has been implemented for the graduate certificate programs. All registration is done by the graduate business office, and students will not have to register on their own. The graduate business office will follow the recommended course sequence provided at the time of acceptance. 

Course Descriptions

Faculty

Interim Dean: Michael Moll, M.B.A.
Program Director: Nicole Blair, M.B.A., M.S.
Professors: Ambrose, Borkowski, Cooper, Fornaciari, Jiang, Tavana, Wentzel
Associate Professors: Chia, Kennedy, Lafond, Leauby, Pierce, Reardon, Szabat, Ugras
Assistant Professors: Adams, Bruce, Coyle, DiPietro, Dynan, Otto, Radetskiy, Varzgani

Program Contact Information

Graduate Business Office
Founders' Hall Room 233
gradbusiness@lasalle.edu
(215) 438-6676

Staff Contact Information

Nicole Blair, Director of Graduate Business Programs
(215) 438-6676
blairn@lasalle.edu

If you have any questions regarding the Graduate Business Certificate programs, please contact: gradbusiness@lasalle.edu