Have questions? Get in touch with our students and staff!
Curious about campus culture, student organizations, or life at Lehigh? Ask a current student about their experience in a graduate program.
Have questions about the application or admissions process? Our dedicated staff members can help answer all your questions.
Establishing a Level Playing Field Prior to Your Arrival
Lehigh University’s 1-MBA prides itself on admitting a diverse student population made up of students with both business and nonbusiness undergraduate degrees as evidenced by our class profile. Our commitment to recruiting a diverse MBA cohort requires us to communicate to incoming students a general foundational skill set that promotes student success in the 1-MBA program.
Academic leveling courses are self-paced online trainings that provide an overview of core foundational knowledge associated with the 1-MBA program. The self-paced trainings are designed for students to complete in the spring semester/early summer, prior to starting the 1-MBA program. The trainings are designed for non-business majors, allowing students to become familiar with introductory business skills. Additionally, the trainings are helpful to students who have taken undergraduate courses in business, but need a refresher to the content. The flexibility of the trainings allow for students, who have been admitted to the program in later rounds, to have an opportunity to complete the trainings prior to their arrival.
For the 1-MBA Program, academic leveling courses are strongly recommended to be completed by students meeting the following criteria:
- Students who have not successfully completed an undergraduate course in Accounting
- Students who have not successfully completed an undergraduate course in Finance
- Students who have not successfully completed an undergraduate course(s) in Quantitative Areas (examples include: Calculus, Algebra)
Lehigh University encourages admitted 1-MBA students to register for an academic leveling course if they have not taken a college-level course in these areas in the past five years. A comprehensive list of the recommended core foundational skills required of 1-MBA students can be made available for deposited students by contacting the MBA Academic Advisor, Marissa Winter, at mfw223@lehigh.edu.
Time to Complete and Cost
Each of the modules takes approximately 12-20 hours to complete. There are three modules in total: statistics, accounting, and finance. Because 1-MBA students will differ in what undergraduate courses each has taken, the total time commitment should not exceed 60 hours of preparation time.
Students may purchase each of the modules needed at a cost of $99 per module, or can opt to purchase the Business Fundamentals Bundle for all three modules for a total price of $199. Students will be required to pay for each course or the bundle via a provided website with payment required on either a credit or debit card. The trainings have been used in dozens of countries, so there should not be an issue enrolling in the training outside of the United States.
Notification to Take MBA Leveling Trainings
Once a 1-MBA applicant has been admitted, the Graduate Program Office will communicate if any MBA leveling trainings will be recommended for the individual, along with registration information with the letter of admission. The student should provide the certificate of completion for leveling training to the 1-MBA Program Director prior the start of the cohort.
Accessing Pre-MBA Leveling Training
The GMAC Business Fundamentals leveling training is provided by Kaplan.
All pre-MBA leveling training can be accessed and purchased through GMAC's Kaptest.
Contact
Please contact Kevin Ezzell, Senior Director of Graduate Admissions, with any questions at kje318@lehigh.edu or (610) 758-3418.