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Core Professional Competencies — Strategic Knowledge Studies

Applicants for admission to NCU graduate business degree programs must meet the Core Professional Competencies (CPCs), as required by the School’s ACBSP accreditation.

Core Professional Competencies required:

  • Accounting
  • Business Ethics
  • Business Finance
  • Business Policies of Integrating Experience
  • Economics
  • Global Dimensions of Business
  • Information Systems
  • Legal Environment of Business
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Quantitative Techniques or Statistics

Academic credit in the 11 CPC areas must have been earned within the last 10 years from a regionally or nationally accredited program. A CPC may be waived with an equivalent course at the undergraduate or graduate level, as evidenced in the transcripts presented for admission into the program. A course may not be used to waive more than one CPC.

If any of the 11 CPCs are not met, the Learner will need to take "SKS" Leveling Courses specified below, or may instead elect to complete 3 semester hours of undergraduate courses for each of the CPCs not transferred into the university.

Leveling Courses and Related CPCs

These courses are designed to identify, develop and enhance knowledge in concepts necessary to solve a wide variety of business related situations typically found by managers in global and diverse business environments.

Course #SKS5001 — Graduate Knowledge Studies in Contemporary Global Commerce
Included CPCs are Management, Marketing, Business Ethics, Global Dimension of Business.

Course #SKS5002 —Graduate Knowledge Studies in Fiscal Management and Economics
Included CPCs are Accounting, Economics, Business Finance, Legal Environment of Business.

Course #SKS5003 — Graduate Knowledge Studies in Quantitative/Information Systems
Included CPCs are Business Finance, Information Systems, Quantitative Techniques or Statistics

If one or more CPCs are missing, then the entire SKS module must be taken. As a specific example, if the Learner has not previously taken a Finance course at another institution, then the Learner has the option of taking a 3-semester-hour undergraduate course in Finance or taking SKS 5002, which includes Finance as one of the CPCs covered in the course.

Strategic Knowledge Fundamentals

Graduates are expected to have a basic knowledge of economic institutions, the complex relationships that exist between business, government, and consumers, and a basic knowledge of the functional areas of business. Courses taken to satisfy the fundamental requirements may not be counted toward a specialization but do count as credits toward earning the degree.