MBA Academic Guidelines

MBA Honors

     Students who complete the MBA program with a grade-point average of 3.75 or higher will graduate "With Distinction."  Students graduating in the top ten percent of each cohort will receive the Graduate Business Dean's Citiation.

Academic Requirements

      University of Louisville MBA and Master of Accountancy (MAC) students are required to maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all required and elective classes in order to remain in good academic standing and qualify for graduation.  Required and elective courses do not include prerequisites or classes taken outside of the University of Louisville College of Business.  The College of Business Graduate Programs Office performs academic standing checks at the end of each term or semester.  If a student's cumulative GPA falls below a 3.0 at the completion of any term or semester, that student will be placed on academic probation for the following term or semester.  Failure to raise the cumulative GPA to a 3.0 or above by the conclusion of that probation term or semester will subject a student to academic dismissal.

     The grading scale for MBA and MAC courses consists of the following: A+ (4.0), A (4.0), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3), B (3.0), B- (2.7), C+ (2.3), C (2.0), C- (1.7), F (0).  No grades of D+, D, or D- are used for assignment or course grades.  Please see individual syllabi for class grading scales.

     Due to the structure of the MBA curriculum and the inability to repeat a course within a cohort, students receiving a grade of F in any core class are subject to immediate dismissal from their MBA program.  Options can be discussed at that point with the Associate Dean for Masters Programs.

     Students who withdraw or are dismissed from any program in the middle of a program term or semester will not be permitted to complete that term or semester.  Any courses not yet begun will be deleted from a withdrawn or dismissed student's transcript.  For MBA students, there are no tuition refunds for withdrawal or dismissal after the first day of class associated with a given billing period.  MAC students follow the withdrawal calendar on the Registrar's Office website for each semester of study.

      If an MBA student withdraws while in good academic standing, all tuition paid up to that point will be credited toward the new tuition rate if he or she rejoins the MBA program within one year.  

Academic Dishonesty

     It is expected that a student in the Graduate School will abstain from plagiarism and cheating. Plagiarism and cheating are serious breaches of academic conduct and may result in permanent dismissal. Each student is advised to become familiar with the various forms of academic dishonesty as explained in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities. A plea of ignorance is not acceptable as a defense against the charge of academic dishonesty.

     Instructors may use a range of strategies (including plagiarism-prevention services at the university) to compare student works with private and public information resources in order to identify possible plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Comparisons of student works will often require submitting a copy of the original work to the plagiarism-prevention service. The service may retain that copy in some circumstances.

For more information about the UofL College of Business masters degrees, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   at 502-852-7257 or attend an upcoming MBA Information Session.