November 20, 2015

Online MBA agribusiness economics option available

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s online MBA program is expanding to offer an agribusiness economics concentration. 

Those who complete the program will still earn an MBA but will see four of the traditional business classes replaced with agriculture business courses in their curriculum sequence. The program is still 100 percent online and delivered in a focused, modular format over a 23-month period. Students advance through the online program as a group, with interaction and collaboration encouraged. Instruction is provided by many of the same faculty who teach the on-campus classes. 

“Our online MBA with agribusiness economics concentration is designed to provide business management skills specially tilted toward the fast-growing agriculture industry to assist working professionals with their career advancement goals,” Xiaoxin Beardsley, Hamilton Faculty Fellow, associate professor of finance and director the college’s graduate programs, said. “It offers the same quality as our on-campus program but with the convenience and flexibility of online delivery.” 

The new agribusiness economics concentration is a collaboration between the College of Business and the College of Agricultural Sciences. SIU’s College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, International. 

“The online MBA with an agriculture economics combination is ideally suited for the working professional. We bring an online option to them from SIU’s highly talented faculty and I envision it being attractive to those in the fast-paced agriculture world who are making critical decisions and advancing in the leadership ranks,” Mickey A. Latour, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, said. 

Applications are now being accepted for the class that begins in summer 2016. Online MBA students can choose the traditional general program with no special concentration or the agribusiness economics concentration option. 

Find the application and additional information by visiting online mba program website or by calling 618/453-3030.