MBA/MA in Southeast Asian Studies
Dual degree program

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies within the Rackham School of Graduate Studies offer a dual degree program enabling a small number of qualified students to pursue concurrent work in Business Administration and Southeast Asian Studies leading to the MBA and MA degrees.

Requirements | Application | Accepting Admission | Sample plan

The program is arranged so that all requirements for both degrees are completed in three years of enrollment. The degrees are awarded simultaneously.

This combined degree program is not open to students who have earned either the MBA or a Master’s degree in Southeast Asian Studies. Students enrolled in the first year of either program may apply.

Requirements

Students admitted to this dual degree program must satisfy the following degree requirements:

1. The MBA 57 credit hour degree program including:
   • 45 Business Administration Credits, made up of:
     • Roughly 30 credit hour MBA core (no credit is awarded for Business Administration core courses successfully waived: credit must be earned with Business electives);
     • Roughly 15 elective hours in Business Administration;
     • MBA Communication Requirement.
   • Up to 12 credit hours of transferable electives from Southeast Asian Studies;
     
2. The Southeast Asian Studies MA 24 credit hour degree program including:
   • Introduction to Southeast Asian Studies (3 credits)
   • 21 graduate credits with Southeast Asia content from at least 3 different disciplines, with at least 12 credits at 500 level or above, 3 of these at 600 or above.
   • Completion of at least two years of an appropriate area language or second-year language competence.
   • A Master’s essay on a Southeast Asia topic, including registration in SEAS 798. These credits do not count toward the total 24.

The total credit hours for the dual degree program must be at least 69.

The dual program may begin with studies in either school. However, because of the sequenced nature of the core courses in the MBA program, most students will find it advantageous to start with year one in the Business School. During years two and three, courses may be taken in both schools. Students who wish to begin with Southeast Asian studies should see a counselor in the Business School to arrange an appropriate plan of study. No course work completed prior to admission in either of the two halves of the dual program may be counted toward the MBA requirements.

Application

Applicants interested in the MBA/MA combined program must file separate applications to and be admitted by both programs. Applicants must indicate on both applications that they are applying for this specific dual degree program (please make sure the correct box is checked on the MBA application).

An application fee of $60 for domestic and $75 for international students must be paid to Rackham. Please include a note regarding disposition of the fee to the school not receiving the money.

Applicants must take the GMAT for Admission to Michigan's Ross School of Business and may take the GRE or GMAT for Admission to the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

For more information on applying to the MA program click here:

For more information on applying to the Business School, click here:

In addition to contacting the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, students interested in this program should contact Linda Lim, Center Director, and Professor of Strategy, Ross School of Business, at lylim@umich.edu.

Accepting Admission to the Dual Degree Program

For the Business School, the normal enrollment decision date for most admitted students (admitted in Rounds 1 and 2, application dates of November 1 and January 7 respectively) is May 1. Effective immediately, the Ross MBA program will require that dual degree applicants admitted in Rounds 1 and 2, assuming that they have a positive decision from the partner school, notify us of their decision, and in which school they plan to enroll first, by May 1 also. Any dual degree applicant who applies to Ross in Round 3 (March 1 application deadline) and is admitted by Ross and the other school will have until June 1 to make the enrollment deposit and declare in which school they plan to enroll for the first year. This would also make it clear how many enrollees each school can expect each fall, and how many students the Business School needs to admit from the waitlist.

Please see below for a sample plan of this dual degree program.