Texas A&M University—Commerce College of Business and Technology

Contact Information

P O Box 3011
Commerce, TX 75429
Phone: (903) 886-5167
Fax: (903) 886-5165

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With classes offered in five locations, the College of Business and Technology at Texas A&M Commerce has made convenience one of its chief selling points. The approach seems to be working; the program is now one of the biggest MBA programs in the Dallas/Fort Worth region, according to the Dallas Business Journal. The school uses only its regular, full-time graduate faculty to teach MBA classes in Commerce, Mesquite, McKinney, Dallas, and Waco. (The Waco program, which began in the spring of 2004, is cohort-based.) According to a survey, easy-to-reach locations, affordability, and connections to area industry are the reasons most students choose to pursue a Commerce MBA.

Students can choose not only from a wide range of sites, but also from a variety of program options. The Fast Track MBA offers a general management degree consisting of 10 courses. This program, which can be finished in one year, is favored by the school's five-year BA/MBA students. The Comprehensive MBA can also be completed in a year, although most students take longer due to required foundation courses (which can be waived for students with mastery in foundation areas). The school also offers MBAs a minor that is available in accounting, economics, finance, human-resources management, international business, management-information systems, marketing, and management of technology. In addition, students at Commerce can pursue a British study option, study in China through the China University of Geosciences Partnership, and MS degrees in e-commerce, economics, finance, management, and marketing. The MS in management can be completed entirely online; there are select MBA classes also available over the Internet.

Big things are ahead for Texas A&M Commerce. The school introduced an online MBA program in the fall of 2004 and will soon offer an A&M MBA in Beijing, China. "If they cannot come here to Commerce, we will take the MBA program to them," explains university President Keith McFarland, alluding to the difficulty foreign students have receiving United States visas in the post-9/11 world. "They will receive the same high quality education we are known for." That means Chinese students will soon benefit from "very experienced faculty [and] a low student-teacher ratio that shows the school really cares about the students and tries to get to know them."

Students Say - Admissions

Applicants to the MBA program at the College of Business must send the Admissions Office copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts, GMAT or GRE scores, three letters of recommendation (from present or past employers and/or from professors), a personal statement describing one's goals in pursuing a graduate degree, and a current resume. A minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.75 and a GMAT score of at least 400 are both required to qualify for full admission; students not meeting these requirements may still enter under probationary status, or they may enter with nondegree status. Applicants to MS programs may take the GRE or GMAT. To gain entrance into the 33-hour program, students must have successfully completed introductory undergraduate classes in accounting, finance, macroeconomics, management, marketing, microeconomics, operations, and statistics.

Students Say - Campus Life

The cooperative students in Commerce's various programs constitute "a melting pot of many ethnic backgrounds; [there are] both male and female students [with] fairly large variances in age and work experience." The population includes "a large proportion of international students from East Asia and India." MBAs say, "Students are either really involved in extracurricular life or not at all," and that their ranks contain "many commuters who don't participate in on-campus activities."

The Commerce campus includes "a brand-new, multimillion-dollar recreation center. The students love it." MBAs comment that "even though it is a small campus, there is plenty to do." Nationally touring performers, lecturers, festivals, and parties fill the extracurricular calendar here. The school's athletic programs are hit-and-miss; the women's soccer team is quite competitive, while the men's football and basketball teams are dolorous endeavors.

Commerce, Texas is a quaint town sixty miles east of Dallas. Its population totals around 7,500 permanent residents; when school is in session, the population doubles. Major employers in the area include Bank One, Ben E. Keith Foods, Tyco, and the university. MBAs warn that "the town is a very low-income town, which results in a low-income lifestyle at the school."

Students Say - Careers

The university maintains a career-services office on its main campus in Commerce. The office includes a library of job-related materials and a bulletin board of job postings; its staff offers one-on-one counseling to students searching for jobs. The school is one of 44 members of the Metroplex Area Consortium of Career Centers (MAC3), "organized for the purpose of ‘uniting students, employers, educators, and the community to form a better workplace.'" MAC3 maintains an online job database and holds regular career fairs.

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