collageHigh school graduates with an interest in majoring in business are able to choose from a variety of institutions depending on their preferences. There are schools locally that offer small class sizes and intimate business programs, while other large public universities offer large lecture-style classes and the chance of more networking opportunities.
Many students that complete this degree program apply for roles in the Miami and Tampa metro areas, and due to Florida’s strategic geographic location, much of the commerce that comes from Latin America impacts the local economy. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that business and financial operations professionals in Florida earn an average of $71,000 annually. Many entry-level positions in the business sector require a Bachelor of Arts in Business, and these programs can vary from 4-5 years. Most programs require students to develop business plans and pursue professional internships in their junior year to further their connections during their job search post-graduation.
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Why study business?
Your passion may be making videos, designing buildings, or playing basketball. Whatever your skill set and interests, there’s a business side to the equation! Think about it — business is part of the language we use when we talk about the entertainment industry, project financing, and sports marketing.
Everything has a “business” side to it — every industry needs accountants, marketers, managers, financial analysts, and technology support staff … in other words, business majors!
In a nutshell, Business as a field of study is very practical — it is the study of applying ideas to create or add value to a product or service in order to generate a profit.
Also, Business majors learn how to research information using quantitative skills, and then develop ideas based on that information to solve problems.
However, Business also involves people — customers and employees — so communication and interpersonal skills are vitally important as well.
What is a Career Path with business degree like?
The combination of academic challenge and practical focus makes the prospect of studying a business degree highly appealing for those attracted to the competitive, yet collaborative learning environment offered by many business schools and departments.
But, for most people, the answer to the question “why study business?” is best answered by reference to possible careers with a business degree.
However, Business graduates go on to work in different sectors, and not all of them are those you would typically associate with business in general. More obvious careers with a business degree include roles in accounting and finance departments, which take in large numbers of business degree graduates.
Other sectors with high demand for business graduates include marketing and advertising, as well as retail, sales, human resources and business consultancy. The diversity and plenitude of careers with a business degree underlies the subject’s appeal for many students.
Top Florida Colleges For Business
Studying in a place like Florida can be a life-changing opportunity for you. Most especially if you are pursuing a Business degree program at any level. This is because it’s among the states in the United States and in the world that has favorable technology-driven business climate.
Hence, the state is known for its good robust economy, tropical weather, and thriving hospitality industry occupying a central position as a global logistics and transportation hub
Moreso, Business Schools in Florida makes available world-renowned study and internship opportunities for students interested in international business.
Interestingly, these Schools in Florida provide an avenue for well to do leaders and entrepreneurs to get opportunities from multinational companies, government agencies, and financial districts.
Therefore, if you aspire to gain a competitive edge in an internationally esteemed and culturally diverse educational environment, review our list of the top undergraduate business schools in Florida to help you explore your options.
Florida International University Miami, FL
Whether you see yourself as an accountant, entrepreneur or international businessperson, FIU has the traditional, online and blended programs to realize your goal. So head down to Miami for sunshine and a degree. The school’s secret sauce? Well, the nationally-ranked Landon School of Business’ professors are business leaders with both teaching and practical experience. And students see immediate classroom application, as 84 percent of undergrads work while attending school or intern at corporations such as Burger King, Celebrity Cruises and Merrill Lynch. You can even tap into the resources of the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center workshop series, join a business organization or team up with fellow students to enter the annual Howard J. Leonhardt New Venture Challenge, which pits finalists against international teams for $46,000 in cash prizes. Spend your winter break abroad studying management in Dubai and India or marketing in Barcelona, Madrid and Marrakech. If running your own business is appealing, you may ultimately be among the nearly one-fifth of Landon’s 30,000 alumni who are their own bosses. Others have benefitted from international business research and interacting with students from other countries for their future working at an international or multinational firm.
Saint Leo University Saint Leo, FL
Saint Leo University offers 44 Business degree programs. It’s a medium sized, private not-for-profit, four-year university in a small suburb. In 2020, 1,325 Business students graduated with students earning 636 Bachelor’s degrees, 599 Master’s degrees, 67 Associate’s degrees, and 23 Doctoral degrees.
University of Florida Gainesville, FL
University of Florida offers 21 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, public, four-year university in a midsize city. In 2020, 2,680 Business students graduated with students earning 1,679 Bachelor’s degrees, 956 Master’s degrees, 27 Doctoral degrees, and 18 Certificates.
Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
Florida State University offers 23 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, public, four-year university in a midsize city. In 2020, 2,497 Business students graduated with students earning 2,103 Bachelor’s degrees, 372 Master’s degrees, and 22 Doctoral degrees.
University of Central Florida Orlando, FL
University of Central Florida offers 20 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, public, four-year university in a large suburb. In 2020, 2,294 Business students graduated with students earning 1,872 Bachelor’s degrees, 407 Master’s degrees, 9 Certificates, and 6 Doctoral degrees.
University of South Florida Tampa, FL
University of South Florida offers 23 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2020, 2,453 Business students graduated with students earning 1,843 Bachelor’s degrees, 587 Master’s degrees, and 23 Doctoral degrees.
Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL
Nova Southeastern University offers 42 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, private not-for-profit, four-year university in a large suburb. In 2020, 839 Business students graduated with students earning 713 Master’s degrees, 122 Bachelor’s degrees, and 4 Certificates.
Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL
Big school, big opportunity. Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business is one of the largest business schools in the U.S. As a student you can look forward to having lots of chances to network with successful business leaders and bring your business plans to life. In fact, Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, a 30-hour certificate program, teaches aspiring entrepreneurs how to plan, pitch and finance their ideas. Think you’ve got a sound proposal? Enter the annual Business Plan Competition and get valuable feedback from executives while you compete for $200,000 in cash prizes to launch your own startup. Not a bad start! The 2014 winners launched Modulux Lighting and are now manufacturing commercial LED light fixtures that help companies cut energy costs. Florida Atlantic University is one of just five percent of business schools worldwide that meets the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business’s rigorous standards for accreditation. This means you’re guaranteed to get a top-tier business education at FAU.
Valencia College Orlando, FL
Valencia College offers 14 Business degree programs. It’s a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2020, 7,021 Business students graduated with students earning 6,547 Certificates, 266 Associate’s degrees, and 208 Bachelor’s degrees.
University of Miami Coral Gables, FL
University of Miami offers 27 Business degree programs. It’s a large, private not-for-profit, four-year university in a small city. In 2020, 1,462 Business students graduated with students earning 934 Bachelor’s degrees, 431 Master’s degrees, 91 Certificates, and 6 Doctoral degrees.
Best Colleges For Business Majors
Business is the most common undergraduate degree in the country, with roughly 375,000 students earning a bachelor’s degree in the field each year.
The popularity of a business degree has held for several years now, owing to flexible career paths and higher-than-average salaries.
In fact, a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that while the precise payoff varies, the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are roughly 10 times what graduates owe in student debt payments. Put simply: studying business is a pretty safe return-on-investment bet.
Plus, a business degree, which includes majors in accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and management, can position students to work in almost any industry that catches their interest.
To help budding business leaders sort through potential schools, we’ve narrowed down our latest college rankings — which focus on affordability and outcomes — to highlight the campuses in our list with strong business offerings. (We included colleges on our main ranking, plus the schools on our selective colleges ranking.) Next, we scored colleges based on the median salaries of recent alumni with business degrees. We also scored colleges on the number and share of recent graduates earning bachelor’s degrees in business as a proxy for the resources and opportunities available to business students on that campus.
1. Babson College
- Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
- Estimated price with average grant: $33,300
- Graduation rate: 91%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $66,350
Business is in Babson’s D.N.A. From the start, the college has focused on business education, and today the college offers a single undergraduate degree: a B.S. in business. Students get hands-on experience from the get-go, launching a startup business as part of a freshmen team. The list of ventures started by alums spans a range of sizes and industries, including home security company Ring, craft brewing company Peak, and the fitness brand Zumba.
2. Bentley University
- Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
- Estimated price with average grant: $45,200
- Graduation rate: 89%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $65,100
Bentley specializes in business education, with more than 9 in 10 undergraduates earning a degree in a business field. Undergraduates can take advantage of the school’s trading room to learn about portfolio construction, corporate finance and risk management. That real-world training pays off: 98% of recent graduates were employed or attending graduate school six months after graduation, according to the school’s career center.
3. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
- Location: New York City
- Estimated price with average grant: $4,100
- Graduation rate: 66%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $46,000
Business is the most popular academic area at Baruch College, with three-quarters of its 15,000 undergraduates studying at the Zicklin School of Business. For New Yorkers, Baruch is an outstanding bargain. And for prospective business students, the school’s location is a big draw: students attend classes in Manhattan, within easy reach of Wall Street and the headquarters of several Fortune 500 companies.
4. University of Pennsylvania
- Location: Philadelphia
- Estimated price with average grant: $25,500
- Graduation rate: 95%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $95,950
With its Wharton School — a name that’s synonymous with top business education — UPenn draws some of the country’s top business thinkers to its faculty, including well-known academics such as management professor Adam Grant, marketing professor Americus Reed II and economist Olivia Mitchell. Graduates boast impressive earnings, particularly finance majors, who have average salaries well above six figures within three years of graduation.
5. Georgetown University
- Location: Washington, D.C.
- Estimated price with average grant: $32,400
- Graduation rate: 94%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $80,750
In addition to old-fashioned coursework, business students at Georgetown University get the chance to participate in international business strategy competitions, undergraduate research and consulting projects for companies and non-profit organizations. The business school also offers one-on-one career coaching, plus programs like “career treks,” where undergraduates travel to network with alumni and Fridays in the Field, where students visit companies throughout the Washington, D.C. area.
6. Bryant University
- Location: Smithfield, Rhode Island
- Estimated price with average grant: $42,200
- Graduation rate: 80%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $56,500
Bryant focuses on giving its many business students a cross-disciplinary advantage: All business students combine their major with a liberal arts minor, and 40% choose to complete more than one concentration outside of business. One of the many hands-on learning experiences is the $2.1 million, student-run Archway Investment Fund. There’s also the university’s popular Global Supply Chain Management Practicum, through which students have worked through real-life business scenarios from major corporations, including Hasbro and CVS.
7. University of Notre Dame
- Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
- Estimated price with average grant: $31,700
- Graduation rate: 97%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $73,100
Classes at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business are purposefully small, to give students access to personalized attention on both their coursework and their career planning. Students can choose from one of five business majors, and outside of the classroom, they can double down on their education by joining one of many business-focused student organizations, including the Entrepreneurship Society of Notre Dame, the League of Black Business Students or the Finance Club.
8. University of Michigan
- Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Estimated price with average grant: $18,800
- Graduation rate: 92%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $78,980
Money’s No. 1 college in 2022, the University of Michigan excels in many areas, and its Ross School of Business is no exception. Among the school’s many “action-based” learning opportunities is the annual Michigan Business Challenge, a competition where students can win prize money by pitching a business plan to a panel of judges. Last year, the school reported that more than nine in 10 business graduates had a job offer within six months, and recent alumni have gone on to work at the likes of Goldman Sachs, Google and TikTok.
9. Indiana University-Bloomington
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
- Estimated price with average grant: $13,900
- Graduation rate: 78%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $69,150
The Kelley School of Business is one of the biggest schools at this large state university, offering students 20 business-related majors. Regardless of what you major in, a global perspective is encouraged, with six in 10 Kelley students participating in a study abroad program. (They can choose from 59 programs in 29 countries.) Some 700 companies recruit at the school each year, and job placement rates for Hoosiers with a business degree are high.
10. University of Georgia
- Location: Athens, Georgia
- Estimated price with average grant: $17,500
- Graduation rate: 84%
- Median earnings for recent business graduates: $57,550
Founded over 100 years ago as the South’s first business school, Terry College at the University of Georgia remains a leader in undergraduate business education. In addition to 10 business-related majors, the college offers a wide array of certificate programs that give students the opportunity to build a custom education. While UGA is a big school — there are more than 2,000 students who graduate with business degrees each year — a student-to-student mentoring program connects upperclassmen with new undergraduates so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Best Community Colleges in Florida for Business
For anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship, you should look no further than Florida. The state has one of the highest startup formation rates in the US, making it a great place to learn insider tips to launching an exciting venture.
Plus, if you decide to study your business degree in sunny Florida, you might even get to spend some of your time studying your MBA courses at the beach.
Here are four of the best business schools in Florida helping students launch high-flying business careers.
The Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida
US News Report rank: 29
Students at the Warrington College of Business can choose either the full-time two-year MBA or they can fast-track their learning, with business majors being able to complete the accelerated MBA in just 10 months.
With the full-time MBA costing roughly $27k for residents and $61k for non-residents, Warrington College of Business is an affordable option compared to many East Coast schools.
Grads can benefit from a strong MBA return on investment (ROI), with an average starting salary of $110k. The school also boasts an impressive 100% employment rate for students three months post-graduation.
In the MBA, students can take part in the Global Immersion Experience. This involves a 10-day experience abroad where students attend meetings about company practices and engage in networking opportunities. Trips have previously taken place in Argentina, Brazil, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
Miami Herbert Business School © via FB
2. The Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami
US News Report rank: 67
Not only is Miami rich in culture and closely located to Caribbean countries like the Bahamas and Cuba, it’s also a great place to forge international business connections. The STEM-designated Miami Herbert MBA is comprised of around 40% international students.
Having recently redesigned their full-time MBA to focus the program more directly on current business trends and employer demands, the school also prides itself on offering an up-to-date and unique curriculum.
The MBA helps students combine their knowledge of core topics like management, economics, and marketing with finance, business law, and technology. There’s also a strong focus on sustainability topics.
Six weeks before the MBA classes begin, students polish their resumes, practice interview and elevator pitches, and build a target company list for their career coach to help them work towards.
Miami Herbert Business School alums have gone on to work at global companies like Amazon, Deloitte, Audi, JP Morgan, and Microsoft.
Roy E Crummer Graduate School of Business © via FB
3. The Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College
US News Report rank: 102-134
Students who study the professional MBA at Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business can continue working while attending classes in the evenings. This flexible mode of format means that students can apply the skills they’re learning to their current roles.
Students can take part in the Global Business Experience course, where the MBA cohort gets to travel abroad to immerse themselves in real-life business experiences.
For those wanting to pursue a career in consulting, the Global Consulting course focuses on solving client-based challenges for an overseas firm or a company seeking to expand into foreign markets.
The school also hosts an annual alumni weekend, where business school alumni are invited to connect with each other and their professors. These social events grant alums the opportunity to build their MBA networking skills whatever career stage they’re at.
4. The Muma College of Business, The University of South Florida
US News Report rank: 102-134
Priced at just $32k for out-of-state students, the Muma College of Business MBA sits amongst some of the most affordable business schools in the US.
As part of the professional MBA, students can customize their degree to suit their career aspirations, with electives in areas like Sustainable Business, Healthcare Management, Creativity and Innovation, and International Business.
The Muma College of Business also offers the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program. This is an MBA and MS dual degree program that offers a concentration in Sport Business for grads looking to kickstart a career within the global sport and entertainment industry. The program covers topics including Sport Business Analytics, Sport and Social Issues, Sport Law, and Sport and Entertainment Finance.
MBA alums from the business school have launched careers at top companies like EY, Goldman Sachs, PwC, and Morgan Stanley.
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