Undergraduate

This program expands and diversifies your business knowledge while equipping you with the skills to effectively manage operations and create value in any environment. The business administration concentration prepares you for diverse roles in industries such as supply chain and operations management, as well as public sector positions in regulatory affairs or transportation management. With a flexible curriculum, you’ll gain the competencies needed to make an impact in a wide range of industries.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop

The knowledge and skills you’ll gain in this program provide you with a solid foundation in team leadership, finance and risk management, preparing you to take the lead in key business opportunities, such as:

• Building strategies for the future.
• Conducting skillful negotiations.
• Forecasting demand.
• Planning inventory.
• Purchasing services.

The value of a business administration degree

This program positions you to thrive in a rapidly growing job market. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in business and financial occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all fields from 2023 to 2033. As industries evolve, the demand for skilled professionals who can lead, manage and analyze business operations remains high. Upon graduation, you’ll be equipped with the management and leadership expertise needed to excel in a variety of roles across sectors, helping you meet the challenges of today’s economy and stand out in competitive industries.

Studying health services coordination provides you with a strong foundation to connect clients with the best care and guide them through the health care system. This program focuses on three key components:

• Community and public health resources
• Health policy and financing in modern care
• Patient advocacy and education

Health services coordinators are not health care providers; however, you’ll be an essential advocate for patients. Assisting clients through the health care system also allows nurses and medical teams to focus more fully on clinical care. This degree doesn’t lead to licensure but prepares you for a meaningful career as a health care advocate.

Supportive tasks include coordinating treatment plans, explaining options, scheduling appointments and sharing information. You’ll also identify and address potential issues in care delivery while working creatively and collaboratively with professionals to secure the best outcomes with limited resources.

How this program compares to our integrative health and community health programs

While ASU’s online bachelor’s programs in health care coordination, integrative health and community health all center on health care, they differ in how you’re prepared to support patients, families and communities.

• Health care coordination: Focuses on patient advocacy and care navigation to prepare you to help individuals access, understand and move through the health care system with confidence.
• Integrative health: Combines evidence-based health science with wellness practices, teaching you to support a person’s physical, mental and spiritual well-being for a more holistic approach.
• Community health: Improves public well-being on a broader scale and equips you to address health challenges at the community level and promote long-term health education and illness prevention.

You can also complete this bachelor’s degree as part of an Accelerated Master’s program, earning a master’s degree in as little as one year after graduation. This saves time and money while deepening your expertise. Applicable master’s degrees include:

• Master of Healthcare
• Innovation Master of Science in aging

In this program, you’ll learn how to implement community-wide and inclusive responses to health challenges. As a future community health leader, you can pave the way for better advocacy for patients and empower people of all backgrounds. Learning in this program emphasizes:

• Advocating for diverse individuals, families and communities.
• Providing health education, health promotion and care coordination.
• Navigating health-focused partnerships between organizations across sectors.
• Understanding components of a healthy, sustainable community.

Additionally, this bachelor’s degree can be completed as part of an Accelerated Master’s program. When accepted, you can earn a master’s degree in as little as one year after completing your undergraduate degree. This opportunity saves you time and money while giving you advanced knowledge in your field. Applicable master's degrees include:

• Master of Healthcare Innovation.
• Master of Science in aging.

The importance of community health workers

Extending beyond hospitals and offices, modern health care is a community matter. Community health workers fulfill various roles to improve access to health care resources and treatments. This can include increasing access to nutritious and fresh foods, providing vulnerable populations with preventative checkups and forging partnerships between public and private organizations to leverage resources.

With a background in community health, you can make an impact in your passion area. Your knowledge and skills can lead to opportunities in advocacy and connecting patients with health care providers and social services agencies. You can also pursue roles that assess community intervention effectiveness. Earning this community health degree will set a foundation to pursue a variety of career paths in the field.

Can this program lead to a career in community health nursing?

No, while this health-related program shares similar prerequisites with undergraduate nursing programs, it doesn’t prepare you for nursing licensure. If you’re interested in following a nursing path, a Bachelor of Science in nursing program is a better option for you. Upon completing this community health degree, you’ll be an excellent candidate for roles in health education, community health supervising and health administration.

Additionally, for those seeking professional certification, this program prepares you to sit for the CHES exam. This respected credential can give you a competitive edge when applying for roles in health fields as diverse as nutrition and kinesiology. As a CHES-certified health care professional, you can make an impact by educating individuals and communities on ways to improve health behavior and outcomes.

Data analytics is essential for business as it involves extracting insights from data to inform decision-making. While this concept is straightforward, the tools and processes used to gather insights from raw data are often advanced. This program equips you to leverage automated digital tools to manage and transform raw data into clear, actionable information.

As a professional, you'll interpret data patterns, group related findings and turn results into practical recommendations. This can help your company generate reports on inefficiencies, identify key trends, guide the development of new products and services and track important performance metrics.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop

Throughout this program, you’ll gain essential knowledge and skills needed to manage and execute big data initiatives. By exploring data warehousing, dimensional modeling, big data analytics methods and more, you’ll build both organizational and technical competencies, including asset analysis, data cleansing, gathering, integration and modeling.

Additionally, this bachelor’s degree can be completed as part of an Accelerated Master’s program. When accepted, you can earn a master’s degree in as little as one year after completing your undergraduate degree. This opportunity saves you time and money while giving you advanced knowledge in your field. Applicable master’s degrees include:

• Master of Science in business analytics.

How does this program compare to a data science degree?

While both data science and business data analytics involve analyzing data, they cater to different goals and skill sets. ASU’s online Bachelor of Science in data science emphasizes advanced statistical techniques, programming and machine learning to extract insights from complex datasets and build predictive models.

In contrast, this business data analytics program is tailored to solving specific business problems. It focuses on using data to make strategic decisions, improve processes and drive growth, often through business intelligence tools and dashboards.

Management centers on understanding how to engage and motivate people. It also involves building collaborative environments where every team member feels valued. This program teaches you to nurture relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders across global contexts while staying focused on performance and results.

As a future leader, your foundation in management will prepare you to:

• Direct effective projects.
• Navigate teams through constant change.
• Pivot with advancements in technology.
• Promote corporate accountability.

Coursework sharpens your ability to analyze research, think strategically and make informed decisions. You’ll define what matters to you as a leader, including the ethics and integrity that guide your actions.

Business management vs. business administration: How the two compare

Business management focuses on leading people and driving team performance, while business administration emphasizes managing complex operations. Although this management degree and ASU’s online bachelor's concentration in business administration share business concepts, your career goals can help determine your best path.

This program prepares you to communicate effectively and lead high-performing teams. It’s a strong fit if you see yourself guiding others and delivering results that support healthy, successful organizations.

In contrast, the business administration concentration builds core business knowledge to manage efficient operations. You’ll gain expertise in forecasting demand, planning inventory and purchasing services for an organization.

A marketing degree is relevant across multiple industries, making it ideal for a diverse variety of students and professional paths. Throughout your coursework, you’ll develop a multitude of marketing and business-related competencies, such as the ability to:

• Administer, allocate and organize resources to achieve marketing objectives.
• Drive corporate performance through effective outreach and engagement of customers.
• Support innovation and inform overall business strategy.
• Understand the science of consumer behavior.

While marketing is often thought of in the context of for-profit businesses, nonprofits and government departments also require talented marketing staff. You’ll graduate equipped to work in different aspects of marketing in almost any type of organization, depending on your interests and areas of professional focus.

Understanding the science behind consumer behavior

In this program, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the principles that influence consumer decisions and the essential role marketing plays in every organization. Through your courses, you’ll build diverse transferable skills, including critical thinking, effective communication, personal sales and sales management.

A wide range of competencies equips you to excel in various areas of marketing, ranging from advertising and promotion management to marketing analysis and strategy. Although marketing spans various industries, organizations often share the common goal of promoting, selling and building awareness of products and services. You’ll have the consumer behavior insights to make an impact wherever your interests lead you.

In this program, you’ll gain a combination of transferable business knowledge with specialized skills unique to areas within the travel and tourism realm. You’ll build a practical foundation in economic development and management techniques that will help you promote effective operations across industries. Additionally, you’ll gain experience developing campaigns using high-level marketing techniques tailored specifically for the tourism industry to prepare you for leadership roles in the field.

What you can do with a business tourism degree concentration

The diverse skill set developed through completing courses focused on both business and tourism studies will make you a valuable candidate for employers after graduation. Earning this interdisciplinary degree allows you to work in various settings in tourism such as private businesses, nonprofit groups and other types of firms, including:

• Commercial recreation businesses.
• Resorts.
• Tourism and development companies.
• Travel and tourism bureaus. 

You’ll be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to compete for advanced positions in tourism companies such as a business analyst or sales manager. Additionally, you’ll have the experience to pursue advanced education in a related area of interest.

This Bachelor of Science in psychology offers a math- and science-focused approach to understanding human behavior. It also focuses on the biological and neuroscientific aspects of psychology, which are increasingly important in research and clinical practice.

You’ll also study topics including neuroscience, memory, personality and cognition while building a strong foundation in scientific principles. The coursework combines theoretical learning with hands-on experiences, allowing you to apply your knowledge to real-world situations.

Upon graduation, you’ll be equipped to pursue careers in social services, management or human relations, as well as research-driven graduate opportunities. The program’s advanced statistical training also prepares you for roles in psychological research, clinical studies and legal policy analysis.

What’s the difference between a BA and a BS in psychology?

While approximately 90% of the curriculum in the Bachelor of Science in psychology and ASU’s online Bachelor of Arts in psychology is the same, the key difference lies in focus.

The BA offers a broader exposure to psychological concepts and emphasizes a liberal arts approach, making it ideal if you’re interested in practice-oriented careers, such as counseling or mental health advocacy. This BS, on the other hand, dives deeper into research, focusing on scientific and analytical study, which is beneficial if you aim to pursue research roles or advanced study in psychology (e.g., PhD programs).

Both bachelor’s in psychology degrees can be completed as part of an Accelerated Master’s program. When accepted, you can earn a master’s degree in as little as one year after completing your undergraduate degree. This path can reduce your time and costs while deepening your expertise. Eligible programs include:

• Master of Arts in social data science
• Master of Science in psychology

This program provides you with the skills needed to act as a social change agent through policy analysis and community-based action, such as:

• Administrative and legislative strategies.
• Ethics.
• Mindfulness practices.
• Research methods.
• Social justice and human rights perspectives.

These skills and competencies will equip you to formulate strategies that advance social, economic and environmental justice, use social media and cyberactivism for advocacy efforts and evaluate the success of advocacy intervention efforts. You’ll develop a deep understanding of how social policies have adversely affected marginalized or oppressed populations, such as different racial/ethnic groups, individuals struggling with mental illness, elderly individuals and more. You’ll also acquire the community advocacy tools needed to address the social problems impacting these populations, with an emphasis on past and present challenges facing various groups in the southwest.

Tailor your studies to fit your career goals

In this program, you’ll choose 10 courses to match your career goals and interests from two key focus areas:

• Diversity and oppressed populations: This focus explores oppressed or marginalized populations and systems of oppression and domination.
• Social problems and interventions: This focus specializes in social problems that disproportionately affect members of oppressed populations and change strategies.

Both focus areas include five related courses. Regardless of the courses you choose within these focus areas, you’ll graduate with a deeper understanding of social problems and issues, how these issues have historically impacted society, how they have evolved and how they continue to influence the world today.

How does this program compare to a bachelor’s in social work?

While this community advocacy and social policy bachelor’s provides a deep social work foundation, it’s different from a bachelor’s in social work (BSW). This program is regionally accredited, but it isn’t accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) as a bachelor’s in social work would be. This program won’t lead you to social work licensure or prepare you for social work roles that require a CSWE-accredited degree. However, you may pursue a master’s degree in social work after graduation.

Studying anthropology elevates your understanding of what it means to be human in past, present and future environments. As a scientific study of humanity, anthropology investigates a wide range of aspects from human evolution and biology to culture, social behavior, language and art. This field invites you to delve into both the scientific and humanistic aspects of our past and present, offering you a deeper appreciation of our shared humanity and our differences.

If you're curious about how and why humans evolved and are eager to explore the significance of culture in our species' success, this program may be a great fit for you. You'll develop critical thinking and analytical skills that are valuable across a range of careers, whether you’re drawn to the social or natural world or the intersection of the two.

What you’ll learn in this anthropology program

In this online anthropology degree, you’ll examine the biological, social and cultural paths that have shaped humanity and evolution across time. You'll learn to apply the scientific method to formulate and test hypotheses, gathering both qualitative and quantitative data through methods including participant observation, interviewing, ethnographic study and precise excavation. You’ll also gain skills in statistical analysis, enabling you to extract meaningful insights from your data.

Whether you're intrigued by the physical aspects of anthropology, such as bones, artifacts and collections, or drawn to the sociocultural dynamics of human societies, this program offers a comprehensive curriculum that provides a solid foundation for diverse careers and advanced studies. With a highly elective structure, you’ll have the flexibility to tailor your upper-division coursework to your interests. Additionally, ASU offers a variety of hands-on research opportunities to undergraduate anthropology students.

The differences between a BA and BS in anthropology

When choosing between a BA and a BS in anthropology, it’s important to consider your interests and career goals. If you’re drawn to the scientific and mathematical aspects of the field, including evolutionary anthropology, bioarcheology or specialized areas of archaeology, the BS degree will be a good fit. On the other hand, if you're more interested in exploring human behavior through archaeology or sociocultural anthropology, or if you prefer a general overview of the field without focusing on a specialty, the BA degree will be ideal for you.

Both the BA and BS programs can be completed as part of an Accelerated Master’s program. When accepted, you can earn a master’s degree in as little as one year after completing your undergraduate degree. This opportunity saves you time and money while giving you advanced knowledge in your field. Applicable master’s degrees include:

• Master of Science in global health