Business - Business studies

This program builds skills employers value across industries, including critical thinking, communication and problem-solving. Coursework also strengthens your ability to analyze information, manage projects and make systems-driven decisions.

You’ll explore four topic areas to become career-ready:

• Global and natural science perspectives
  • Learn to think scientifically, interpret data and explore global challenges in science and technology.
• Humanities, identities and society
  • Study culture, identity and human behavior through history, philosophy and the arts.
• National and civil service and professional studies
  • Explore government, civic leadership and ethical practices in public and professional settings.
• Organizations, technology and ethics
  • Understand how organizations function, use digital tools and apply ethics in practical settings.

Build on your previously earned credits with this transfer-friendly program

ASU values your previously earned credits and has designed this program to minimize credit loss. With a broad range of courses, you can tailor how you complete your remaining degree requirements.

You’re an ideal candidate if earning a bachelor’s degree supports your goals, whether you want to shift careers, advance in your current role, prepare for graduate school or achieve personal milestones. Completing a widely recognized general studies degree can help you stand out as a well-rounded candidate with marketable skills.

How three of our most flexible programs compare

Our most flexible degrees — general studies, interdisciplinary studies and liberal studies — share a commonality of choice and transferability. Housed in a college with advisors who specialize in supporting students with diverse interests, these programs enable you to explore multiple areas of study. Each offers a different level of customization and structure. Discover the best option for your goals:

• General studies
  • Finish your degree efficiently by applying the credits you’ve already earned. By choosing the most flexible path, you’ll build career-relevant skills and graduate with the academic credentials needed for advancement.
• Interdisciplinary studies
  • Design a degree that combines two areas of study and builds transferable expertise from nearly 200 concentrations. This is a strong option for gaining focused knowledge aligned with your career goals or graduate study.
• Liberal studies
  • Pursue a humanities-based education and tailor your course plan to your interests. This degree combines structure and choice, offering a broad foundation to explore diverse academic paths.

With the rapid pace of AI innovation, businesses need professionals who can bring new technologies into systems, processes and strategies. This program teaches you to leverage AI mindfully to improve outcomes for both business and society.

Taught by industry-leading faculty, courses explore how AI technologies work and how to apply them ethically. You’ll learn to analyze operations and design AI solutions that streamline repetitive tasks and create more space for strategy and creativity. In hands-on projects, you’ll build AI business cases and implementation plans, develop tools and integrate them into existing systems.

The skills you’ll develop

This AI in business program strengthens your analytical thinking and creative problem-solving skills. The curriculum builds a foundation for applying and integrating machine learning models and other AI tools that improve efficiency. You’ll also gain technical expertise in Python programming, data analysis, data pipelines, databases and big data systems.

Additionally, you’ll explore data and technology governance in business contexts, preparing you to manage data and meet compliance requirements. With a focus on mindful AI, you’ll graduate equipped to lead responsibly, educate others and thrive in a digital economy that puts people first.

This digital concentration builds on traditional marketing principles to connect with audiences in the digital realm. In tailored courses, you’ll learn how organizations use digital media tactics, create engaging experiences and build relationships through social media. Topics range from content planning and paid media buying to email marketing and user experience. You’ll also get hands-on practice with Google Analytics, The Trade Desk, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Semrush, OpenAI and other industry tools.

As a digital marketing major, you’ll gain the skills to craft impactful campaigns and make strategic decisions. You’ll graduate prepared for careers in search engine optimization, growth marketing, social media marketing and analytics. This degree also provides a competitive edge for roles in media buying and planning, influencer marketing, e-commerce and more.

Who’s a good fit for this program?

This program is ideal if you’re passionate about combining marketing and technology to transform how brands engage with customers. It’s also a great fit if you’re interested in marketing beyond content creation, such as understanding consumer behavior and using insights to guide marketing initiatives. Whether you’ve gained experience through organizations or student-led ad agencies, or are new to marketing, this program provides the skills to launch your digital marketing career.

If you’re interested in exploring marketing more broadly — such as brand management, graphic design, video production or advertising — ASU’s online bachelor’s in marketing may better align with your goals.

An applied business degree is ideal for those looking for growth in their current roles or are preparing for leadership and management positions. In this program, you’ll gain a variety of business skills, such as:

• Analytical research and problem solving.
• Cross-functional communication and collaboration.
• Data analytics and visualization.
• Global applications and cultural sensitivity.
• Leadership and management.
• Personal ethics and integrity.

Additionally, you can tailor your learning by choosing up to two specializations in your areas of interest. Explore topics in more than 15 focus areas ranging from human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion to human factors engineering and marketing. This provides you with the opportunity to direct your learning and tailor coursework to your professional goals.

The careers an applied business degree prepares you for

Employers of all sizes and industries value broad-based business skills. Whether you want to advance in your current role, seek opportunities in a new organization or follow entrepreneurial pursuits, you’ll be on the path to accomplish your goals.

As a graduate, you can pursue a wide array of careers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. You may find opportunities in communications, leadership and management, human resources, sales, training and more.

How does this program compare to a business administration degree?

While both programs provide insight into business practice and strategy, they have key differences. ASU Online’s bachelor’s in business administration concentration emphasizes building general management and operations skills.

By comparison, this applied business degree allows you to explore multiple areas of interest. You’ll have the flexibility to take courses in a variety of disciplines and understand how they integrate to form valuable business solutions.

Human resources professionals are necessary to every organization, making candidates with a specialized degree highly sought after. This program prepares you for careers in this dynamic field by exploring how human resources influences every stage of employment from identifying business needs to managing the end of employment cycles.

You’ll graduate ready to lead organizational excellence across various industries and government sectors with abundant employment opportunities and the potential for a rewarding salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for this role is projected to grow 6% from 2023 to 2033, which is faster than the average for all occupations. The roles are well paid, too, with a median annual pay of $140,030 as of May 2024.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop

This program begins by providing you with foundational business knowledge crucial for managerial roles. As you advance, you’ll focus on core human resources functions and develop the skills to handle the complexities of modern workforce needs, such as:

• Analytical and critical thinking
• Effective communication
• Global and cultural sensitivity
• Leadership
• Legal knowledge
• Personal ethics and integrity
• Relationship management

Through a curriculum that blends theoretical study with practical applications using traditional texts, real-world case studies and contemporary business literature, you’ll gain comprehensive knowledge in assessing, selecting, developing, managing, compensating and guiding employees. This dual approach ensures you not only grasp the strategic importance of human resources management but also acquire hands-on skills to thrive in various organizational environments.

Mentorship and networking opportunities

This program offers ample opportunities to build a strong foundation in human resources management through mentorship and networking. As a student, you'll join the Society for Human Resource Management National Chapter, gaining access to invaluable resources tailored to your human resource concentration courses. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage in HR mentoring workshops each semester featuring guest speakers who share insights on resume writing and interviewing skills, as well as conduct mock one-on-one interviews with industry professionals. Many students choose to enhance their studies with internships, gaining valuable mentorship from practitioners and faculty with real-world experience, including former HR executives from Basis Education and Employers Council.

You’ve probably heard about data breaches at major businesses or maybe your personal information has been compromised. Cybercrimes such as these are a threat to most every organization and business. Thus, information security officers who can recognize and prevent these crises are in high demand. 

This information security degree concentration equips you with the skills needed to organize, manage and safekeep a business’s cyber infrastructure. Businesses will turn to you to understand privacy regulations and keep their data, and that of their clients, out of the hands of others.

What is information security?

Information security is the process of keeping private information safe from unauthorized users, thus preventing information theft, manipulation or destruction. Information security is vital to businesses as unauthorized access to private data can lead to revenue loss, loss of client trust or even the eventual end of a business.

How this degree prepares you to be an information security analyst

Today's organizations rely on cyber infrastructure to conduct business transactions with their customers and business partners. Throughout this information security concentration, you’ll develop the requisite digital expertise needed to assist these businesses in finding solutions to cyberthreats and minimizing risks within their organizational processes and transactions. 

You’ll graduate with the core business, critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary in understanding how digital infrastructure should be organized and managed within business policies and frameworks.

Join the next generation of financial planning professionals by gaining the knowledge and skills needed to develop solutions for your clients’ personal financial needs. This program’s curriculum prepares you to assist clients in navigating life’s most important personal financial decisions, including financial investments, insurance needs and estate and tax planning.

This program is best suited for those seeking client-facing roles in the financial services industry. Students interested in working in corporate finance should check out the corporate accounting degree concentration, whereas those looking to become accountants should check out the bachelor’s in accountancy.

Personal financial advisor: An in-demand and high-paying career

As the population ages and life expectancy rises, the demand for financial planning services will increase. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment of personal financial advisors is projected to rise 13% between 2022 and 2032, with 25,600 job openings projected each year, on average, during that time. That’s much faster than the average growth rate for all occupations.

These roles are well-paid, too, with the median annual salary being $95,390 as of May 2022, per the BLS.

What you’ll learn in this program

Throughout your coursework, you’ll become skilled across multiple dimensions of the financial planning process. You’ll learn how to value financial assets and assess portfolio risk and performance. You’ll also become familiar with tax strategies and calculations around income realization, exclusions and deductions, passive activities, considerations of business forms, property transactions and the taxation of gift and estate transfers. Additionally, you’ll gain a variety of transferable skills, including:

• Communication.
• Critical thinking.
• Data analysis and quantitative reasoning.
• Management.
• Problem solving.

In this program, you’ll build a strong foundation in business while gaining a specialized understanding of legal considerations. You’ll study how laws shape business formation, daily operations and strategic decisions. Courses explore the U.S. legal system and key areas of business law, including contracts, compliance, human resources, intellectual property and taxation.

You’ll also examine the broader legal and regulatory climate that impacts business policies and risk management. Through coursework, you’ll strengthen skills in logic, negotiation, case analysis, critical thinking and problem solving. This concentration prepares you to evaluate legal issues, navigate complex challenges and lead with confidence where business and law intersect.

Who’s a good candidate for this program?

This program is ideal for those interested in bridging passion for business and law and who want to stand out when applying for future roles. You’ll graduate prepared to navigate regulatory challenges, reduce risk and contribute to strategic decisions in a wide range of industries.

This program is also a great fit if you have experience or interest in areas such as administration, legal support, policy, compliance or management. Entrepreneurs and professionals seeking to better understand how legal regulations shape business operations and decision-making may also find it to be a good fit for their goals.

Note: This is not a pre-law degree ideal for those looking to become lawyers. Although ASU Law does accept students who graduate from this program, this degree was designed for law needed for business use, such as case studies and negotiations.