About

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The College of Business (COB) is one of eight colleges of California State University, Long Beach. As one of the largest campuses of the California State University system, Cal State Long Beach is a comprehensive, four-year institution that was established as the Los Angeles-Orange County State College in 1949 to serve the areas of Orange County and southeastern Los Angeles County. The first classes were held in two converted apartment buildings that were still under construction; some days carpenters and plumbers outnumbered students. The library had no books and editors for the Forty-Niner student newspaper worked in a shed that leaked when it rained. Still, students loved coming to school because they felt like "pioneers."

The name was changed to Long Beach State College in 1959 and to California State University, Long Beach in 1972 after two other name changes.

Business studies at Cal State Long Beach began in 1949 with 24 business students and four faculty members, comprising one-seventh of the campus population. Business Administration was part of the Social Science Division until 1957 it became the Division of Business and Social Sciences. In 1958, the two academic areas split and Business Administration became a division in its own right, with Dr. S. Austen Reep as founding dean.

By the mid-1960s, the business school had close to 3,800 business students, 29 full-time faculty members, and 13 part-time lecturers. The Division of Business Administration was upgraded to the School of Business Administration in 1967, and the name was changed to the College of Business Administration in 1992. Most recently, the name was changed to the College of Business in 2018.

  • We offer one undergraduate degree — Bachelor of Science in Business Administration— with eight options: Accountancy, Finance, Management Information Systems, Human Resource Management, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Operations & Supply Chain Management.
  • We offer seven undergraduate minors: Finance, Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems, International Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Supply Chain Management. Students from Liberal Arts, Health & Human Services, and the Arts comprise approximately 94% of our minors.
  • We have four MBA programs: Accelerated MBA (AMBA), Evening MBA (EMBA), Online MBA (OMBA), and Saturday MBA (SMBA). AMBA and SMBA are offered in collaboration with the College of Continuing & Professional Education.
  • We offer four Master of Science (MS) degrees: Accountancy (MSA), Finance (MSF), Information Systems (MSIS), and Marketing Analytics (MSMA).  MSIS and the MSMA are both STEM-designated Masters’ degrees.
  • We offer the MBA/MFA in Theatre Management joint degree program in collaboration with the College of the Arts. This distinctive program is one of the very few programs of this type across the country, most notably like Yale University's program.

  • Headcount. In fall 2021, COB had 4,956 undergraduate majors, including 1,281 lower-division pre-business students, and 269 minors. In addition, COB had 525 MBA students, 224 MS students for a total headcount of 5,705. One out of every seven Cal State Long Beach students is pursuing some form of business education.

  • Demographics. Although most of the students are residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties, COB attracts students from all over the state. The average age of business majors is 24 for undergraduates and 30 for MBA students. Women account for 45% of COB's undergraduate enrollment, compared to the university's 57%. 44% of COB undergraduate students are Hispanic/Latino, while 22% are Asian, 16% are Caucasian, 3% African-American, and 8% are international students.

  • Student Life and Development. Business students are significant participants in student life and development. COB’s student government, Associated Business Students Organizations Council (ABSOC), is regularly voted as the best college student government on campus. Many students participate in the Student Center for Professional Development programs that involve mentorships and skill-building workshops. COB actively promotes internships for its students, COB internship staff work closely with the University Career Development & Placement Center to provide internship and career opportunities for our students.

  • Degrees Conferred. In 2020-2021, the College produced over 1,550 B.S. graduates and over 180 MBA and MS graduates.

  • Graduation Performance. COB's six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen is approximately 73% and the four-year graduation rate for transfers is approximately 82%. We strive for improvement each year through our efforts on the University's Highly Valued Degree Initiative. 

  • Faculty Composition. As of fall 2021, the College of Business has a total complement of 123.2 full-time equivalents (FTE) faculty and 38 FTE staff. The faculty includes 70 tenured and tenure-track faculty, 19 full-time lecturers, 102 part-time lecturers, for a total faculty headcount of 191. In the past 3 years, 8 new tenure-track faculty members have been hired, and an additional 3 new tenure-track faculty members will join COB in fall 2022.