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What is Business?
A business professional is a person who makes their career in an organization that has been created for the purpose of generating profit. Businesses operate in a wide range of industries and thus have many different ways for generating profits. A business professional might spend their time working for construction companies, restaurants, sports teams, banks, or accounting firms.
Business professionals thus perform a wide range of tasks in their daily work lives. Some are outside sales representatives who spend their time driving to visit clients. Others are financial analysts who spend endless hours working on spreadsheets. Business professionals also work as information technology experts and human resources experts.
Colorado is a terrific state for business. All sorts of industries call Colorado home including real estate, manufacturing, finance, and business services. Because of this, Colorado colleges and universities have stepped up to provide their students top-notch educational opportunities that will enable them to achieve long-term success. In fact, Colorado students should find plenty of courses and other resources that will help them rise to the top.
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Business Education in Colorado
The state also offers a diverse collection of colleges and universities with business schools that support the needs of contemporary students. There are traditional educational systems and also those that take a more experimental path. Students can also find campuses that cater to their extra-curricular interests in sports, entertainment, and pure recreation. Given Colorado's outstanding geography, students are sure to be pleased with the environment regardless of what corner of the state they land in.
Students in more remote areas of Colorado who are just starting out can find community colleges where they can get a foothold on a business degree in Colorado. They can also find online degree programs that allow them to stay in their hometowns. Once they have a few years’ worth of college credit they can then make the decision to move to their home campus or stay home and complete their degree there.
Our goal is to help students find the best business schools in Colorado. Whether they are looking for a degree in business administration, business management, business technology, a business minor, or international business, Colorado colleges and universities will help them on their path. These business schools can provide students with an education can be broad based for the generalist who is eager to learn on the job or highly specialized degrees that allow students to pinpoint their dream jobs and business careers out of the graduation gate.
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Ultimately, regardless of their specific career trajectory, business professionals typically work in offices alongside fellow businesspeople. They generally wear formal attire and conduct their work via computer. Their primary concern is with generating the most amount of profit for their company as possible.
Associate Degree in Business (AS)
Community colleges offer many associate business degrees, or online degrees that can be applied in business. Students can earn associate degrees in topics such as marketing, business administration, management, finance, information technology, and accounting, to name a few. Each of these can be applied to many careers in business. Most students will find that their associate business degree is a great way to land an entry level position but that they are then limited in terms of how far their career can progress. With few exceptions, business professionals with a two-year associate business degree should consider returning to school for their bachelor’s degree. While an associate degree holder may have terrific business acumen, they often still need higher education if they want to fully succeed in business.
Still, an associate business degree is a terrific option for those who intend to complete a four-year, bachelor’s degree. This is because community college tuition rates are typically much lower than four-year institutions. Some states even offer free community college degrees or steep discounts for students. Thus, an associate degree means that the first two years of college will be much cheaper while helping students complete the core college curriculum.
Bachelor's Degree in Business (BS)
A four-year bachelor’s business degree is most likely to help students launch into a terrific career after graduation. This is because the coursework required to graduate rises far above that of a two-year degree. Plus, a bachelor’s business degree program will allow students many opportunities that can help them focus their career into specific niches in the business community.
Many business administration departments allow students to focus on topics such as marketing, management, human resources, finance, or accounting, to name a few possibilities. Students in larger colleges and universities can also take courses in other departments and earn a minor concentration. A minor can complement their business studies. Some options include economics, mathematics, information technology, computer science, and of course other fields within the business school. Bachelor’s business degree programs also help students land internships which can offer terrific insights into the world of business. Some programs even offer a co-op system whereby business students work for a term and then return to school for a term. This prolongs their time to graduation but provides invaluable experience and perhaps a long-term, full-time job after graduation as well.
Master's Degree in Business (MS or MC)
The brass ring of business education is the MBA. These days this degree is all but required for advancement into upper management and the C-suites. In fact, all Colorado business degree candidates should place a master’s business degree as a top priority.
There are also undergraduate programs that offer an accelerated track to an MBA. These programs are typically five years long and are intense. However, at the end of those five years, students will emerge with their MBA and very bright prospects indeed.
Most students will complete their MBA separate from their undergraduate coursework. Upon entering their MBA program, they will spend a year studying general business topics but then their second year will allow them to choose a concentration area that will also be their career focus. Concentrations include marketing, management, finance, accounting, information technology, health care, or human resources, to name a few.
PhD Degree in Business (PhD)
While most businesses don't require a PhD or a doctorate in business administration, this is still a coveted degree. Doctorate degree holders have done intense research in specific areas of business and can even be considered overqualified for many positions. Nonetheless, many businesses seek a PhD to work on research topics in business. For instance, a PhD in finance or data science may be highly valued in top investment banks and on Wall Street where firms seek to gain any sort of advantage over their competition.
A PhD in business is also very useful for those who desire a career teaching undergraduate or graduate students. While a master’s degree can help fulfill this desire, a PhD is often required for those who desire a full-time, tenure track position. Those with a master’s degree in business are usually relegated to the ranks of adjunct or part-time instructors at best.
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Become a Business Manager in Colorado
It can be a long road to become a business professional in Colorado. That road to business success starts early in life when students discover their talents and passions. Since business is a broad field, those talents can be in a number of areas. Some may be excellent communicators who might go on to become top sales professionals. Others may be mathematics whizzes who can succeed in so many areas of business including finance, accounting, management, and the analytical side of marketing.
Once a person has identified talents that can translate into business success, they need to identify a passion for business in general, if not a specific industry. Often, youngsters will demonstrate a fascination with the way businesses work. Kids these days sometimes even track the stocks of their favorite companies, such as video game or entertainment stocks, or may start small enterprises of their own. Many business professionals started out as lemonade stand entrepreneurs.
Once a future business professional has identified their talent and desire to work in business, they should start formulating a plan for academic success. They should assess their abilities and discover the business specialties that best suit them. Once they have identified their desired business focus, it's time to find a Colorado college or university that offers the best program in that area. To make that determination, students can evaluate the school's curriculum. This is a vital step since each business degree program is sure to have its own individual approach to each field. For example, some marketing degree programs focus on data science and an analytical approach where others may focus on the creative and administrative aspects of a marketing campaign.
Colorado business students also need to determine whether their desired program is fully accredited. If the college or university holds a valid accreditation from a CHEA-approved regional accrediting agency, then they can be confident in the business program. Business programs can also hold special credentials form national agencies. National accreditation means the program is exceptional and that their business degree will attract the attention of business leaders nationwide. Students should seek out business degree programs with credentials from either the AACSB, ACBSP, or IACBE.
After graduation from an accredited business degree program, students should make graduate school a top priority. An MBA will lift their prospects even higher. Again, they should seek out an accredited program, ideally one with credentials from either the AACSB, ACBSP, or IACBE.
Careers for Business Graduates
- Administrative Assistant
There is a lot that can be learned in this position. Professionals with an associate business degree can expect to start their career in an assistant position. Many such positions can be converted into ever-greater jobs. Workers should seek administrative assistant positions in businesses or departments that align with their degrees. - Supply Chain Specialist/Manager
This field is growing and developing all the time. In some graduate degree programs, supply chain management is virtually a computer science specialty. However, in other schools, the field is treated as more reliant on soft skills. The position itself can thus involve high-tech coding or it might rely more on knowledge, skill, and business instincts. - Content Marketing Specialist/Manager
This career is increasingly important in this information age. Content marketing executives need to have strong analytical skills paired with the ability to think laterally and strategically. Content marketing relies heavily on communication skills, including creative approaches such as multimedia.Search Programs Offering Business Majors
- Entrepreneur
Those with a high degree of creativity and a strong desire to strike out on their own should consider the life of an entrepreneur. There are even whole business degree programs that are focused on entrepreneurial endeavors. There is no formula for success as an entrepreneur, and that's how they like it. However, a strong business degree will help them make the right decisions at the right times. - Public Relations Specialist/Manager
These business professionals are hired by corporations and high-profile individuals to help manage how the public perceives them. There are many business programs that feature public relations in their course offerings, and there are many that offer a full public relations degree. These professionals spend a great deal of time writing press releases, helping their clients gain access to media outlets, and creating long-term PR strategies. - Human Resources Specialist
Every business relies on its employees for its success. To help attract, hire, and maintain those employees, businesses rely on their HR specialists. These business professionals are highly skilled at identifying talent, creating compensation packages, and even conducting training sessions for employees. Human resources specialists also help when employee conflicts arise and may consult in those matters. - IT Director
While technology professionals aren't often considered businesspeople, they are an integral part of any firm's success, or lack thereof. IT directors typically have degrees in information technology or computer science. They may also hold an MBA with a concentration in IT. - Data Analyst
This profession is increasingly in demand given the rise of big data and its importance for marketing, finance, and other corners of the business world. Data analysts are involved with collecting and sorting large troves of data. To accomplish this, they need deep knowledge of statistics and computer programming. They must be able to write algorithms in Python or R as well as maintain secure databases to store their work. - Marketing Manager
Marketing professionals who accrue years of experience and/or an MBA with a concentration in marketing will eventually become a marketing manager. These professionals oversee the analytical team, the creative team, and the operations people who make the marketing campaign come to life.