Top Resources for Future Business Professionals

Understanding Accreditation

Accreditation is vital for all majors who want to benefit from the education they worked so hard to earn. While accreditation also benefits the university and its individual programs, it provides many benefits to students. Because you are planning on a business major, you should have an understanding of which agencies provide accreditation to your university and other universities in the country. Look for two accreditation types: regional and specialized to each business degree program.

Specialized accreditation applies only to degree programs, such as business degrees. The most well-known accreditation for business degree programs is the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Next is the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

The International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) accredits programs around the world.

Questions About Financial Aid

Undergraduate students majoring in business can receive several forms of financial aid. After filling out their first FAFSA, students will be eligible for grants, scholarships, work study, and student loans. Undergraduate students are eligible for the Pell grant, provided they are able to prove financial need (grants are most often need-based). Grants for college are usually free money that doesn’t have to be repaid.

They may also qualify for grants administered by their own universities. As long as they maintain a GPA that is at or above the requirements to receive the funds, and they fill out an annual FAFSA, they will continue to receive funding.

Work study is also a financial aid program. It is designed to open part-time employment opportunities to students, who receive regular paychecks instead of a lump-sum financial aid payment at the beginning of the semester. Scholarships are another form of free money. Students can apply to receive outside and undergraduate business scholarships, and prestigious external scholarships. Finally, student loans are another option. Whether federal or private, these should be used only as a last resort.

Business Associations for Students

When you begin taking your business courses, your professors should introduce you to the existence of business associations and their student chapters. These are valuable resources that you will take advantage of well into your business career. By joining a student chapter of a business association, you’ll add value to your resume. If you are able to get a temporary job performing a business function such as accounting, you’ll also be able to gain work experience relevant to your career.

Professional organizations are generally non-profits. They work to make a specialized profession better known, as well as benefiting the interests and needs of members.

Student or Open Access Journals

As much reading as business students already have, it may benefit them to add another source of knowledge to their reading list. Open access or student business journals contain reams of information that is valuable to students and professionals.

Even better, if that article has been published in a scholarly journal, is has probably been peer-reviewed, making the information between its pages of even higher value.

Depending on what sector of business any student is studying, you should be able to find some of the best sources available to you, either on library shelves or online.

Business Study Resources

List of Online Resources

Even though business students are enrolled in an accredited degree program, they may find that they need additional learning. From Coursera to Udemy, students can, for a small fee or for free, access online courses that help them to learn everything they need.

Using online courses called MOOCs, students can gain access to entire business course which are videotaped, with tables, charts, and PowerPoint slides. Instructors give assignments which students complete and use to earn a grade. Universities, some of them world-famous, have jumped onto the MOOC bandwagon, opening their regular classes to students all around the world. Here are just some:

Apps

Apps assist the business student, helping to make their university life a little simpler. They may use these apps to manage time and assignments; or they may use them to gather needed data for class assignments.

Students in any major, including the BBA, are really busy. This makes time management and the moderate use of websites and social media a must. Some of these websites block social media and websites, freeing students to study. Others allow students to gather information they need while still others help students to save all of their study documents in one place. Today’s students go to class with laptops and tablets so they can quickly take notes, track assignments, and even start working while they are still in class. Here are some apps made just for students.

Business Certificate Options

Certifications help people in all professions to sharpen their professional skills—this includes people working in business. If, at some point in their career, a student wants to combine business and politics, they can take a certificate course which will give them the knowledge needed to enter this field. Other options include global management, real estate (undergraduate level), energy management, healthcare business, risk management, etc.

Once you know which specialization you want, you’ll be able to choose which certifications you need to take. Even better, you can take them while you are still in school or you can wait until you’ve begun to work.

Certification Study Resources

Passing a certification course isn’t easy. You need to study—and you need the correct study resources. What you are studying has to be specific to the certification you’re working to earn. You may be required to meet with other professionals to participate in study sessions. Qualified professional instructors will guide you through the material you need to learn. Once you have completed the study course, you’ll be ready to take the exam pertinent to the certification you are earning.