Dual Degree Opportunities

Dual Degree Programs

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (CMENAS) within the Rackham School of Graduate Studies offer a dual degree program enabling a small number of qualified students to pursue concurrent work in business administration and Modern Middle Eastern and North African studies leading to the MBA and MA degrees.

The program is arranged so that all requirements for both degrees are completed in three years of enrollment. The degrees are awarded simultaneously. This combined degree program is not open to students who have earned either the MBA or Masters degree in modern Middle Eastern and North African studies. Students registered in the first year of either program may apply.

Students admitted to this dual degree program must satisfy the following degree requirements:

1) The MBA 57 credit hour degree program including:

• 45 Business Administration Credits, made up of:
  • Roughly 30 credit hour MBA core (no credit is awarded for Business Administration core courses successfully waived: credit must be earned with Business electives);
  • Roughly 15 elective hours in Business Administration;
  • MBA Communication Requirement.

2) The 30 credit hours of graduate level Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies courses, including:

• 15 credit hours of graduate level Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies courses (list is available at the Center office); including at least one history, one political science, one economics, and one graduate seminar course;
• Option 1: 12 credit hours of transferable electives from the School of Business Administration and MENAS 595—a 3 credit hour master’s essay or Option 2: 21 credit hours of approved MENAS courses;
• Third year (2 course sequence at the 400 level or higher) must be achieved in Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish (undergraduate courses taken to meet the language requirement do not count toward the credit hour requirement for these degrees).

The total credit hours for the dual degree program must be at least 75-81.

The dual program may begin with studies in either school. However, because of the sequenced nature of core courses in the MBA program, most students will find it advantageous to start with year one in the Business School. During years two and three, courses may be taken in both schools. Students who wish to begin with Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies should see a counselor in the Business School to arrange an appropriate plan of study. No course work completed prior to admission in either of the two halves of the dual program may be counted toward the MBA requirements of the dual program.

Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowships are available through the Center for qualified students who study a Middle Eastern language throughout their program. Interested students should contact the Center.

Applicants interested in the MBA/MA combined program must file separate applications to and be admitted by both programs. Applicants must indicate on both applications that they are applying for this specific dual degree program (please make sure the correct box is checked on the MBA application). An application fee of $60 for United States Citizen and permanent residents  or $75 for international students must be paid to Rackham. All applications for CMENAS must be received by January 15.

Applicants must take the GMAT for admission to Michigan's Ross School of Business and the GRE for Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies.

Please see below for a sample plan of this dual degree program.