Dual Degree Opportunities

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) 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 Russian and East European Studies (REES) leading to the MBA and MA degrees.

The program is arranged so that all requirements for both degrees are completed in two and one-half to 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 a Master’s degree in REES. Students enrolled 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.
• Up to 12 credit hours of transferable electives from the Center for Russian and East European Studies.

2) The REES 30 credit hour degree program including:

• 18 credit hours in REES courses, at least 15 hours of which are at the graduate level (courses numbered 600 or above), and at least one of which is a research seminar (REES 795 or its equivalent of Business 750);
  • Course distribution in at least three disciplines in addition to business (anthropology, economics, history, languages and literatures, law, natural resources policy, political science, public policy, sociology, etc.);
  • A master’s essay approved by two appropriate faculty, one a REES faculty associate and the other a Business School faculty member.
• 12 hours of additional coursework at least the 400 level, in either business administration or REES, which complements the student’s individual program, and which receive the approval of advisors in both CREES and the Business School.

The total credit hours for the dual degree program must be at least 75. No course work completed prior to admission may be counted towards the MBA requirements of the dual program.

The dual program may begin with studies in either school. However, because of the sequenced nature of the 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 REES courses should see a counselor in the Business School to arrange an appropriate plan of study. No coursework completed prior to admission in either program may be counted toward the MBA requirement of the dual program.

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). The application fee of $60 for United States Citizens and permanent residents or $75 for international students must be paid to Rackham.

Applicants must take the GMAT for Admission to Michigan's Ross School of Business and East European Studies dual degree program. Applicants must be proficient in a language of the region, as demonstrated through successful completion of at least three years of coursework or by satisfactory score on a proficiency exam administered by the Slavic Department, and present an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.25. (German is not considered a language of the region.) Conditional admits are sometimes made. Contact CREES at crees.admissions@umich.edu for more information.

Additionally, a listing of REES-related courses are available from the CREES website at http://ii.umich.edu/crees/

For basic information on the MA/MBA in Russian & East European Studies and Business program, please visit the Center for Russian & East European Studies web site at:
http://www.ii.umich.edu/crees

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