Leveling Courses for MBA
We are excited to announce a significant update to the GBA Leveling structure for the UHD MBA program. Beginning Fall 2025, the required leveling courses will be streamlined from eight courses to just three, making the path to your MBA more efficient and accessible.
Leveling courses are offered every eight weeks once a term begins. Students may register and start courses prior to each eight-week term after admission to the MBA program.
Should a course(s) in your undergraduate study potentially waive any of the prerequisite
courses below, you are required to submit the following petition, MBA GBA Petition.
This applies to students who had Business minors and/or took upper level (3000-4000 level) business courses.
- GBA 5209 Foundations of Accounting and Finance
Prerequisites: Admission to the MBA program.
This course deals with the essential accounting and finance knowledge needed to be a successful graduate program student and business manager. It starts with financial accounting principles used to measure and report a firm’s economic performance and financial position and then shifts to applying them to interpret and analyze financial statements. It also covers assessment of risk and discounted cash flow techniques used in financial decisions.
- GBA 5210 Quantitative Methods In Business
Prerequisite: Admission to MBA program
This course is designed to provide a foundation of quantitative and analytical skills necessary to address business problems. An emphasis is made on identifying and applying appropriate quantitative concepts to solve managerial issues. Relevant technological tools such as spreadsheet software will be used to reinforce topics and present solutions.
- GBA 5211 Professional Communication and Research Ethics
Prerequisite: Admission to MBA program
This course develops the foundational communication skills necessary to succeed in the MBA program and your professional career. Students will learn how to conduct ethical research, cite sources properly, and create well-supported arguments through written and oral presentations. The course emphasizes academic integrity and responsible use of sources to produce original work.
FAQ: Leveling Courses
Learn more about the leveling structure:
Are you interested in getting your MBA, but don’t have a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA)? No need to worry! At the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), MBA candidates are not required to have a Business Administration background prior to enrolling in the program.
Instead, UHD offers non-BBA students a set of three courses to take at the same time as beginning the MBA program. These three courses are called Leveling courses, also known as GBA. They are designed to equip students with essential knowledge and skills of Business Administration, as well as fulfill the requirement for beginning the MBA Core curriculum.
No. Instead, the L classes are 100% online and asynchronous: This means that students do not meet in person, and the coursework is structured without regularly scheduled meeting times.
Here are the three courses and their descriptions, available in Fall 2025:
- GBA 5209 - Foundations of Accounting & Finance
- This course deals with the essential accounting and finance knowledge needed to be a successful graduate program student and business manager. It starts with financial accounting principles used to measure and report a firm’s economic performance and financial position and then shifts to applying them to interpret and analyze financial statements. It also covers assessment of risk and discounted cash flow techniques used in financial decisions.
- GBA 5210 - Quantitative Methods in Business
- This course is designed to provide a foundation of quantitative and analytical skills necessary to address business problems. An emphasis is made on identifying and applying appropriate quantitative concepts to solve managerial issues. Relevant technological tools such as spreadsheet software will be used to reinforce topics and present solutions.
- GBA 5211 - Professional Communication and Research Ethics
- This course develops the foundational communication skills necessary to succeed in the MBA program and your professional career. Students will learn how to conduct ethical research, cite sources properly, and create well-supported arguments through written and oral presentations. The course emphasizes academic integrity and responsible use of sources to produce original work.
It depends if you took any Business Administration courses in your undergraduate studies (for instance, perhaps you took a course or two for elective(s)). Students interested in petitioning the Leveling courses may fill out a waiver form after they’ve been admitted to the program.
Not necessarily. Generally speaking, as long as you take all three courses prior to beginning the MBA Core classes, you will have some flexibility when it comes to completing your required Leveling course(s) alongside your MBA Concentration classes. However, Leveling may be helpful preparation for some of the Concentration classes as well as the Core, so students may benefit from completing their Leveling courses early in the program.
Regardless, students are strongly encouraged to work with their academic advisor to determine the best sequence of classes.
Each course is two credit hours each.
Please note: The more credit hours a student enrolls in at a time, the lower the cost per credit hour. However, this also means that if the student takes one Leveling course in Fall and another the following Spring, then there is no discount, since the courses are not taken together.
| Texas Resident | Non-TX Resident/International | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Course | $1,300 | $2,100 |
| All three courses | $3,600 | $5,800 |
Dan Walmer, MBA in Leadership ‘17, credits the structure of his program with giving him a chance to pivot careers despite not having a business background:
“...With UHD’s MBA program, I didn’t have to have an undergrad background in business, so I did the Leveling courses. The price was right, the flexibility was right, the fact that the UHD MBA was so diverse and geared to professionals in the job market, nights and hybrid— it was just a perfect fit for me. UHD’s MBA program was a real launching pad and game changer for me."
“And then within a couple weeks of finishing my MBA, I was able to get a promotion as a clinical business manager."
Come join us for an upcoming MBA Information Session, where UHD staff will unpack the application process for you.
To contact a staff representative for additional assistance or information, you can call the MBA Office at 713-221-8252 or email the MBA team at mba@uhd.edu. We’d love to hear from you!