Department of Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics

God doesn’t just need missionaries in the jungles or the mountains of impoverished third world regions. He also needs missionaries right here in the Western world of business—on Main Street, in a downtown office, on the floor of the exchange, and everywhere else Wall Street leads. He needs men and women who can be salt and light in the marketplace, transforming the culture through their witness.

If you feel called to be that salt and light, a degree from Franciscan University’s Department of Business will equip you to answer that call.

Our faculty members are teacher-practitioners. They bring a wealth of experience from a range of industries into the classroom and use it to share sound techniques, practices, and theories of accounting, economics,finance, international business, management, and marketing.

But they don’t just bring experience and sound instruction to the classroom. They also bring a deep understanding of the Church’s social teaching. At Franciscan University, we believe that the free market works best when those working in it recognize the difference between right and wrong, the importance of serving others, and the value of hard work. And our campus atmosphere reinforces the foundational principles from which good business ethics spring. Both in and out of the classroom, you’ll receive the moral and ethical formation you need to be a leader in every sense of the word in the world of business.

When planning your future in the business world you can plan on finding what you’re looking for here at Franciscan. Our department offers a number of different degrees and courses of study, some that will take you to other countries as part of the curriculum.

Our department offers a variety of degrees and majors for undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduates can earn their degree in six different major areas—accounting, economics, finance, management, international business management, or marketing.

Graduates can continue their studies here at Franciscan and pursue a Master of Business Administration.

Our Mission is to form critical thinkers grounded in Catholic teaching who are equipped with professional business skills and seek to grow in holiness through their work.

VISION

Our vision is to rebuild the Church and sanctify the business world by educating and forming joyful students with the most compelling, integrated business education in the world that aligns the teachings of the Gospel with success in a free market society.

Integration includes Catholic teaching, Franciscan TOR values, an ongoing quest for holiness, the belief in free markets as a force for good, intellectual growth and real-world experience, innovation and critical thinking, and an enthusiastic and loyal faculty, student, and alumni network who joyfully and courageously proclaim the truth of the Gospel in their day-to-day work.

CORE VALUES

Encounter

• Our students and our faculty are made in the image and likeness of God. Our classroom discussions, studies, research, and advising sessions provide us opportunities to encounter Jesus while we grow in learning and wisdom.
• We seek to be joyful, kind, humble, professional, and accountable to one another in all our encounters.

Conversion

• Our commitment to deepen our intellectual and spiritual formation is founded on the virtues of hard work, courage, humility, and an ongoing quest for holiness.
• In our quest for ongoing conversion and holiness, we will challenge the status quo, be open to new ideas, and embrace innovation to make each other better.

Community

• Our greatest opportunities for learning and conversion happen in community.  We encourage open and respectful discussion in the classroom and encourage student clubs, activities, and research that foster intellectual growth, learning, and personal conversion.
• We advance and embrace the teachings on the dignity of work, the dignity of the worker, solidarity, and subsidiarity.  These are core principles that are centered in every course and prepare our students to transform the business world and the broader culture.