The Department of Politics and International Relations and The Alvah H. Chapman Jr. Graduate School of Business at Florida International University offers a joint degree pathway culminating in both a Master in International Business (MIB), and a Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS). Under the joint degree pathway, a student can obtain both degrees in significantly less time than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively.
Admission Procedure
Candidates to the joint degree pathway must meet the entrance requirements established by each individual program. Candidates must indicate on the application their intention to pursue the joint degree option. Students deciding to pursue the joint degree option after having been admitted to one program will indicate this intention only on their second application.
Applications for the joint degree pathway will not be accepted from candidates who have already graduated with either degree. MIB or MAIS students must apply and be admitted no later than the second to last semester in which they are expected to complete their original degree requirements, including the comprehensive examination for the MAIS degree.
Candidates must satisfy all requirements for each degree. The two degrees will have four common courses. All courses transferred between degrees must be completed with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Courses transferred to meet elective credits must be 5000 or 6000 level courses. Directors of the MAIS and MIB degree programs may adjust these exact course requirements as a result of future changes to the MAIS or MIB curriculums.
Degree Requirements
To obtain the MIB degree, MAIS students who have successfully completed the required 36 credits must, additionally, complete 24 credit hours in the MIB program as follows:
- MAR 6158 International Marketing
- MAN 6635 International Business Policy
- MAN 6679 Master’s Project in International Business
- MAN 6601 International Management
- FIN 6644 Global Financial Strategy
- ACG 6255 International Accounting
- MAN 6930A Master’s Seminar in Management 1
- MAN 6930B Master’s Seminar in Management 2
- MAN 6930C Master’s Seminar in Management 3
In order to satisfy the 36 credits hours required by the MIB program, 12 credit hours will be transferred from the MAIS program as follows:
- INR 6017 Comparative Approaches to Area Studies and Global Issues
- INR 5409 International Law
- Elective 1
- Elective 2
To obtain the MAIS degree, MIB students who have successfully completed the required 36 credits must, additionally, complete 24 credit hours in the MAIS program as follows:
- INR 6706 Political Economy of International Relations
- INR 5615 Research Design and International Relations
- GEO 6473 Space, Place and Identity
- INR 5609 Contemporary Dynamics of International Relations
- INR 6017 Comparative Approaches to Area Studies and Global Issues
- Field course 1
- Field course 2
- Field course 3
In order to satisfy the 36 credits hours required by the MAIS program, 12 credit hours will be transferred from the MIB program as follows:
- MAN 6606 International Business Environment
- BUL 6850 International Business Law
- Elective 1
- Elective 2
All MAIS students coming into the MIB program will be required, during the first month of classes, to take a 16-hour workshop in Accounting and a 16-hour workshop in Quantitative Methods. The purpose of these workshops is to ascertain whether students have the necessary background in both of these fields. Students must pass each workshop with at least a B grade (there is no charge for this workshop).
Joint degree pathway candidates will not receive either degree until all requirements for both programs have been satisfied.